Keene Housing Kids Collaborative
Building the foundation for successful adulthood
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The mission of Keene Housing Kids Collaborative is building the foundation for successful adulthood. We are a non-profit organization working to help children living in households that are struggling to make ends meet reach their full potential. The future of our community – and any community – depends on the ability of our children to grow into productive, healthy, confident and engaged members of our community.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Helping Kids Access Success
We connect children to existing programs in the community, at no cost their families.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Related Program
Helping Kids Access Success
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Decrease in 2020 and 2021 due to impact of global pandemic.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Just over 500 children between the ages of birth and 18 live in Keene Housing households – with an average annual income of $23,516. If statistics hold true for these kids, most of them will struggle to get ahead as adults, as well.
School data for these children is sobering: they score about two grade levels behind their more affluent peers on standardized tests in math and reading, are absent from school at a much higher rate, and 2 out of every 5 kids who live in Keene Housing households are enrolled in special education.
We are missing out on the contributions these young people could make if they reach their potential as fully successful adult members of our community: contributions in art, science, business and civic life. The Kids Collaborative is working to change things for children and youth living in Keene Housing by connecting them to existing opportunities and experiences in the community that will give them the tools they need to succeed.
Goals we have for our kids include:
Enter kindergarten with behavior that is generally school appropriate and with strong pre-reading and numeracy skills
Develop strong socio-emotional skills throughout childhood and adolescence, and reach grade level proficiency in reading and math by fourth grade
Graduate high school with a GPA of C+ or higher, without having become a parent, and without having come in to contact with the juvenile justice system
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We are moving kids toward these goals by connecting kids to quality community activities in the arts, academics and athletics. We pay tuition and other participation fees, liaise with families to make them aware of what’s happening in the community, manage applications and other paperwork, and act as a central point of contact and clearinghouse of information.
Parental involvement is a key component of the Kids Collaborative model, and empowers Keene Housing parents to provide their children with the experiences and activities that children from more well-off households take for granted.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We partner with more than 30 youth serving programs in the area to give our kids access to their programming. Our kids have access to programs at the following partners, at no cost their families.
• Keene Family YMCA
• MoCo Arts
• City of Keene Parks and Recreation
• Swanzey Recreation Department
• Project KEEP (Keene School District afterschool program)
• ACES 93 (Monadnock Regional School District afterschool program)
• Keene Ice
• White Crane Martial Arts
• Yankee Lanes Bowling
• Stonewall Farm
• Keene State College Kids on Campus
• Child Development Center at Keene State College
• Montessori School of Keene
• Cheshire Children’s Museum
• Cheshire Career Center
• Children’s Learning Center at Cheshire Medical Center
• Monadnock Conservancy
• Cheshire County Indoor Soccer
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of NH
• Children’s Stage Adventures
• Granite Gorge
• Wakadoodles Open Art Studio
• Greater Keene Youth Baseball and Softball Association
• Swanzey Cal Ripken Baseball
• Keene High School Athletic Department
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2020, 246 kids participated in 676 separate activities in the community in art, athletics and academics.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Keene Housing Kids Collaborative
Board of directorsas of 03/02/2023
Danielle Ruffo
Savings Bank of Walpole
Term: 2023 - 2023
Danielle Ruffo
Savings Bank of Walpole
Kim Schmidl-Gagne
Keen State College
Eliza Murphy
Brewbaker's Cafe
JB Mack
Southwest Region Planning Commission
Stacey McGilvery
Southwestern Community Services
Erika Greenwald
unaffiliated
Ben White
SAU29
Sarah Frankel
Ward Legal Group
Gregg Kleiner
Fenton Dealerships
Cristina Carpentier
Keene State College
Joanna Zambella
Monadnock Broadcasting Group
Kristin Targett
Cedarcrest for Children with Disabilities
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/02/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.