As President of The Ivy Community Charities of Prince George’s County, Inc. (Charities), I am proud to represent the 500-plus members of our organization.  In managing Charities, we are here to ensure effective use of our resources, engage the talents of our leaders, and manage our funds to maximize our impact on the citizens of Prince George’s County.  In an assessment of all of those factors coupled with the commitment of our members, we are poised to greatly increase our efforts.

Over the last 24 years, we have made a significant impact by filling the educational and social gaps created by a changing economic environment, thereby providing much needed services to our neighbors.  These services include: enhancing educational achievement through tutoring, scholarships, mentoring and social development programs; encouraging healthy lifestyles through health education and sizeable contributions to medical research organizations; supporting families in need through our shoe bank and clothes closets; strengthening linkages in the community by working with elderly residents of a rehabilitation center; celebrating the arts by exposing youth to fine arts; and enhancing our fundraising efforts by garnering increased support from current and new corporate partners. 

In 2011 and beyond, we will focus our priorities on increased monitoring of the impact and progress of our programs with surveys and community stakeholder meetings.  The data collected will help us better assess the needs of the community.  We will also strengthen relationships with our partners and engage in more external partnerships.  These partnerships are critical to the success of our programs.  Most importantly, we will aggressively pursue our capital campaign to acquire a much-needed facility to better serve our community and to more effectively manage our organization.
 
I am grateful for the leadership of those who served before me and pledge to continue to find the best way to help the citizens of Prince George’s County improve their lives.  I sincerely and wholeheartedly thank the members of the Board of Directors, the Ivy Youth and Family Center’s leadership team, our members and our supporters for believing in the mission and for having the insight to believe that what we do will impact generations to come.

Sincerely,

Ingrid S. Harrison