Our 2022 annual report: When Adults Step Back, Children Step Forward

/0 Comments/in /by

Over the years we’ve been known to say, “Great things happen when adults step back to consider what children need to grow and develop.” Our 2022 annual report highlights some of the great things our grantees are doing.

They stepped back and thought hard about how they could better serve young people in their communities. Then they turned their ideas into action. For example, they helped adolescents gain workforce-ready skills. They expanded early learning options for families. And they constructed or renovated facilities where young people have opportunities to build knowledge, skills, and character.

We invested in those projects — and many others — because we believe they will help young people step forward toward self-sufficiency and economic freedom.

We invite you to read our latest annual report, When Adults Step Back, Children Step Forward. In it are stories about some of our grantees in Indiana, Iowa, Alabama, and Minnesota. As you read them, we hope you’re inspired to think about the young people you serve and how your work aligns with ours.

Dekko Foundation to move to Community Learning Center

/0 Comments/in /by

The Dekko Foundation, a private family foundation started in 1981 in Kendallville, Indiana, by the late businessman and philanthropist Chester E. Dekko, will move its offices to the Community Learning Center this year.

The Dekko Foundation’s board of directors, comprising members of Mr. Dekko’s family, has endorsed the move because of its potential to advance the foundation’s mission of fostering economic freedom through education. The spirit of collaboration that lies at the heart of the Community Learning Center and the proximity to organizations that work directly with young people will allow the foundation to be more effective in carrying out Mr. Dekko’s vision.

“We are excited that residents of Kendallville and Noble County have come together to support the Community Learning Center as it endeavors to assist individuals of all ages through lifelong learning and skill development,” said Thomas Leedy, president of the Dekko Foundation. “Working alongside agencies at the CLC that are striving to remove barriers to economic freedom will make us a stronger foundation.”

The new office, which will be on the third floor of the Community Learning Center, will accommodate the foundation’s nine-person staff and have spaces that can be shared with other community organizations.

“At the Community Learning Center, we have the opportunity to learn from agencies working hard every day to support young people as they build the skills, knowledge, and character that are fundamental to them growing up to become self-sufficient adults and ultimately capable of achieving economic freedom,” Leedy said. “That knowledge will help inform our role as a funder and benefit our mission.”

The Dekko Foundation has been among the community members and organizations that for more than a year have been collaborating to make the Community Learning Center project a reality. Recent milestones have included the announcement of the first seven agencies that will offer programs and occupy space inside the facility, and the transfer of ownership of the property from the City of Kendallville to The Community Learning Center, Inc. Earlier this month, the Community Learning Center hosted an open house that provided a first look at the improvements that have been made to the facility and allowed individuals to connect with program providers.

The Dekko Foundation is providing financial support for the Community Learning Center’s ongoing renovations and operations. Leedy sits on the board of directors of The Community Learning Center, Inc., a nonprofit organization that was formed in 2019 to oversee the facility and surrounding grounds.

“Kendallville, Noble County, and Northeast Indiana have recognized the incredible opportunity the Community Learning Center has to be a catalyst for lifelong learning, building skills, expressing creativity, and improving well-being through its multigenerational offerings,” Leedy said. “It’s because of that enthusiasm for the CLC’s mission — Connecting Communities. Strengthening Lives. Securing Futures. — that our board has chosen to support this project, and it’s why they’re confident this move will help carry on Mr. Dekko’s legacy.”

That legacy extends back to 1925 when Chester E. Dekko was born in Ada, Minnesota. Growing up during the Great Depression helped instill in Mr. Dekko a strong work ethic, a deep appreciation for how education can improve one’s standing in life, and a bold entrepreneurial spirit. Mr. Dekko and his business partner, Lyall Morrill, devised an innovative wiring harness for refrigerators and started Lyall Electric in 1952. Under Mr. Dekko’s leadership, the business grew to have a significant presence in several manufacturing sectors and was renamed Group Dekko, with more than 2,500 employees in four states and Canada. Following Mr. Dekko’s passing in 1992, his entire estate was transferred to the foundation.

The Dekko Foundation supports communities where Mr. Dekko had business and personal interests. That includes six counties in Northeast Indiana, five counties in south-central Iowa, Norman County, Minnesota, and Limestone County, Alabama.

“Our commitment to these communities remains as strong as ever,” Leedy said. “The men and women who worked for Mr. Dekko helped make Group Dekko successful, and the foundation will continue to support young people in these communities so they can be successful in becoming self-sufficient and economically free. In addition, we hope that what we’ve learned by being involved in the Community Learning Center project can be a resource for these communities as they advance themselves.”

Moving to the Community Learning Center will mark the start of an exciting new chapter for the Dekko Foundation as it prepares to celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2021.

“It’s remarkable to reflect on the impact Mr. Dekko’s vision of economic freedom has had over nearly 40 years in the communities that meant so much to him,” Leedy said. “Moving the foundation to the Community Learning Center will help ensure that vision carries on for another 40 years — and beyond.”

Challenges kids face are great, but so too is commitment to overcome them

/0 Comments/in /by

By Barry Rochford, strategic communication officer

So many children face so many obstacles to growing up into confident, independent adults — maturing into women and men who demonstrate compassion to their neighbors, are capable of contributing to their communities, and find themselves engaged in a fulfilling vocation.

Indiana Youth Institute’s recent Kids Count Conference in Indianapolis, which brought together more than 1,000 professionals from across the state involved in various aspects of youth development, underscored the perils young people face every day.

