After completing a transitional housing program, which included classes on parenting and budgeting, Elaine was selected to become a homeowner through Habitat for Humanity. Once on the verge of homelessness, Elaine now works at a financial institution and her four boys are thriving in their safe and stable home.

Elaine and her family are just one example of the lasting changes being created through United Way’s focus on bringing the Atlanta Metropolitan region together to develop a plan and generate the resources to end chronic homelessness. Working together to remedy the underlying causes for people becoming and remaining homeless,  we have the resources, the intellect, the compassion and the leadership necessary to end, not just manage, long-term homelessness. That’s United Way. That’s what matters.

In the United States, 87 percent of children receive low quality child care, and 46 percent of kindergarteners begin school at risk for failure. In Colorado, nearly one-third of children enter classrooms emotionally or socially unprepared to learn, and one-fourth of children are not academically prepared to learn. Studies show that low-income children who participate in quality early care and education programs are more prepared for kindergarten and are more successful later in life.

Offering high-quality, educational child care is essential to the success of the community. For every $1 invested in early child care and education, the community will save up to $17 in later costs such as remedial education, welfare and incarceration. This is why United Ways across the country are investing your contribution to dramatically increase the quality of early education in America.

Anna was able to complete her nursing degree and her children were able to continue going to the learning center due to a sliding fee scale made possible through United Way support. This program, providing child care and early learning opportunities for low-income families, allowed Anna the chance to continue her children on the right path to school readiness and future success.

Anna’s children are not alone in receiving this type of child care focused on developing children to their fullest potential. Like other United Ways across the country, Mile High United Way joined with community partners to ensure that all of metro Denver’s most vulnerable young children are ready to succeed when they begin school.

The Corporate Volunteer Council of the UWCI, Indianapolis Public Schools and other community partners came together to ask the community to donate school supplies for Indianapolis Public Schools students. UWCI guided the Backpack Attack partners in recruiting collection sites and offering information and connections to the Indianapolis corporate community. With this help, the number of collection sites grew from seven in 1999 to 235 collection sites in 2006. The number of supplies also increased exponentially, from 5,200 school supplies collected in 1999 to nearly 400,000 supplies in 2006.

UWCI estimates that Backpack Attack is meeting the school supply needs of about 35% of the Indianapolis Public School students.  With the help of corporate partners, UWCI is reaching closer and closer to meeting the needs of all 85% of students who need supplies.

Indianapolis Public School students are not alone. Because of poverty and other family challenges, many children across our country go to school lacking basic supplies needed to perform well. By working together with the corporate community, United Way impacts the lives of children and families across the country. Your United Way contribution, in time or money, is an investment in children, and together we can achieve lasting results. That’s what matters. That’s United Way.

New Yorkers gain job skills and secure quality, long-term employment thanks to the 82 community organizations that make up NYCWorks. Within its first four months, the program assisted nearly 5,700 people through workshops teaching everything from specific job skills to workplace etiquette, computer proficiency and other skills necessary for maintaining long-term employment.

After years of struggling, Bernadette was determined to succeed for herself and for her children. When she heard about the NYCWorks culinary arts program, she knew it was for her. Now she will use her new skills to realize her dreams.

Within its first few months, NYCWorks helped 300 New Yorkers find jobs. Bernadette and many others credit NYCWorks for giving them the skills to create their own opportunities. “I really am thankful to the program, and to all of the people responsible for it,” Bernadette says. Thanks to United Ways across the country, thousands of people like Bernadette are gaining the skills they need for a financially stable and successful future.

Mentoring programs have astounding results. Kids who have had a mentor are 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs; 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol; 53 percent less likely to skip school and 33 percent less likely to engage in violence.

Through these programs, children and youth, like Cassandra, are able to meet one-on-one with a caring, supportive adult. The personal relationships that are built here provide the youth with confidence and encouragement, helping them to be successful in all aspects of their lives. “Many of these kids would end up as statistics without the help of United Way,” admits one of Cassandra’s mentors, “instead, this program allows kids to become educated, proactive members of society and escape the cycle of welfare, poverty and crime.”

