SISTERS OF BON SECOURS, USA
THE SISTERS OF BON SECOURS
MINISTRY GRANT
Application
Please complete the following questions using no more than six pages maximum.
1, Project Description
a. Please give the project’s name and location
This is a new project, “Grassroots education on the death penalty in Virginia.” VADP is
requesting funds to hire a new Field Organizer position. This staff person will work from
his or her home, but travel extensively to meet with key local religious, civic, and business
leaders across Virginia and provide education about altematives to the death penalty.
b. Briefly describe this project and the organization to which it belongs.
VADP isa statewide citizens’ organization founded in 1991 to end the death penalty through
education, organizing, and advocacy. The staff person for this will project to educate local
leaders within key legislative districts identified by VADP and its partner organizations -
including the Virginia Catholic Conference and ACLU of Virginia.
c. How is this project in keeping with the Sisters of Bon Secours Mission and the purpose
of the Sisters of Bon Secours Ministry Grant?
First, capital punishment is contrary to essential human dignity as articulated by Pope John
Paul II in Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) and affirmed in the Catechism of the
Catholic Church (2266 & 2267).
In The Gospel of Life (1995), Pope John Paul II wrote, “[Punishment] ought not go to the
extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when
it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady
improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not
practically non-existent.”
Since that time the Vatican as well as the U.S. Bishops have called for an end to executions.
On May 6, 2015 the Virginia Bishops wrote, “By ending the use of the death penalty we
would take one important step - among significant others we must take - to abandon the
culture of death and embrace the culture of life.”
Second, those sentenced to death in Virginia are overwhelming the poor, people of color, and
those with mental illness. For example, Dinwiddie County is currently seeking capital
punishment for a black man who shot and killed a state trooper, then fled after taking off his
clothes. After his capture, this man was ruled incompetent by the court and was treated in a
state psychiatric unit for over a year before he could assist in his own defense.
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Third, death row inmates in Virginia have been held in solitary confinement for years at a
time, depriving them of any meaningful relationships. They meet with spiritual
counselors through solid steel doors and speak through a small slit in the door. This
practice has serious negative consequences and has driven at least one death row inmate
insane. A recent court case has forced the Virginia Department of Corrections to improve
conditions and allow limited social interactions among death row inmates.
Finally, VADP has a close partnership with the Virginia Catholic Conference in developing
educational resources for parishes and legislative strategy at the General Assembly. Feel free
to contact the Conference Executive Director Jeff Caruso about VADP (see references).
2. Needs Assessment
a. What is the scope and significance of the unmet or underserved need addressed by this
project?
Since the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the states to reintroduce capital punishment in 1976,
Virginia has executed 110 people - third most in the nation behind Texas and Oklahoma.
Only 35% of the 133 political jurisdictions in the Commonwealth have had someone executed
since 1976. Three jurisdictions (Prince William, Chesterfield & Virginia Beach) have 23%
of Virginia’s executions. Seven jurisdictions (Prince William, Chesterfield, Virginia Beach,
Fairfax, Hampton, Pittsylvania, & Portsmouth) account for 41% of the state’s executions.
As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart once wrote, “These death sentences are cruel
and unusual in the same way that being struck by lightning is cruel and unusual. ... the
petitioners are among a capriciously selected random handful upon whom the sentence of
death has in fact been imposed.”
The death penalty is a failed government program that is prohibitively expensive, random &
discriminatory in its application, and ineffective in deterring violent crime. In addition, the
mandatory appeals in capital cases turn killers into media celebrities and ensure that the
family members of murder victims endure years of glaring media attention while the required
appeals wind their way through state and federal court systems.
b. Is anyone else providing this service? If so, how does the proposed project compliment or
differ from the other project(s)/service(s).
VADP is the only organization in the Commonwealth that is solely dedicated to abolition of
the death penalty. It plays a leading role in convening other groups that support abolition
and coordinating joint efforts in education, organizing, and advocacy. VADP is grateful for
the active support of the Virginia Catholic Bishops and the Virginia Catholic Conference.
c. How many people and who will be served by this project?
