2024-10-10T13:18:41-07:00 2023-12-31 460796445 Shining Star Consulting LLC 1831 Solano Ave Unit 8058 Berkeley CA 947075056 990 2023-01-01 472931858 Thrive in Joy Nick Fagnano Foundation THRI 2132204686 612 S Broadway 525 Los Angeles CA 90014 Hugo Sanchez Treasurer 2024-10-10 true true Suzanne Pon P03097587 5109996712 2023 2024-10-15 13:58:12Z X Mary Fagnano 612 S Broadway 525 Los Angeles CA 90014 307528 false X www.thriveinjoy.org X 2015 CA Thrive in Joy's on-campus C11 Strength of Character program is specifically designed for high schools in low-income communities. Through the student-led Club Thrive in Joy, C11 encourages teens to explore and apply their character strengths, identified through the Values in Action survey and club activities, to create entrepreneurial social impact projects that address urgent needs in their communities. Additionally, we organize volunteer trips to the Dominican Republic three times a year, aiming to enhance the quality of life for vulnerable children and their families. These trips are tailored to different groups: college students from USC in March, high school students in June, and a trip in October open to all volunteers. 12 10 8 400 0 231610 296084 0 11 4537 698 164 232319 300785 96294 55390 0 73608 117272 0 44758 146842 153449 316744 326111 -84425 -25326 134928 125937 1200 10296 133728 115641 At Thrive in Joy, we encourage young people to discover their character strengths and the joy of service inspired by the legacy of Nick Fagnano. Our mission honors Nick, who lost his life in 2014 when a rare and unexpected lightning strike occurred on Venice Beach, CA. false false 77547 6500 Thrive in Joy carries out its C11 Strength of Character program in Los Angeles County at high schools within low-income communities in downtown Los Angeles and East and South LA. These neighborhoods are defined as concentrated poverty neighborhoods (CPNs) and are clustered in a corridor extending from downtown-adjacent neighborhoods to South Los Angeles. Thrive in Joy's C11 program is offered through Club Thrive in Joy, an on-campus, student-led club which supports low-income students, families, and the surrounding underserved communities of color by providing experiences that cultivate high school students' character strengths and empower them to take entrepreneurial action to produce social impact projects that address pressing needs in their school and community. Club Thrive in Joy is offered either after school or as an elective program during school hours. The demographics at these schools are such that 86% of students are economically disadvantaged,97.5% are Hispanic, 1.0% are Black, 1% are two or more races and .5% are Asian. According to the California Department of Education, LA County has one of the highest concentrations of low-income students in California, with close to 900,000 living at or below the poverty line. Of the 1 million low-income African-American and Latino students attending public or charter schools in LA County, only 2 out of 10 are enrolled in a high-quality school with programs that recognize the whole child, and provide support systems throughout their high school journey. Furthermore, enrollment rates for college among these students are below average. We serve these students with a holistic approach to changing these statistics. In 2023 we served students in three main school locations: USC Hybrid High in South L.A., Esperanza High in East L.A., and Alliance Dr. Olga Mohan High School in downtown L.A. Additionally, we deliver C11 Strength of Character Workshops to at-risk teens enrolled in foster care programs and other organizations serving low-income youth of color. Interest in our C11 program also spans the globe with students at a high school in the Dominican Republic and at a school in South Africa also participating in the program. The 88 Los Angeles high school students who were enrolled in our program in 2023 engaged 379 volunteers and 34 faculty members to benefit 729 community members, including fellow students. The student projects included a health fair which offered a wide array of services and community resources, a student mental health event that established a on-campus book selection focused on mental health as well as a directory of local mental health resources available to all students, a holiday event for families with young children which included distribution of 93 donated new toys and games, and a teen literacy event that allowed every student to select two new books from a wide variety of genres specifically assorted for teen readers. We utilize several methods to assess our program's impact. First, we field pre- and post-surveys with all student participants. In our post-program evaluation, 94% of students stated that knowing their character strengths helps their success and inspires them to go to college. 