Grantee/Organization Information

Primary Contact (name, title, address, phone and email):

Annette March-Grier, RN
President and Interim Executive Director 1900 N. Broadway, Suite 101
Baltimore, MD 21213410-235-6633amarchgrier@robertashouse.org

Contracting Contact (name, title, address, phone and email):

Annette March-Grier, RN
President and Interim Executive Director 1900 N. Broadway, Suite 101
Baltimore, MD 21213410-235-6633amarchgrier@robertashouse.org

Financing Contact (name, title, address, phone and email):

Victor C. March, Treasurer
Marcorp LTD/March Funeral Homes 5719 York Road
Baltimore, MD 21212410-435-0500vmarch@marchfh.com

Requested Amount: $19,800

Roberta’s House provides services to support individuals in their time of grief and
recovery. Since 2009, we have provided free services to more than 2,100 children, adults,
and families who have experienced a traumatic loss or death. Our goals are to:
Increase participant’s knowledge of the grief process
Educate participants on healthy coping skills
Improve the quality of life of citizens in the community.
To that end, Roberta’s House offers several programs related to loss, death, and grief,
including A Time of Sharing, Family Programs, The Homicide Transformation Project,
Changing The Game, the Hope Project and Good Grief Workshops. The programs
validate and attend to the complex emotions and needs of individuals who have suffered a
loss. We consider our services as part of a comprehensive mental health program; and,
that by addressing grief, particularly unresolved grief, we are providing a public health
preventative service in the community.
A fundamental component of the Roberta’s House is the services for youth who have
suffered a loss. In fact, the organization was borne out of a community appeal to March
Funeral Homes to provide bereavement services to help children through their grief.
Roberta’s House has since established itself as an entrusted non-profit, leader in
Baltimore City for grief services, dedicated to children and youth. Roberta’s House
understands the complex and often conflicting responses of youth to loss and the
organization is backed by strong leadership and dedicated staff who are trained and well-
versed in the grief process.
Project Title: Changing the Game: Think About It, Summer Enrichment Program

Start Date: August 16, 2015

End Date: January 31, 2016

Scope of Work
Grief is a complicated process, and even more so when experienced by adolescents who
are still maturing, mentally and emotionally. The experiences of grief and the intense
emotions that are normal to adults, are often unsettling, confusing, and overwhelming to
youth. As a result, youth may manifest maladaptive behaviors, especially if they do not
have adult support during this time. Youth may struggle with the sense of being out of
control and, rather, engage in reckless and risky behaviors to deflect these feelings.1 They
may respond by externalization, through aggression, anger, bullying, violence,
and rage—responses that are particularly common of young men who may be socialized
to be guarded and less expressive with their emotions.

Roberta’s House serves disadvantaged communities where (1) youth are overwhelmed
with losses and (2) youth have engaged in maladaptive behaviors as a result of these
losses. Through Changing the Game, Roberta’s House provides grief education and
support to high-risk teens. This program, in partnership with the Department of Juvenile
Services’ (DJS) Violence Prevention Initiative, targets youth in the probation system.
Youth in the program have committed offenses including drug possession, drug
distribution and sale, and assault. The youth are referred to Roberta’s House directly by
the courts or through DJS. DJS case managers who mandate participation of identified
youth in Changing the Game and subsequently apply merits toward probation as a reward
for completion of the program.

Through Changing the Game, Roberta’s House provides a safe place for these youth to
express their feelings, while helping them understand their triggers. We help the youth to
discuss their crime or the specific problem behaviors that led to involvement with the

1
Donna Schuurman and Amy Barrett Lindholm, “Teens & Grief,” The Prevention
Researcher 9, 2 (2002): 1, 3-5.(accessed 11/08/2014)
DJS. The hallmark of Changing the Game is that we seek to help youth uncover or
discover the root causes of the maladaptive behavior. Often these root causes are linked
to underlying unresolved grief. The youth in the program have experienced a myriad of
losses including homicide, parental incarceration, abandonment, abuse, and neglect. In
fact, homicide is the predominate reason (40%) that clients seek Roberta’s House
services. Additionally, youth struggle with lives of poverty, diminished economic
opportunities, violence, low parental involvement, and poor family
functioning. Changing the Game helps youth identify their losses, deal with feelings of
anger, and change their life course.

