Congratulations to HOPE For All!
The Standards for Excellence Institute would like to congratulate HOPE For All for earning the Standards basics recognition under the Standards for Excellence: An Ethics and Accountability Code for the Nonprofit Sector.
To earn the Standards basics recognition, HOPE For All went through an application process, which included a review by Standards of Excellence Institute staff to verify that HOPE For All has strong policies in place for good governance and legal compliance, and a well-defined mission with impactful programs.
HOPE For All serves individuals and families who are coming out of homelessness or are just in need of a helping hand, and who live in Anne Arundel County or the Brooklyn and Curtis Bay area of Baltimore City. When people transition from homelessness to affordable housing, they are often met with empty rooms. Through the Turning Houses Into Homes program, HOPE For All accepts community donations of furniture, clothing, kitchen supplies, and household goods, and gives them to their clients. In addition, the A Bed to Call My Own initiative provides newly purchased beds. Everything that clients need is provided and delivered to them without cost. HOPE For All serves hundreds of families, veterans, elderly, and individuals each year; over half of their recipients are children. HOPE For All helps empower adults to move forward towards self-sufficiency by turning their house into a home.
Constance Cooper, Executive Director, stated, “The Standards of Excellence allowed us to prioritize our organizational needs and systematically address them so that they work for HOPE For All now and into the future.”
Congratulations again to HOPE For All for this achievement.
The Standards for Excellence Institute encourages all nonprofits to check out the Standards for Excellence code and to consider applying for accreditation or recognition. A good starting point is the free online self-assessment, which provides a detailed, actionable report, along with links to resources.
About the Author: Amy Coates Madsen
Amy Coates Madsen is the Director of the Standards for Excellence Institute, a national initiative to promote the highest standards of ethics and accountability in nonprofit governance, management, and operations, and to facilitate adherence to standards by all organizations. The Standards for Excellence Institute is a program of the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations where Amy has served for more than twenty-two years. Amy is responsible for coordinating all aspects of the association’s comprehensive ethics and accountability program and efforts to replicate the program nationally. She serves as a frequent trainer and writer in the areas of board conduct, program evaluation, program replication, fundraising ethics, and nonprofit management. She has taught courses on nonprofit ethics and accountability at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies Certificate Program on Nonprofit Management. She has held positions at the Trenton lobbying firm of the Princeton Public Affairs Group, and the Public Policy Liaison Unit at the world headquarters of Catholic Relief Services. Amy received her Master of Arts in Policy Studies degree from the Johns Hopkins University – Institute for Policy Studies in Baltimore, Maryland; and her Bachelors degree from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Amy is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Amy serves on the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT). Amy is a former member of the Disaster Action Team of the Central Maryland Chapter of the American Red Cross and is qualified to provide disaster preparedness training to children and adults. She has also served as the former President of Central Maryland CAN TOO and was a member of the Board of Trustees of the largest United Methodist Church in Baltimore City. She serves on the board of her children’s preschool PTA and is a volunteer with the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland. Amy is currently leading an effort to establish an endowment for the Virginia Tech University Honors Program.