It Happens at STN: Episode 4, Season 2

Phoenix, AZ (STN) – The latest episode of “It Happens at STN” kicked off the holiday season with significant announcements for two of STN’s contributing partners, All In Education and UMOM New Day Centers.

As part of Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builder philanthropic initiative, All In Education and Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation received a $200,000 unrestricted grant to expand the reach of their organization’s programs and provide additional leadership training to community leaders chosen by their respective organizations.

UMOM New Day Centers’ discussion highlighted the growing trend of families with five or more members being forced into homelessness and how UMOM works to meet the unique needs of multiple generations of a family entering homelessness simultaneously. The team at UMOM recently received a $5 million grant to help them serve the families living on their campus and the families waiting for shelter, 30% of whom are families of five or more.

Liza Buchanan, OneAZ Credit Union’s SVP of Marketing Operations, joined Community Collaborative for an action panel discussion on their organization’s journey of inclusivity and how it helped them serve a more diverse customer base. Buchanan shared how Carlos Velasco, the founder and CEO of Novle Community Activators, guided their organization’s journey to becoming a more inclusive company for employees and the customers they serve in Arizona.

Lights, Camera, Discover Founder and Executive Director Kema Charles is back on the show to highlight her organization’s summer entrepreneurship program for teens.

Viewers met Candelen CEO Rob Podlogar in his leader profile in episode three of “It Happens at STN.” In episode 4, we are introduced to the work his organization is doing to provide access to childcare educational opportunities and programs for family members also serving as after-school childcare for their relatives.

Here are the top moments from episode four:

3:20 – 17:00

Two weeks after Thanksgiving, Robin Reed, President of the Black Chamber of Arizona, kicked off episode four of Community Collaborative with a question posed by NPR (National Public Radio). Reed, a former child actor in the ’60s and ’70s, was the voice of Franklin in “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” NPR reached out to Robin and asked where he thought Franklin would be today and what the table they are sitting at would look like in 2023.

Episode four of Community Collaborative welcomed new STN partner, OneAZ Credit Union, to the show. They discussed their internal journey of inclusivity and how they utilized it to serve the diverse clients in Arizona better.

18:50 – 24:35

Bank of America’s Community Builder program has been in existence for 19 years. It is the bank’s signature nationwide philanthropic initiative. The initiative awards two organizations in Phoenix a $200,000 unrestricted grant, along with additional leadership training for their organization. This year, All In Education and Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation were granted the funds. Stephanie Parra, Executive Director at All In Education, joined host Eric Sperling to discuss why unrestricted funds will be crucial for their organization to continue growing.

25:15 – 38:40

Episode four of In The Room welcomed back producing partner Arizona Cactus-Pine Girl Scouts to the show. Kiana Jeskewitz from the Arizona Cactus-Pine Girl Scout chapter co-hosted the segment with Lloyd Hopkins. 

Together, they discussed building a mental health toolkit for parents and their kids to cope with the various stressors in their everyday lives. Glendale High School senior Alejandro Aleman and Britnee Green, a social worker for Avondale School District, joined the conversation.

40:09 – 53:23

In episode three of “It Happens at STN,” Candelen introduced their new CEO, Rob Podlogar. Episode four welcomed Candelen’s VP of Programs and Impact, Kavita Bernstein, and Candelen Program Director, Angela Tapia, to the show to explain the organization’s Kith and Kin initiative. They discussed how their “Friends, Family, Neighbors” program provides families in Arizona with access to vital childcare learning resources.

53:25 – 56:11

Lights, Camera, Discover, Founder and Executive Director Kema Charles gives STN cameras an inside look at their entrepreneurship summer program for teens.

57:41 – 1:11:10

Since the pandemic, 30% of families on UMOM New Day Center’s waitlist have five or more members. This trend is growing as the number of evictions increases across the valley, forcing more families into homelessness. 

UMOM New Day Center’s CEO, Jackson Fonder, and Amy Schwabenlender, CEO of the Human Services Campus, are joined by Mila Valle, Chief Programs Officer at UMOM, and Monique Lopez, COO at UMOM, to discuss how their organization is addressing the needs of the growing number of large families on UMOM New Day Center’s waitlist. In the segment, the panel also discusses a substantial grant that UMOM New Day Centers received, and how the funds will help UMOM’s clients immediately.