Executive Director, Victorian Vanities, Inc.
Victorian Vanities, Inc.
2901 Wood Pipe Lane Unit A
Philadelphia, PA 19129
215-844-1919
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At the beginning of 2011 we asked ourselves, should we cut our prices in half? Would our donors make up the difference? Would we still be in business? We cut our prices to $99 plus $2 per child for materials. Our donors made up the difference. We are still in business. I am proud to report that 2011 saw a 55% increase in enrollments! We were able to enroll more workshops than ever before, and to serve more more children than ever before. I am also very proud of the relationship that we are forging with our largest client, the Philadelphia Department of Recreation. This year saw us add two new members to our Board, both of whom are Facilities Directors at local playgrounds. Their expertise and intimate knowledge of the way the city works in the Recreation field will be an asset to us in the future. I was asked to speak at the 100th birthday of Happy Hollow playground. Happy Hollow is the oldest playground in the city of Philadelphia. I have come to know its Facilities Director and I expect that he will be joining our board in 2012.
Under the auspices of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, I took a course in telling our stories. Effective storytelling is crucial to how we conduct our business and how we enrich peoples lives. The results of that workshop are seen in Seth's Story, which you can read in the Annual Report. I am coming closer to that coveted Historic Preservation Certificate from Bucks County Community College. This certificate is the only one offered in Historic Preservation in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. I have been working on this for the last three years. This year I was able to create a framework for an adult program called "Step Back in Time." Currently it is being offered only to retirement communities but ultimately it will be offered to any adult venue that wants to host us. This will give us a new audience of older adults eager to learn about American History. Due to my work with activities directors from the various retirement communities in the eleven counties that we serve, I expect that we will be adding a Board member from one of those communities in the near future.
Thanks to one of our volunteers, we insitituted a donation jar campaign. Jars were put in several diners in Philadelphia county. Surprisingly enough, they have become a valuable soource of new revenue for us. This will be an ongoing campaign for us with jars being placed in new counties periodically.
2012 is shaping up to be an exciting year as well. We have kept our prices stable, added two new programs to the Tom and Huck go to Camp series and will be rolling out the adult program in June. We hope to be exploring new markets such as Montessori schools, and after-school programs. As we learn about Facebook and blogging, we will be posting on a regular basis. We would appreciate your help. Your support and dedication to our mission is invaluable.