Two Ten Footwear Foundation Inc

Programs: Human service expense:two ten changes the lives of footwear employees and their families during times of immediate crisis by providing emergency financial assistance to cover housing costs, utility bills, car repairs and other immediate needs; natural disaster relief; referrals to special services such as crisis intervention, credit and debt counseling, and other similar life skills services; and important community resources. Funds are paid directly to creditors except in a small number of cases when mini-grants between $50-$500 are given to those individuals in crisis who are documented to have been displaced or impacted by said disaster. The monies provided help individuals get through their crisis and provide financial as well as emotional relief until their lives become stable again. The bills that two ten pays meet the most basic needs of individuals and families in order to survive and hold down a job. The populations of footwear families we serve are employed predominately (but not exclusively) in retail sales, customer service, factory workers, warehouse operatives, and distribution center roles. These jobs are low wage earning positions and those working in them are vulnerable to loss of income at different times of the year when business slows or orders in a factory or warehouse decrease. Two ten provides resources for footwear employees from 50 states as well as puerto rico and the u. S. Virgin islands. In fy17 the top five states seeking two ten's services were tennessee, indiana, michigan, california and florida. In fy17, the two ten social services team assisted 1,477 footwear families with emergency assistance. Two ten received calls from a total of 3,381 footwear workers and their families and 99% of those workers received a call back within two business days to complete our intake process. The personal and confidential 30 minute intake call determines eligibility and how best to meet immediate needs. In fy17, 71% of callers were female and 29% of callers were male. The three largest age groups who called were between the ages of 25-34 (33%), between the ages of 43-55 (25%), and 22% of callers fell between the ages of 35-42. The reason most cited by those needing assistance was "employment issues", followed by "health and "family issues. "in fy17, two ten provided funds to pay the rent or mortgage of 868 families to prevent eviction or foreclosure. We assisted 556 families with emergency utility support, and auto payments, auto repairs or auto insurance for 451 families so they could continue to use their car to get to work. Two ten also helped with 208 crisis cases that includes $3,000 in funeral bills and emergency costs when an individual was displaced due to a fire, flood and natural or community disaster. In fy17, two ten served a total of 3,318 footwear employees with special services, including 48 referrals to our telephonic mental health counseling services; provided 475 with in-house counseling units; and referred 2,795 workers to local community resources, such as united way, red cross and salvation army. Education expense as part of our commitment to strengthening the footwear industry, two ten footwear foundation offers footwear employees and their families higher education scholarships based on financial need, academic ability and personal promise. In fy17, two ten funded 300 students with scholarships. 95% of the students are full time students, while 5% of the students are part-time. Scholarship funds were awarded to 208 renewal scholars and 92 new scholars. Most students received an award between $2,500 and $5,000 with the opportunity to renew annually, provided that they maintain a required gpa of at least 2. 5. As of july 2015, all new scholarship awards will average $3,000 per annum, renewable for three years. Two ten also provides a scholarship for military veterans, called the footwear warriors endowed scholarship. This scholarship is made available to the men and women who have served our u. S. Military and are currently working in the footwear industry. With the cost of higher education soaring, two ten scholarships help ease the burden for those footwear families sending their children to college. To be eligible to apply and be considered for a two ten scholarship, the applicant must be working within the footwear industry for a minimum of two years, or the child of a parent working in the industry for the same duration. The scholars working in the footwear industry comprised 26% of the total pool, while the remaining 74% had parents working in the footwear industry. As a note, 39% of scholars' families could not contribute to their child's education expenses. Two ten also offers a specialty scholarship for those pursuing education in the area of footwear design; the footwear design scholarship is available to any student without employment history in the footwear industry. This scholarship was created to encourage students entering the field who have talent and promise in footwear design. Applicants for the footwear design scholarship are required to submit three samples of their sketches at the time of application in additional to completing our standard online application. The application administration process is outsourced to the international scholarship and tuition services (ists). After ists presents the completed applications, two ten scholarship staff ranks applicants using a scoring rubric that is weighted by the following system: 70% financial need, 15% academics based on gpa and 15% academic resume based on extracurricular activities. Two ten then selects the top students from the new pool and those who maintained eligibility from the renewal pool until the endowment has been spent.