Through the support of United Way community partners, Cassandra found the encouragement and confidence she needed to succeed. She recently received her Masters in Information Systems Technology and is now able to give back to her family and her community.

One of the partnership’s focus areas is improving child care through the accreditation of child care centers. United Way and their collaborators chose to focus on seven child care centers in the highest risk neighborhoods, providing care for 650 high-risk children, like Angelica. The child care centers were remodeled with safety improvements, a specialist was hired to develop a new enriching educational curriculum for the centers and teachers were trained three times a year to effectively use the learning program and offered scholarships for additional early childhood training.

Many of the children in Angelica’s first grade class are already behind at this very early age. They started school without even knowing which way to hold a book, let alone knowing the alphabet and numbers. Forty-six percent of kindergartners enter school at risk for failure and often times kids that start behind, stay behind. Luckily Angelica is already on the road to success. Thanks to United Way and its community partners, Angelica reads above her grade level because of the enriching curriculum she is exposed to every day at her child care center.

Along with their partners, United Way of Central Iowa ensured 125 teachers were trained in early childhood development, 100 of whom received scholarships for advanced certificates, 46 classrooms implemented new brain-stimulating Creative Curriculum, three child care centers became accredited, with two more on the way, 300 books went out to the centers every week, and seven centers had their facilities significantly remodeled. With three centers already accredited and two more very close, United Way is focusing on five more centers and is looking to expand the program to in-home providers.

Children like Angelica flourish because of quality child development centers. Thanks to donations from the generous people of Des Moines, United Way was able to fund the tuition for Angelica’s favorite teacher, and many other teachers, to earn early childhood accreditation. The skills learned and carried back to the classroom have made a difference to Angelica – and hundreds of children each day. That’s United Way. That’s what matters.

United Way of Metropolitan Chicago works to provide youth in their communities with the support and resources to overcome educational challenges and ensure their success. United Way and its community partners offer programs that aim for every young person to have a safe and healthy environment in which to learn, grow and succeed. United Way of Metropolitan Chicago focuses on mentoring and stay-in-school programs to keep youth on track for graduation and prepare them for the future.

Thanks to the community’s generosity, United Way was able to support a youth mentoring program where Lisa received the personal support and guidance to make her goals a reality. “Without the Boys & Girls Club in my neighborhood, I would have followed a different path,” admits Lisa. As the first person in her family to be accepted to a four-year university, Lisa is already beating the odds. Regardless of the challenges that lie ahead, Lisa will not be discouraged. “I’m not giving up now,” she promises. Lisa’s success in not an isolated occurrence. Seventy-five percent of youth that attend after-school development programs similar to Lisa’s reach their goals and graduate from high school.

Your investment in United Way brings lasting changes in the lives of young people like Lisa, and builds stronger communities for us all. That’s United Way. That’s what matters.

Hurricane-ravaged communities, such as Mary’s, spend years rebuilding what took hours to destroy. United Way is there for the long-haul. In the wake of the 2005 hurricanes, United Way of America teamed up with thinkMTV to create Storm Corps, an Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program that sent nearly 100 young men and woman to volunteer in the Gulf Coast region.

These volunteers worked on rebuilding and repairing homes damaged by hurricanes in the past two years. Under the supervision of contractors, about 20 ASB volunteers spent 5 days rebuilding Mary’s home. With the efforts of United Way ASB volunteers, Mary soon had a place to call home again. Now when her grandchildren come to visit her newly furnished home with its bright-yellow exterior, Mary feels it is a place where many joys will be shared and new memories made.

“Miss Mary said she was forever thankful to us,” admits 2006 and 2007 ASB participant, Fletcher Burkhardt, “but the truth is, we received more out of the experience than any of us ever thought we would. The week working on her house was probably one of the best weeks of our lives.”