The most direct beneficiaries of VADP’s work are the seven inmates on death row and those
accused of capital murder as well as their attomeys. There is no database on the number of
capital prosecutions in Virginia despite a 2002 recommendation to create one by the Joint
Legislative A udit and Review Commission of the Virginia General Assembly
If we are successful in ending capital punishment, employees in our courts, criminal justice
system, and prisons would be relieved of the burden to try, sentence, and carry out
executions. Many of these individuals suffer psychological trauma from their involvement
in death sentences.
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Finally, the taxpayers of Virginia would benefit from ending the death penalty which is far
more expensive than the alternative sentence of life in prison without parole. While no
comprehensive cost analysis has been done in Virginia, it is estimated that ending capital
punishment would save Virginia several million dollars each year.
3. Project Goals
a. List the goals and specific objectives of this project and provide an estimated timetable
for implementation.
VADP has a primary goal of seeking a vote to abolish of the death penalty in the 2020
session of the Virginia legislative session. In order to reach this goal, we need to get more
legislators to support an end to capital punishment - especially Republicans. Most
Democrats are already in favor of death penalty abolition.
VADP, the Virginia Catholic Conference and the ACLU of Virginia have identified a core
group of Republican legislators who have consistently voted against death penalty bills in
the past two years. A larger group of Republican Delegates and Senators have struggled
with their consciences to vote in favor of these bills. They supported the electric chair or
execution secrecy bills only after intense pressure from colleagues and the Governor.
This project would take place during the 2017, 2018, and 2019 years to build local support
from religious, civic, and business leaders for death penalty abolition. No politician will
vote in favor of a controversial policy like death penalty abolition without this local support.
Objectives for this project in 2017 are:
= Identify at least 50 significant religious, civic, and business leaders in each of the 22
target legislative districts identified by VADP and its partner organizations.
= Carry out research on the backgrounds of as many of these local leaders as possible.
= Contact at least 20 of these leaders by phone and/or e-mail each week.
= Meet in person with at least 5 of these leaders each week to assess their knowledge and
attitudes on capital punishment.
= Build ongoing relationships with as many of these local leaders as possible, sending
them information on the death penalty and having follow-up meetings where possible.
= Recruit at least five local leaders in each of the 22 target legislative districts to contact
their legislator and advocate for an end to capital punishment in Virginia.
b. How will you measure the achievement of these objectives?
The Field Organizer will create an online spreadsheet or database of each identified local
leader and his or her background as well as logs of each contact made, individual meeting,
follow-up actions, and those who oppose the death penalty.
These activities will be reviewed in weekly supervision meetings between the Field
Organizer and VADP Executive Director. They will discuss successes and failures as well
as work together to resolve problems encountered by the Field Organizer.
c. If this is a request for a second grant for the same project previously awarded by us, how
have you accomplished your goals and objectives? How do these goals and objectives
differ from those of the new request?
Not applicable.
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4, Project Management
a. How will the project be managed?
VADP currently has only one employee - Executive Director Michael Stone. He will
provide direct supervision of the Field Organizer hired for this project. Board chairperson
Kent Willis will play a key role in assisting o Executive Director in planning, management,
and evaluation of this project.
There will be weekly meetings between the two of them - either in person, via Skype, or by
phone. In addition, the Field Organizer will submit written reports on the work twice each
month that will be sent to the VADP board of directors for review.
A written work plan will be produced that specifies where the Field Organizer works, the
number of contacts made each week, and goals for religious, civic, and business leaders to
endorse an end to the death penalty in Virginia.
b. Who are the key people involved in managing this project. Please include a brief
biographical sketch including each person's skills, experience, and expertise as they
relate to implementing and continuing the project.
Michael Stone is the VADP Executive Director. Prior to this position, he worked as a Field
Organizer for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. In that role, he worked
with abolition organizations in Virginia, Missouri, South Dakota, and Pennsylvania. He has
spoken about capital punishment to faith communities and other organizations across the
Commonwealth. He has also identified opponents to the death penalty among “unlikely
allies” - including political conservatives and violent crime victims.
Michael also worked for 25 years in social ministry for Office of Justice & Peace for the
Catholic Diocese of Richmond from 1984 to 2009. During that he served as Respect Life
Coordinator and worked on issues such as abortion, stem cell research, assisted suicide, and
capital punishment as well as economic justice, affordable housing, immigration reform,
fair trade, and socially responsible investment.
He is a former board member of the Virginia Catholic Conference and the Virginia Interfaith
Center for Public Policy.
