DFAA WELCOMES BRITTANY SANDIDGE TO LEAD BEHAVIORAL HEALTH COALITION EFFORTS IN OHIO – Drug Free Action Alliance is proud to welcome Brittany Sandidge as the Director of Coalitions and Development. Sandidge will be responsible for working with the Ohio Center for Coalition Excellence for the agency and looking at ways to develop ways to meet local coalition’s needs. “Brittany brings with her an extensive background in nonprofit development as well as coalition development,” said Marcie Seidel, Executive Director of Drug Free Action Alliance. “We are extremely fortunate to be welcoming her to the team.”
“I get to focus on the thing I love the most – bringing awareness and recognition to the coalition efforts happening in the field,” said Sandidge. “Together, we need to continue recruiting and educating coalition members, enhance our work at a state wide level, and seek out opportunities to increase collaboration between public and private entities and coalitions. Sandidge comes to Ohio from Roanoke, Virginia where she was the Director of Development for the Prevention Council of Roanoke County. During her time there, she spearheaded funding and program development for the coalition, while overseeing the administration of the Strategic Prevention Framework-State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG). Sandidge worked closely with evaluators and community partners to develop strategic intervention and prevention plans around local underage and binge drinking issues.
Sandidge began her professional coalition career after working several years in the nonprofit community volunteering and consulting with coalitions at the local level. She served as an ambassador for Community Coalitions of Virginia (CCoVA) where she addressed concerns around coalition readiness, educational outreach, and policy issues connected to the changing marijuana landscape in the Commonwealth. Prior to that, Sandidge was a supervisor for the AmeriCorps*VISTA program at The Advancement Foundation where she worked with volunteers to address the sustainability needs of nonprofits in Southwest Virginia. Sandidge earned a Bachelor’s of Arts from the University of South Florida.
RECEIVE 10 FREE WHITE FLOWERING DOGWOOD TREES BY JOINING THE ARBOR DAY FOUNDATION IN AUGYST – Add color to your landscape year-round by joining the Arbor Day Foundation in August.
Everyone who joins the nonprofit Arbor Day Foundation with a $10 donation will receive 10 free white flowering dogwood trees through the Foundation’s Trees for America campaign.
The trees will be shipped postpaid between October 15 and December 10, depending on the right time for planting in each member’s area. The 6- to 12-inch trees are guaranteed to grow or they will be replaced free of charge. Planting instructions are enclosed with each shipment of trees.
To receive the free white flowering dogwood trees, send a $10 membership contribution to: Ten Free Dogwoods, Arbor Day Foundation, 100 Arbor Ave., Nebraska City, NE 68410, by August 31, 2015, or join online at arborday.org/august
JUNE CENTRAL OHIO HOUSING INVENTORY HIGHEST IN 2015 – The total inventory of homes for sale during the month of June in central Ohio was 7,663, a 2.5 percent increase over the previous year and the highest thus far in 2015 according to the Columbus REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service.
“Central Ohio homeowners have realized it’s an opportune time to put their home on the market and the increase inventory reflected this,” said Columbus REALTORS® 2015 President Kathy Shiflet. “Both the real estate industry and the temperatures were hot last month!”
There were 3,984 central Ohio Homes and condos put on the market during the month of June, a 1.6 percent increase over June 2014 and just a slight decrease of .4 percent over May. Even so, the supply of homes for sale in central Ohio is still lower than it has been in 15 years.
“With the lack of inventory, today’s buyers are highly motivated to act quickly on homes that are put on the market,” Shiflet said. “If you’ve considered selling your home, now is the time to do it!”
There were 3,148 central Ohio homes and condos sold during the month of June, a 7.6 increase over May and a 4.8 increase over June 2014. This puts the total number of homes sold for 2015 at 13,782 which is the highest number of homes sold on record for the first six months of the year.
The number of homes in contract also inched up to 3,987, which is 3.1 percent higher than the previous month and a 12.6 gain over June 2014.
ASHLAND PROFESSOR CO-EDITS NEW BOOK – Dr. John Byron, professor of New Testament at Ashland Theological Seminary, has co-edited a new book that is a collection of stories titled “I (Still) Believe.” (Zondervan, 2015).
The contributors make up a diverse group of prominent—indeed some of the world’s most influential and popular—senior Bible scholars, both women and men. All of them explore how faith and biblical scholarship intersect, each in their own way. All of them engage with the ever-important question of how serious study of the Bible affects, whether by threatening or enhancing (or both), one’s faith.
“More than anything this book affirms that testimony or ‘witness’ is an integral part of the Christian tradition,” Byron said. “Testimony still matters. These unique testimonies, each in their own way, provide a mosaic of faith—beautiful, at times subtle, often sophisticated, wonder-filled statements of faith.”