community building (formerly member and education):two ten footwear foundation is dedicated to building a stronger footwear community by offering national educational and professional development programs, designed to provide opportunities to engage with and learn from fellow members and leaders of the footwear industry while supporting two ten. Community engagement initiatives, each offering different activities and outcomes based on the individual needs of its targeted constituents, include women in footwear industry (wifi), human resources leadership, and footwear cares . Wifi, now consisting of nine chapters located in targeted geographic areas and with 4,000 members across the country, focuses on inspiring, mentoring, and connecting women at all levels of their careers, as well as creating advocates for two ten. Wifi accomplishes its goals by holding networking and professional development events two- to three-times per year at the regional chapter level, and national conferences held each june and february during major, national footwear industry trade shows. In fy17, wifi chapters held 19 different events that were attended by a total of 1,950 women. In each instance, topic matter and program format was designed to be relevant and scalable to meet the needs and interests of each regional area. The first-ever wifi impact awards were held in february, 2017 in las vegas during a major industry trade show and with tremendous success. The event was attended by 175 guests, including the owner of a major, international footwear brand who has pledged a significant level of sponsorship for the event over the next three years. The annual, wifi national conference was held in new york in june, 2017, with an attendance of 160 members. In addition to the events, wifi manages a successful year-long mentoring program. Now in its fifth year, two ten wifi has paired 366 mentors and mentees from across the country and the industry, focusing on connecting women industry leaders with mentees from the next generation of footwear leadership. The benefit of the wifi programming is evidenced by the increasing number of event attendees and requests for mentoring on a year-over-year basis. The human resources leadership (hrl) group connects human resources professionals within the footwear industry for thought leadership specific to hr, but also to create advocacy for two ten and its mission. Hrl works on two ten's behalf to increase awareness of the foundation within the industry as well as to host an annual conference dedicated to industry learning and innovation. In fy17, the annual hr leadership summit focused on "brand matters, winning the talent war," focusing on the important connection between a strong employer brand and recruiting new talent, including the impact of social media on employer branding. The conference provided two ten with a platform to further educate and engage hr professionals about the foundation's programs and services, scholarship offerings and the community groups available to members of the footwear industry. As one of two ten's fastest growing community-building events, footwear cares provides an opportunity for our industry to join together in community service in a way that will impact their own lives and the lives of the people they help. In fy17 our footwear cares initiative transitioned from a single-month event, to a year-round campaign during which two ten worked with footwear companies across the nation to either create unique volunteer events on their behalf, or to support their own philanthropic activities. This shift in strategy enables two ten to aggregate and promote the compassion and charitable nature of the u. S. Footwear industry, further inspiring the industry to continue its acts of doing good while strengthening the industry's national reputation and furthering consumer affinity. The fy17 campaign focused on helping disadvantaged children and their families, inspiring 7,600 footwear cares volunteers from 129 companies across 26 states to join forces with other footwear brands and companies in their geographic area to volunteer in their community. The program continues to provide two ten with a valuable platform to increase the knowledge and awareness of the foundation, its mission, programs and services with volunteers, while creating positive change in our surrounding communities.

industry education (formerly leadership development):the two ten footwear foundation is committed to providing the help and resources needed to improve the lives and careers of footwear professionals. In fy17, industry education - or outreach - was incorporated into every possible activity to maximize the outcomes; every corporate visit, industry conference, individual health and wellness fairs and strategic partnership was utilized to increase awareness of the foundation's offerings within the industry it serves. Two ten also uses a highly visible annual event and social media to aid in building increase awareness of, and support for, the foundation. During fy17, two ten incorporated outreach into 130 corporate visits by making presentations to 5,400 american footwear workers. The foundation also attended 11 industry conferences and 14 different benefits fairs to connect directly with footwear employees and provide them with first-hand knowledge about two ten and how the foundation supports the industry. Additionally, two ten worked with its strategic partners to present the foundation to targeted audiences through print, digital and in-person presentations. Through careful utilization of existing travel to meetings, conferences, fairs and partnership offerings, two ten was able to incorporate outreach into a variety of activities to increase the footwear community's awareness of and engagement with the foundation. Two ten hosted its annual gala during fy17. Attended by 1,600 members of the footwear community and supported by more than 175 companies, two ten used the event as a communications platform to increase industry awareness about its programs and services, scholarships, community building initiatives and the combined positive impact the foundation has on the industry that it serves. Stories from two ten's relief recipients and scholarship awardees were shared in print, video and in person from the podium on stage, and we featured two ten "unsung heroes" in lighted centerpieces on each of the 50 tables at the vip dinner. Industry leadership took part in the presentations from the stage and encouraged the participants to engage further with the foundation. The event was a big success in that we were able to convert attendees from unaffiliated to engaged members of the two ten community. Social media and digital communications continue to increase in relevance and importance as critical communication tools, providing vibrant forums to reach, engage and educate the footwear community. Two ten's content development and management strategy for its social properties during fy17 was further expanded, with a database of client stories pushed out through relevant channels including facebook, twitter, instagram, linkedin and the two ten blog. The foundation has seen an uptick in the number of followers it has on multiple digital properties and new visitors to its website platform. Applications for two ten's scholarship offerings, intake calls and attendance at community group events have grown as a result of this effort.