Changing the Game is an evidenced-based program, modeled after Alan Wolfelt’s Six
Reconciliation Needs of the Bereaved Child. The program operates for 20 weeks, in 2-
hoursessions once a week after-school. The program incorporates a positive youth
development approach within a grief-counseling framework, taking into account the
children’s history of multiple losses and trauma. The counseling incorporates cognitive
behavior therapy, conflict resolution strategies, and life-skills building exercises. The
program utilizes an intentional, pro- social approach to engage youth and incorporates
coaching, mentoring, and peer support.

The goals of Changing the Game are to facilitate grief recovery for at-risk youth, reduce
the rate of reentry into the juvenile justice system and prevent/divert criminal behavior,
and increase personal responsibility to enable youth to live healthier and more productive
lives. Over the four years of Changing the Game, Roberta’s House has been most
successful with achieving goals one and two—facilitating grief recovery and reducing
delinquency. We have considered goal three an implicit component of achieving the first
two goals. But this year, we have endeavored to dedicate activities to helping each youth
embark on a journey to a healthy and productive life. We wish to instill in the youth a
sense of purpose and intentionality—that leading the kind of life that youth so often talk
about in Changing the Game requires forethought and planning.

In this summer session of Changing the Game, Roberta’s House wishes to provide youth
opportunities to expand their horizons and to envision their lives in more positive ways.
We have called this addition to the program Think About it. In every circumstance in
which youth may find themselves, we genuinely want youth to ‘think about it’—to think
about the possibilities for their futures, to think about the consequences of their actions,
to think about the outcomes of their decisions, and to think about the impact on their
lives. To facilitate ‘Think About It’, Roberta’s House will organize several activities to
enrich the academic, social, and cultural lives for youth in Changing the Game. The
activities will fall in one of three categories: off-site field trips, guest lecturers and
presentations, and relationship-building and networking.
The table below lists ‘Think About It’ project outcomes and activities.
Project Outcomes
Youth can identify career paths of
1. interest and can articulate
necessary requirements
Youth can identify cultural centers
2. and places of interest in the greater
Baltimore-area
Youth have a formal relationship
3.
with a mentor
Youth have concrete plan after
4.
completion of the program
Activities
Plan career fair and identify speakers
Organize presentation with career counselor
Identify local career fairs scheduled to take place throughout the year
Generate a list of excursions and field trips
Identify transportation providers
Coordinate logistics of excursions and field trips
Recruit and train volunteers to facilitate excursions and field trips
Administer career aptitude/interest assessment
Identify and contact local mentoring programs
Review mentor criteria and vet programs
Instruct in:
 Writing professional letters
 Writing personal statement/essay
Research and contact area employers
Engage service-learning organizations
Instruct in:
 Applying for internships
Applying for college/trade school
 Applying for jobs
 Preparing a resume

Roberta’s House requests funds in the amount of $19,800 to enhance youth development
opportunities for adjudicated, at-risk youth. Specifically, the support from the Annie E.
Case Foundation will enable enrichment of services in Changing the Game. The
activities, outlined above, neither exhaust the activities for the project nor do they address
those that may perform based on need. These activities are also in addition to on-
going programming for Changing the Game already provided at Roberta’s House and
through DJS.
The table below provides the deliverables and timeframe for completion of the associated
outcomes and activities for ‘Think About It’.
Project
Outcomes Activities Deliverable Timeline
A. Roberta’s House Career Fair August 1, 2015
1. See above
B. List of Job/Career Fairs in the Greater August 15, 2015
Baltimore Area
August 15, 2015
2. See above 8 field trips/excursions (details of individual trips finalized
at least three weeks prior to trip)
3. See above Mentor for each participant September 30, 2015

Relationship with organizations that will

4. See above employ, train, and provide learning January 31 , 2016
opportunities for youth

Funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation will enable employment of a part-
time Youth Service Coordinator, whose role will be to organize, develop, and implement
the activities under
‘Think About It’. Roberta’s House currently employs a manager for Changing the
Game who facilitates the weekly sessions. The Youth Service Coordinator will
collaborate with the program manager. The Youth Service Coordinator along with the
manager will select 20 youth for ‘Think About It’, identify needs of the youth, and
recommend activities for the youth. The Youth Service Coordinator will be responsible
for tracking program outcomes, facilitating completion of three assessments
(baseline, mid-term, and final), and periodic monitoring of youth progress throughout the
academic year.