100% of students admitted to being nervous about college applications before the program, with 93% feeling more confident after completing it. 100 percent of students expressed a desire for their actions in high school to leave a legacy in their school or community. We have utilized several outside assessments to gauge the effectiveness and impact of our programs over the years. Prior to expanding the program beyond our first pilot school, we engaged Ilse Wolfe, founder of NEW Publishing Solutions, to assess the need for and benefits of the C11 program. Ilse conducted a series of focus groups with 15 high school educators and counselors, who overwhelmingly praised the objectives of Thrive in Joy's C11 program. The focus group participants said they were unaware of any similar programs. They cited the program's strengths including its origin of being inspired by a young person, Nick Fagnano, who tragically lost his life when lightning struck Venice Beach in July of 2014. They valued that it was a student-led program that engages young people to inspire their peers. In addition, the program's no-cost entry for schools in low-income communities was cited as a major benefit. Coupled with the financial support provided by Thrive in Joy for students' entrepreneurial social impact projects, the focus groups appreciated how this model immerses students in the programming, community engagement, and impact aspects of their projects rather than placing a heavy dependency on student fundraising. Another study was conducted as part of a grant from USC. Conducted by three Masters of Public Policy students from USC's Sol Price School of Public Policy, their research assessed Thrive in Joy's impact to validate the need for C11's expansion to more schools, Using open-source research and semi-structured interviews, they cited TJNFF's story-based learning, peer-led programming, and leadership development as exemplary social-emotional learning models elevating positive youth development in an after-school setting. They also found TJNFF meaningfully contributed to student's scholastic activities resulting in a constant improvement of higher education goal attainment. Specific to the student entrepreneurial social impact projects, which also impact the nearby low-income communities, the research team found TJNFF was appealing to students in that they became leaders of their community initiatives and were able to engage in hands-on project planning. The results showed that students within fragile populations gained skills that not only improved their well-being, but also impacted the well-being of their families. Research also showed the program instilled in students a strong desire to pursue careers in fields that would allow them to serve their communities. This success is further reflected in the personal, academic, and social achievements of the individual students. In 2023 our seniors received full scholarships to prestigious universities including USC, Johns Hopkins, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Riverside, UC Irvine, while other students committed to local colleges including Cal State LA, Cal State Dominguez Hills, and Cal State Northridge. All students credited TJNFF as having a significant impact on their success with 100% of seniors who were Club Thrive in Joy members entering a 4-year educational institution. 73310 48890 Support for vulnerable children and their families in the Dominican Republic: Thrive in Joy's focus in the Dominican Republic (DR) is on youth living in extreme poverty. We serve children and teens, ages 3-18, who attend Tia Tatiana School in Herrera and we serve the residents of the Remar Orphanage in Santo Domingo who range in age from 5-20. We also support families in Nagua with food and household supplies and our C11 strength of character program is active at a Nagua high school. In all the communities we serve, the population is approximately 65% Dominican, 30% Haitian, and 5% other. For the children at Tia Tatiana school and in Nagua, the head of household for 60% of the families is a single female parent. For those at Remar, the circumstances that have brought the children to the orphanage include parent abandonment, parent incarceration or drug abuse, report of the child being sex-trafficked or subjected to other abuse. Other factors include the child being HIV+ or impacted by other health issues for which a family member is unable to provide care. In 2023 we made two mission trips to the Dominican Republic with volunteer teams to: a. Assist with light construction and renovation projects b. Provide for school children's nutritional needs by cooking meals and bringing treats they would not typically be able to enjoy c. Support food distribution by visiting homes of families in need delivering essential food staples. Our support for this activity continues monthly to 20 families through the volunteer efforts of our partner in the DR, Casa Misionera. The food distribution program in Herrera and Nagua puts volunteers into the homes of the most vulnerable in the