It also was a welcome reminder there are many, many Hoosiers striving to make children’s lives brighter. Every day.

Make no mistake, the task is daunting. Problems such as drugs, poverty, and unhealthy behaviors remain perniciously embedded in our culture, but they bear newer, greater dangers for young people. Drugs, for example, are refined and made more addictive. Advances in imaging techniques allow us to take a picture of a young person’s brain and see how living in a high-stress, unstable environment inhibits its growth. Even as fewer Hoosier students are smoking cigarettes now, many more of them have turned to vaping.

This generation of young people is growing up in a world unknown to their parents and grandparents. Technology — notably in the form of phones and tablets — is being used as a pacifier. You’ve no doubt seen it: A parent hands a “screen” to a fussy toddler to quiet him. There’s no ill intent behind the decision, just a desire to comfort the child. But when that screen flicks on, part of the child’s brain flicks off. The device encourages the child to become disengaged and disassociated from the human interactions occurring around him, and it’s happening during the period of his life that’s most critical to his brain’s development.

Social media, which has brought people together across cultures and continents, can cause young people to feel alienated and isolated when it’s bent into a tool for bullying. Teachers and school counselors now find themselves helping students navigate the choppy waters of friendships made more fraught by Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, and the like because the students lack relationship skills forged by face-to-face interactions with others.

The Kids Count Conference provides a forum for Indiana Youth Institute to preview its upcoming Kids Count Data Book that tracks the well-being of Hoosier youths in four areas: family and community, health, economic, and education. The upcoming 2019 Data Book contains a mixed bag of results, just as it has in previous years. Across all four areas, Indiana ranks 28th among states. Most concerning, the state ranks 48th for child maltreatment; 43rd in the number of youths in juvenile detention, and 43rd in infant mortality. Indiana, however, fares well in other benchmark categories, including fourth-grade reading proficiency (seventh among states), high housing burdens (10th), and high school graduation (13th).

Dr. Christopher Emdin, professor, author, and creator of the #HipHopEd social media movement, speaks at Indiana Youth Institute’s 2018 Kids Count Conference.

With all the challenges facing young people, it would be easy to throw our collective hands in the air because the work to overcome them is just too hard. And yet, as much as the Kids Count Conference is an acknowledgement of the issues that affect the healthy development of children, it is a celebration and affirmation of the many, many schools and organizations that engage, educate, and prepare our young people for the future.

It is that hoped-for future that drives those in youth development and compels them to do more. Chester E. Dekko, who created the Dekko Foundation in 1981, believed when young people have access to an education that helps them grow in skills, knowledge, and character, it prepares them to lead a life of independence and self-sufficiency. That’s why he gave the foundation its mission of fostering economic freedom through education. The principles underlying his mission have stood the test of time and are as applicable in 2018 as they were when he was growing up in Minnesota during the Great Depression.

The foundation, however, cannot do it alone. It is only through the work of partners that the mission of economic freedom through education can be realized. They are the ones working with young people. Every day. They are the ones doing the difficult and often unheralded job of building skills, knowledge, and character. Every day.

Yes, our young people will continue to face significant obstacles as they make the long journey to adulthood. But we should be encouraged there are so many caring adults and organizations throughout Indiana who understand those challenges, are passionate and committed, and stand ready to serve them.

Every day.

(Note: If you would like to read the 2019 Indiana Kids Count Data Book Snapshot, you can download it here.)

Working together to promote youth philanthropy

/0 Comments/in /by

By Barry Rochford, strategic communication officer

The National Center for Family Philanthropy (ncfp.org) published a great article about our partnerships with community foundations in our grantmaking areas to encourage young people to get involved in philanthropy.

Our Kimberly Schroeder was among those interviewed for the article, which also featured the Community Foundation of Noble County’s Jenna Ott and the Community Foundation of Whitley County’s September McConnell. In the article, Kimberly explained the importance of getting young people engaged with philanthropy.

“The grantmaking is some of the most important work they do,” she said. “We give them the power to affect their community and they take that responsibility seriously.”

You can read the full story here.

How do we look?

/0 Comments/in /by

By Barry Rochford, strategic communication officer

Since you’re here, you may have had this thought: The website looks different.

Well, you’re right. We’ve updated to a responsive site so it performs better on computers, tablets and phones, and we’ve made some small tweaks that hopefully make the site more visually appealing and easier to navigate.

The former site wasn’t old, per se, but it was created at a time when more people were using desktops and laptops to hop around the Internet. These days, most people are apt to look us up on their phone’s browser instead of sitting down at their desk.

You’ll see that our homepage has changed to emphasize our mission of economic freedom. Since 1981, that has been the reason behind everything we do for young people from birth to age 18. But what is economic freedom? What does that mean to us? The new homepage betters tells that story.

Yet for all the changes, the website has stayed largely the same — and that’s important, because for our grantseekers and grant recipients, our website is where they go to complete their applications and reporting requirements. That’s why the “Apply Now!” and “My Account” buttons continue to be featured prominently at the top of the homepage.

In addition, information about our beliefs, our grantmaking and our proactive initiatives remains unchanged. Those pages are an important resource for visitors to the site who want to learn more about us and our mission, our grantmaking criteria and process, our proactive work, our board and staff, and our founder, Mr. Chester E. Dekko.

I hope you like the updated look. Please feel free to look around, kick the tires (so to speak), and let me know your thoughts and suggestions for making our website even better. You can email me at brochford@dekkofoundation.org or call me at 260-347-1278, ext. 115.