Forward Janesville - TheReport - First Quarter 2022

AMBASSADOR GRANT PROGRAM AWARDS $4000 TO LOCAL NON-PROFITS The FJI Ambassador Grant program was founded to advance the educational, cultural, and economic interests of the community. Now in its seventh year, it has awarded over $23,000 in funds to 16 Forward Janesville member non-profits. Most recently, the Forward Janesville Ambassadors awarded $4,000 in grant funds to three member non- profits. We are honored to support their impressive work to make our community a better place. Project 16:49 School to Work Access Program. This program allows unaccompanied homeless youth to pursue and fulfill certain educational and career goals by removing some of the financial barriers that stand in their way. Often it is only $25 to $100 that prevents these youth from taking advantage of an opportunity that will increase their ability to support themselves. The $1500 grant will benefit approximately 50 youth in 2022. YMCA of Northern Rock County Grab & Go Free Meals for Kids Program. This program received $1000 to provide fresh and nutritious snacks to help banish food insecurities. A small self-serve fridge with snacks for people of all ages is placed in the Welcome Center. Anyone may stop by for a “grab-and-go” snack regardless of membership status. Boys & Girls Club of Janesville Teen Program. The Boys and Girls Club’s evidence-based, nationally developed programs are designed to impact three priority outcomes for youth: academic achievement, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles both physical and mental health. Club programming addresses opportunity gaps including reading, math, homework help, and case management. The $1500 grant will help provide resources to support Teen Program outcomes. To donate to the Ambassador Grant Program, contact the Forward Janesville office or visit www.forwardjanesville.com/what-we-do/grants and click on the donate button. One hundred percent of all funds raised go directly to grant recipients. Jenny Tschudy • Membership Development, Marketing & Events Director • jennyt@forwardjanesville.com No, I am not talking about the iconic song from Aretha Franklin in 1988, though it is a great song. Rather, I am talking about language trends and words that have woven their way into our daily dialogue. To sum up 2021 with a single word would be difficult, yet certain words did dominate, with COVID-19 ranking as the most obvious. What other top contenders made my list? Since the beginning of COVID, nearly everyone was forced to transition to a virtual platform of communication, and most transitioned to “Zoom.” If you attended a meeting, you zoomed. When you celebrated a holiday or special occasion, you zoomed. If you were taking an exam or taking an online class, you zoomed. Even though in-person meetings are making a comeback, zooming still offers convenience, and we are all about convenience. You can zoom in your car, you can zoom in a park, you can zoom in a bar, you can zoom in the dark. It’s a clever little word that could easily be incorporated into a Dr. Seuss book. It’s a word that is here to stay—at least for now. As the emergence of vaccines promised a return to normalcy, my number two word emerged. Vaxxed even made its way to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as the 2021 word of the year and it’s no surprise. The word is not actually new; it’s been around since the 19th century, but never has it been so present as it was in 2021. I would say it was definitely one of the inescapable words of 2021. I would be remiss if I did not include the word “pivot” in my top five. With COVID shattering our best-laid recovery plans, virtually everyone needed to “pivot” in some manner as the pandemic dragged on into year two. Whether it be work, school, or home, we all dealt with upheaval and uncertainty as new COVID variants emerged and pivoting became an all-too-familiar phrase. One could say it became our new normal. Speaking of . . . close your eyes and imagine one of the most common phrases of 2021. Odds are the “ new normal ” made your list, too. According to Google Trends, people in the Peoria-Bloomington metro area in Illinois are the most obsessed with this term with almost three times the amount of search interest found elsewhere. What’s going on in Peoria that we don’t know about? I'm not sure, but I'm ready for just plain old normal! When I take a deeper dive into what I consider one of the most overused phrases of 2021, the one that rises to the top is “ I did a thing.” The word thing, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is an object that need not, cannot, or does not wish to give a specific name to. Commonly used by millennials before sharing something like a well-kept secret, this slang term also caught on with many Gen X, Y & Z’ers and even baby boomers. We saw a lot of “I did a thing” (purchased a house) or “I did a thing” (quit my job). I suppose doing a thing is better than doing nothing. However, if I had to pick just one 2021 phrase that annoyed me most it would surely be “I did a thing.” As I wrap up, I am inspired to pivot into “doing a thing” I have never done and incorporating it into my new normal . What that is, I have no clue, but I promise to Zoom you with all the details! Who’s Zooming Who? 16 • W W W . F O R W A R D J A N E S V I L L E . C O M