community. They become aware of other needs that can be met through medical attention, emotional support, and provisions in the home that are needed for the health and well-being of the families served. While the food provides for the family's nutritional needs, the regular visits from a caring young person provide encouragement for the families as well as gives the student volunteers the ability to gain the experience of leadership through service. This program also gives Thrive in Joy volunteers a unique experience of getting to know the people we are serving, to hear their stories, to offer prayer, and to better understand the circumstances of people living in a culture very different from the U.S. d. Construct a large-capacity water purification system to provide clean drinking water to the community of Nagua in partnership with a local church who oversaw construction and will be responsible for water distribution throughout the community. e. Repair homes, provide household items to families in need. Education, nutrition, health, and faith community all offer hope for a better life for young adults living in poverty in the DR. But in order to reach young people when they are making critical life choices, they must be engaged when they are young. Any opportunity to have a positive impact on their parents or guardians will also enhance the likelihood that children will have the desire and opportunity to go to school from preschool through high school and beyond. Thrive in Joy supports programs in the DR that combine these four aspects of development to address the country's serious problem of perpetual poverty within certain communities. According to the website, www.worldpopulationreview.com, Despite the economic growth of the Dominican Republic over the last decade, poverty is still a large problem and a disproportionately low amount of government spending is invested in education. The website www.children.org, states that half of the children under 18 in the DR live in poverty. An article posted to www.borgenproject.org reveals that out of the 4.7 million children that live in the Dominican Republic, close to 600,000 children under age 15 lack parental care, and over 1 million children live in poverty. The presence of caring adults trained in education and/or healthcare who are dedicated to ensuring the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of children living in communities of extreme poverty are being served is an important component of the partnerships Thrive in Joy has established and why we continue to support improvements in the facilities and services of the Remar Orphanage, Tia Tatiana School, and community health initiatives such as food distribution and access to clean water. Working with Casa Misionera's young Dominican leaders program, we have an in-country team of volunteers who, themselves, are from low-income families and are keenly aware of the needs of their community. With the support from these 30 young people we have been able to direct our funding towards low-income children in preschool all the way up to young adults who have just entered college, we have invested in a continuity of services that stay with a young person even after they graduate from high school. This testimony from Crisbel, a Casa Misionera volunteer who is now the advisor of our C11 program at a high school in her community of Nagua, beautifully illustrates the positive outcomes of what we do: Having the opportunity to serve alongside Thrive in Joy has impacted my life in a permanent and unparalleled way. I mean this in the best possible sense, of course. Being around people that have so much love taught me a lot. Especially getting to know the testimony behind the creation of Thrive in Joy, taught me such a valuable and everlasting lesson about resilience. Things that I will take in my walk with God through life. I turned 20 this year and I continue to remember the things I was exposed to and the things I learned alongside Thrive in Joy. I'm so grateful to have this experience. " Our ability to monitor and evaluate the impact of our support is forged through the personal relationships we have with the young people, teachers, and administrators involved in the programs we serve. By making visits at least twice a year to the sites we support, we are able to observe and report on the facility improvements, how they are impacting the well-being of the children and young people served, and consistency in the numbers of children served. Through our continued support, we've seen the programs we've invested in expand to accommodate more children which gives us assurance that each child within these programs is safer and more protected from the dangers of drugs, gangs, violence, and abusive relationships, including human trafficking, that lurk in their communities. Through monthly meetings with Nelson Paulino, the Executive Director of Casa Misionera in the DR, we receive an update on all the programs in which we are involved. We work closely to plan the projects and give our volunteer team members the opportunity to experience the connection we feel to the children, staff, and Dominican volunteers with whom we work. On every trip we observe how the lives of others, as well as our own lives, are being transformed because of the generosity of our donors who give us these opportunities to serve and invest in lasting changes that provide far more than material benefits. It's been our experience, over these past nine years of serving in the DR that hope, love, and joy are thriving in communities where others might see only poverty, fear, and conflict. 