Kent Willis is the VADP board chairperson. He is the former Executive Director of the
American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, retiring in 2012. At the ACLU, Kent helped to
establish VADP. In 1998 he secured a grant to produce the first comprehensive study of
the death penalty in Virginia, Unequal, Unfair and Irreversible, which was followed by
Broken Justice, a second critique of the death penalty by the ACLU.
Kent recognized VADP as the state’s preeminent voice for death penalty reform, and the
ACLU provided free office space and clerical support for its Richmond operations for
nearly ten years as a means of advancing the shared objectives of the two organizations.
5. Budget
a. What are the specific uses of the grant funds you are requesting, e.g., salary for a social
worker to enroll children in Medicaid and office supplies?
Salary for the new Field Organizer position.
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b. Please attach a complete budget summary for the project for one year, including revenue,
expenses and principal sources of funding, to include budget assumptions. (e.g. 4 aides
X $100 X 2080 hours = $$ per year; or travel 100 miles / week at____ federal cost per
mileage).
See the completed budget template below.
c. Please attach copy of actual revenue and expenses for preceding year if applicable.
See attachment for VADP’s 2015 income and expense report.
6. Project Sustainability
a. What efforts have been made to raise money from other sources? Please list name(s) and
amount(s) of past, currently secured, pending and p ial sources of funding. Include
potential untried sources (name and dollar amount). Please specify.
Historically, VADP has raised funds from three sources - individuals, faith communities, and
the Death Penalty Mobilization Fund (DPMF) - a consortium of foundations and major
donors managed by the Tides Foundation in San Francisco.
Very few foundations are willing to even consider grants for an issue as controversial as the
death penalty. In the past year VADP received fundraising technical assistance from the
Tides Foundation. Our Executive Director identified eight Virginia and national
foundations from a search of the online Foundation Directory provided by Tides.
Our consultant helped analyze these results. Together we identified four most likely to
support abolition work - the Harris & Frances Block Foundation, Morris & Gwendolyn
Cafritz Foundation, Charles & Lucille King Family Foundation, and the Moriah Fund.
The Executive Director contacted each one by phone to talk about our work. All four said
that they would not consider funding for VADP.
Since then, the VADP Executive Director has focused on meetings with current major
donors, potential new major donors, and pastors of churches that have not yet provided
financial support for our work.
These contacts have so far produced two new $1,000 individual gifts and another $2,800
from three new churches. This is not an insignificant amount given that that VADP’s
annual budget for the current 2016 year is only $100,285.
In addition, VADP supporters have hosted “friend-raising” events in Hemdon, Richmond,
and Roanoke so far in 2016 to introduce new donors to our work. Another event is
scheduled in Charlottesville in September. Other events in Norfolk, Richmond, and
Anlington are in the early planning stages.
b. What are the long-term plans for continuing this project? Can this project become self-
sustaining? Please explain.
This is a new project with a three-year timeline. We hope that funding from the Bon Secours
Sisters Ministry Fund would help us to create matching funds from more churches, major
donors, and other congregations of women religious.
7, Reapplication for same project
Not applicable.
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BUDGET SUMMARY OF PROPOSED PROGRAM/PRO] ECT - 2017
Outline your anticipated annualized operational budget and key revenue sources for calendar year 2017:
Please indicate which year you are using.
(1) Amount
Requested from Bon (2) Other Sources Other Funding Total Program
BUDGET CATEGORIES Secours Grant Fund of Funding Offsets Operating Budget
PERSONNEL*:
Individuals,
churches, & $ 35,000
religious sisters
$15,000
Salaries $ 20,000
Fringe (specify)
Consultants/other costs
Volunteer - In-Kind
OFFICE SUPPLIES:
Supplies
Postage
Training
Individuals,
Travel (10,000 miles @ churches, & 5,400
$0.54/mile) religious sisters "
$5,400
Telephone
PROGRAM MATERIALS:
(Please specify)
a.
b.
FACILITIES:
Rent
Utilities
Maintenance
Other (specify)
EQUIPMENT: (Specify
equipment needed)
INSURANCE
OTHER (specify)
a.
b.
PROGRAM FEES*:
TOTAL $ 20,000 $40,400
(1) Include specific assumptions for each budget category (include in-kind services).
(2) Identify sources by name and amount in budget assumptions