Performance Measures
Youth in ‘Think About It’ will remain in Changing the Game through the 2015-
2016 academic year. Monitoring of progress and support for youth participants will be
conducted throughout the year. As with all of Roberta’s House’s programs, participants
complete a survey at the start and end. These surveys measure change in grief
understanding, awareness of feelings and behaviors, and goal-setting. In addition, the
youth in ‘Think About It’ will complete three assessments: baseline (at the start of the
program in June 2015), mid-term (either in December 2015 or January 2016), and final
(in June 2016). After the mid-term assessment, a report on project performance will be
produced, which will enable Roberta’s House to determine modifications, additional
inputs, or corrective actions to facilitate goal achievement. Roberta’s House will seek
input from the Annie E. Casey Foundation in completion and submission of this report.
The critical measures for ‘Think About It’ are those that capture the impact of Changing
the Game on youth’s lives. Roberta’s House will pay particular attention to those
measures that have implications for healthy and productive lives, by affecting youth’s
perspective. The three key performance measure areas are in relationship building, self-
esteem, and outlook on life. The metrics below are those that will be used to assess
project performance.

The table below lists the performance measures and the related metrics or indicators. The
metrics in bold are those that address the impact of ‘Think About It’ on youth
in Changing the Game.
Performance Measures Metric/Indicator
# of youth in the program

Enrichment Program # of activities organized

% youth attendance
# of contacts with mentor

Mentor Engagement Frequency of contacts with mentor

% satisfaction with mentor experience
# of jobs/internships/positions applied for

# of organizations partnered with Roberta’s House

Post-Program Position
# of jobs/internships/positions awarded
% of youth with post-program positions
% increase in possible careers

Career Knowledge # of relevant job skills/duties for possible careers

% increase in job skills/duties for possible careers
# of new relationships or contacts made

Relationship-building % sustained relationships

% increase in social skills

Self-esteem % change in self esteem

Outlook on life % change in outlook on life
Coding and Demographics

Type of Support: Program Development/Project Support

Program Area/Field of Work: Youth Development

Age Group: Youth (ages 13 – 17)

Race/Ethnicity: African-American/African descendant; non-Hispanic

Geographic Area Served: Baltimore

Additional Documentation

Tax Documentation (attach and email the most recent tax letter with your
application)

Fiscal Sponsorship: Roberta’s House is the fiscal agent for this project.

Subgrants: Roberta’s House will not be making subgrants.

*Overhead includes operating support, fiscal agent fees and any other unexplained budget line items and
cannot exceed 10 percent of direct costs. A tip on how to calculate this is: Divide total requested amount by
11.
Detailed Project Budget

Project Expense Description Requested Total Project

Line Items Amount Expense
Salary/Personnel Part-time Youth Service $ 7,500.00 $10,000.00
Coordinator, at $25/hr.
Fringe/Benefits None $ 0.00 $0.00
Consultants Honorarium for invited $ 2,400.00 $3,200.00
Include rate and hours, if presenters/guests
applicable.
Subgranting None $ 0.00 $0.00
If yes, please add more lines and
provide details.

Materials /Supplies Backpacks, notebooks, $ 630.00 $1,080.00

stationery for 20 participants
+ 4 extra at approx.
$45/youth
Travel Transportation for 8 trips at $ 2,400.00 $3,200.00
$400/trip
MTA transportation Subsidy for transportation $ 0.00 $ 154.00
to/from 7 career/training
activities at $1.10/student
Publication/Media None $ 0.00 $0.00
Rent Use of facility for project $ 200.00 $1696.00
activities
Utilities None $ 0.00 $0.00
Other Expenses Admission fees to museums/ $ 2,880.00 $3,840.00
cultural centers/ attractions
at approx. $20/participant
Other Expenses Meals and snacks for 24 $ 1,700.00 $2,784.00
participants
Other Expenses Application fees for $ 750.00 $1500.00
internships, colleges, etc.
Other Expenses Volunteer training, $ 640.00 $1280.00
background checks for 4
volunteers
Direct Costs Total $ 19,100.00 $ 28,734.00
Overhead* Administrative, Evaluation
cannot exceed 10% of the direct and report preparation, $ 700.00 $2,500.00
costs covered by the Foundation Postage, Copies

TOTAL $ 19,800.00 $31,234.00