This March, more than 300 young people, like Fletcher, will use their Spring Break to join United Way in long-term recovery and rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast region. As in 2006, United Way National Corporate Leader, FedEx is the lead sponsor of Alternative Spring Break 2007. Joining FedEx in supporting ASB 2007 are GameStop/EB Games and media partner, MTV.
By engaging young people to help hurricane victims, like Mary, through the long-term struggle recovering from disaster, United Way is strengthening communities and helping people get their lives back to normal. Your United Way support helps rebuild lives with benefits that ripple throughout the community.

Like United Ways across the country, United Way of
Orange County has made helping families achieve
financial stability a priority in their community. With
a focus on ensuring all members of the community
secure self-sufficient wage levels, attain safe and
secure housing and have the opportunity for higher
levels of education, United Way of Orange County leads
their community towards greater financial stability and an
improved quality of life.

The money Kelly received from the earned income tax credit allowed her to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Kelly is now able to pay off bills, purchase needed items for her children, place money in savings for her kids’ college education and also for her own continuing education to become a paralegal.

Kelly was one of 140 people who took advantage of the free tax days hosted by Orange County United Way, Legal Aid Society of Orange County and the City of Santa Ana, where individuals were educated on the filing process to receive earned income tax credits. In 2004, the most recent records available, 21 million people received earned income tax credits, returning $39 billion to deserving workers like Kelly and their communities nationwide. Moving individuals and families toward financial stability creates lasting changes in people’s lives. That’s what matters. That’s United Way.   

Catherine received a flyer containing information about 2-1-1. Left with little hope, she picked up the phone and dialed the three digit number. Omar, a call specialist from 2-1-1 Info in Portland, Oregon, was in the Monroe, Louisiana call center when the call came in.

“I could tell that she was crying as she explained her desperate search to me,” he said. After taking down all of the necessary information, Omar searched the databases for Daisy. “She’s staying in a shelter in Baton Rouge,” he told Catherine. He gave her the name of the shelter and phone number where she could reach Daisy. With this information, Catherine was finally able to get in touch with Daisy. She was thankful beyond words.

Catherine and Daisy’s experience is one of many success stories that emerged from the 2-1-1 Call Center during the 2005 hurricanes. Because 2-1-1 was available, people were rescued from rooftops, evacuees were able to obtain life sustaining medications, and families, like Catherine’s were reunited. 2-1-1 was essential to many during this time of disaster and continues to be a source of aid and hope every day to people throughout the country seeking help fulfilling their health and human services needs.

To find out if 2-1-1 is available in your area, log onto www.211.org.

United Ways all over the country invest in quality early learning programs to ensure children start on an early path towards success. Through United Way Success By 6, a collaborative community initiative that proactively supports the healthy development of children in their early years, United Way supports the education and development of children like Maria.

United Way Success By 6, the nation’s largest network of early childhood coalitions, focuses on improving school readiness through community change. In more than 350 communities, Success By 6 equips parents and children with the tools for success. In the last five years, more than 500 thousand children have benefited from United Way Success By 6 through early learning, child care, parent education, health, literacy and family resource center programs. At United Way of Greater Los Angeles, Success By 6 unites diverse resources and skills in targeted disadvantaged communities and implements long-term strategies that support early childhood development.

Esmeralda had to find childcare she could afford with her limited resources. She found a United Way of Greater Los Angeles Success By 6 community partner that offers quality childcare and early education programs for low-income families. While Esmeralda worked and finished her degree, Maria was learning pre-kindergarten skills and receiving caring attention from trained childcare professionals. “I am so grateful that I was able to do all of this without having to worry about Maria’s health and safety,” Esmeralda said. “I’m pleased that she was in an enriching environment where she was not only watched and cared for, but also supported academically.”
 
Based on the specific needs of the community, the Los Angeles Success By 6 program focuses on early literacy, quality parenting and quality care-giving as its top three priority areas. In some LA communities, this means linking parent literacy programs with under-served residents and in others it means bringing together resources to form a broad base of community support systems including economic development, child and family services, housing, and affordable, quality childcare. In communities all across the country, United Way Success By 6 means the chance for a brighter future, just like what Esmeralda found for herself and her daughter Maria.