150857 true true false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false false true false false false false false false false false false false true false false false false false false false false true 9 0 true 8 true false false false false false false false 0 false false false false false false false X 12 10 true false false false false false false true true false false true true true true true true true false false CA X Ruth Chang Shining Star Consulting 5109996712 1831 Solano Ave 8038 Berkeley CA 94707 Mary Fagnano Executive Dir. 15.00 0.00 X X 54000 0 0 Elizabeth Rojas Director 1.00 0.00 X 29799 0 0 Jay Fagnano Treasurer 2.00 0.00 X X 0 0 0 Joe LaBrie Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Kim Kerscher Director 0.50 0.00 X 0 0 0 Kris Williams Secretary 1.25 0.00 X X 0 0 0 Mary Hawley Director 0.25 0.00 X 0 0 0 Josue Najera Director 2.25 0.00 X 0 0 0 Sarah Batizy Director 3.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Amy Godinez Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 Scott Hagizadegan Director 0.50 0.00 X 0 0 0 Joye Swan Director 1.00 0.00 X 0 0 0 83799 0 false false false 0 5263 290821 37306 296084 0 4537 4537 0 0 0 0 5942 5263 5582 360 938 1161 -223 -1161 0 Miscellaneous Revenue 27 27 27 300785 -1161 4564 55390 55390 0 0 0 83799 20286 45531 17982 0 23210 17057 6153 0 893 305 458 130 9370 3257 4521 1592 0 1298 1298 18783 18783 0 0 0 22270 850 11920 9500 3686 150 690 2846 46109 17910 19429 8770 10267 938 9209 120 0 7956 1681 5573 702 26121 23544 293 2284 0 13794 8355 4607 832 0 0 0 3165 1134 2031 0 326111 150857 130496 44758 107587 9279 99067 0 255 1525 0 0 0 0 3406 1933 0 23680 14133 0 0 0 0 134928 125937 1200 10296 1200 10296 X 64158 103677 69570 11964 133728 115641 134928 125937 -25326 7239 X false false false X 75192 151151 254479 227970 296084 1004876 31074 9890 6880 47844 0 0 0 106266 151151 254479 237860 302964 1052720 4134 4134 0 4134 4134 1048586 87 725 10 4537 5359 0 87 725 10 4537 5359 0 27 27 106266 151238 255204 237870 307528 1058106 0.99100 0.99900 0.00510 0.00100 X RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED RESTRICTED true Casa Misionera 1217 Tiburon Trail Cleburne TX 76033 853178025 48890 0 Food distr, water purification Vision Trust 3710 Sinton Road 100 Colorado Springs CO 80907 841397081 6500 0 Construction at Tia Tatiana school 2 0 Grantmaker's Description of How Grants are Used Biannual trips to the Dominican Republic are taken to physically inspect the programs we support. In between trips we receive verbal reports as well as photos and videos of project progress from the organization as to the use of the funds and the impact they have. At the end of the year, we work with the organization to create a written report for the donor on the impact of the grant. X 1 25081 FMV false false false Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 2 Mary and Jay are spouses. Dan Shanahan, the owner of Shanahan Printing + Graphics provides Thrive in Joy printing services at cost. Dan is the brother of Mary Fagnano. The printing service expenses are below the reporting thresholds for Schedule L and as such this schedule is not required to be included. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b A paid preparer prepares the 990 with the assistance of Executive Director and CFO/Treasurer. The Finance committee and the Executive Director committee reviews the 990 draft. A copy of the Form 990 is provided to the board prior to filing. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12c Board members have signed a conflict of interest policy and must disclose in writing and potential conflicts of interest to be part of official board policy documents in addition to bylaws that also address conflict of interest. Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 15a As a small nonprofit, our staff is grossly under-paid but that is what you have to accept when you are seeking to grow. We looked at data from the Association of Fundraising professionals as well as the Center for Nonprofit Management and found that our wages are about 30 of what others in comparable positions would be paid. Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 Governing documents, policies and financial statements are made available to the general public upon reasonable request.