Through an initiative called Destination: Graduation, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas partners with the Dallas Independent School District, Dallas County Community Colleges and other community partners to reduce the number of high school dropouts. This collaboration increases the high school graduation rate through engaging parental involvement, enrolling high school students in college prep courses and matching students with supportive mentors.

Studies show youth who have mentoring relationships demonstrate academic improvements and are less likely to engage in gang activity, violence, drugs or alcohol. United Way of Metropolitan Dallas’ Destination: Graduation also engages parents with programs teaching them how to support their child’s education. Because 58% of the students not graduating are Hispanic, Destination: Graduation works with United Way community partner, Dallas Concilio, an agency serving the Hispanic community. This partnership allows United Way to cross cultural and language barriers, making a deeper impact on the community. United Way unites the resources and talents of the community to improve educational and life opportunities for Dallas youth.

“In Dallas… 43% of students drop out prior to graduating.”

“[Destination: Graduation] boosted my confidence and I know I can do the work. I’ll say ‘I can do it’ and try to learn it. It’s nice knowing that now,” said Clyde. Clyde is a great example of how United Way programs are changing people’s lives right where you live.

United Ways across the country are evaluating the specific health and human service needs of their communities and implementing plans to address these needs. After assessing the community, Greater Twin Cities United Way identified “children’s oral health” as an emerging issue for their community. To address this, Greater Twin Cities United Way began Bright Smiles. This program provides oral health education, support and dental care targeted towards new immigrant, refugee, minority and low-income households with children five and under.

Through United Way and a collaboration of community partners*, Bright Smiles reaches out to children and families with education, screening, and low or no cost dental care. United Way works to expand the availability of comprehensive care, improve parents’ ability to care for their children’s oral health needs and develop community awareness of oral health issues.

“Bright Smiles educated nearly 4,000 parents/caregivers and their children on preventive dental hygiene practices.”

During its first year, Bright Smiles educated nearly 4,000 parents/caregivers and their children on preventive dental hygiene practices; provided 266 uninsured children with fluoride varnishes and 180 uninsured children with dental care visits. Investing in the oral health of children prevents a lifetime of costly dental procedures, chronic pain, and lost hours of school and work. Poor oral health is also linked to heart disease, yet another reason why teaching children proper dental habits is important for a lifetime of healthy living. Like United Ways nationwide, Greater Twin Cities United Way dedicates itself to helping children succeeded and strengthening and supporting families throughout their community.

* John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Delta Dental Plan of Minnesota, Edwards Memorial Trust, Mardag Foundation, Deluxe Corporation, Halleland, Lewis, Nilan & Johnson, 3M-ESPE, Patterson Dental, Staples Foundation for Learning, , Target Corporation, Open Cities Health Center, West Side Community Health Services, Children’s Dental Services, Community Dental Care, Community Action Partnership of Ramsey and Washington Counties, Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative, White Bear Lake Area Community Counseling Center, Century College, Union Gospel Mission, and Ramsey County Child & Teen Checkups.

No Room for Domestic Violence increases awareness, improves services and expands emergency workers’ abilities to respond to incidents of domestic violence. United Way and its community partners provide the community with signage, news coverage, training for emergency staff, and places for victims to go for help and protection. In addition to hospitals, police stations and fire stations, a local gas/convenience store chain also opened its doors as a safe haven. All staff are trained to help people experiencing domestic violence, offering victims more places to go for help. Volunteers also go door-to-door and distribute packets filled with information on domestic violence help centers. Specialists designed the packets with a variety of information including coupons and general community notices to prevent perpetrators from thinking the information specifically targeted their homes.

“The arrest rates for domestic violence calls in Madison County increased from 29% to 72%...and in the long-term will result in a decrease in domestic violence incidents.”