| 1,205 children under six years of age improved school readiness skills. |
| 21,693 seniors and people with disabilities received services that improved the quality of their lives. |
| 28,666 individuals and families in financial crisis received the education needed to increase their financial stability. |
"Be the change you want to see in the world."
-Mahatma Gandhi
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LIVE UNITED
Two simple words ... packed with meaning.
LIVE
UNITED is about the power of unity. It is a constant reminder that when
we as individuals think outside ourselves, we have the power to
facilitate change. When we reach out a hand to one, we influence the
condition of all.
LIVE UNITED is a credo, a mission, a goal.
It is also a command: TO GIVE. TO ADVOCATE. TO VOLUNTEER. Because
united, we can change what we see in our community and our world.
Thank you for living united by supporting your United Way. Together, we can do more than we can alone.
Education, Income, Health
There
are basic things we all need for a good life: a quality education
that leads to a stable job, income that can support a family through
retirement, and good health. United Way is dedicated to creating
opportunities for a better life for all by focusing on education,
income, and health. This translates into our three priority areas:
- Positive Youth Development
- Financial Stability Leading to Independence
- Health and Well-Being of Individuals and our Community
The
Partner Agencies are an important part of the infrastructure that
exists for all three areas. By both funding agency programs and
partnering with them and others, your United Way’s community
initiatives build upon this foundation created by the network of
service in the truest sense of Live United.
Partnerships, Collective Action and Responding to Needs
With
the Great Kids Great Communities effort firmly rooted and growing in
our community to build the developmental assets of our youth, your
United Way has been able to expand its work to two additional youth
initiatives over the past 18 months: early childhood care and education and teen alcohol and drug prevention.
As
part of the coalition working to improve the quality of early care and
education in Montgomery County, United Way and the Dayton Metro Library
are leading the team focused on outreach to families and informal care
providers. United Way has also installed four Born Learning
Trails throughout the region as a public service for families and
caregivers of young children. A fifth trail will be installed in
Trotwood at our next Day of Action on June 6th.
The South
Suburban Teen Alcohol and other Drug Prevention Coalition grew out of a
meeting with a dozen concerned parents and school personnel who asked
for United Way’s assistance as a facilitator. Initial
conversations grew into a formal task force with participants from the
schools, city offices, and police departments from seven
communities. United Way provided funding for an in-depth study of
the problem and best practices. The results have recently been
shared with each of the communities who have now formed a broad-based
coalition to reduce teen drug and alcohol use in areas where affluence
contributes to the problem
The phone has been literally
ringing off the hook at United Way’s HelpLink 2-1-1 since mid
January. More than 11,000 local residents called the special
hotline to learn about free local tax preparation sites and the federal
economic stimulus payments. The majority of callers listened to
the recorded message explaining eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit
and directing them to ten local free tax preparation sites. In
addition, 2,473 callers opted to speak to HelpLink staff for more
information and 1,332 of the callers were set up with appointments at
the free sites.
United Way of the Greater Dayton Area and
AFL-CIO Community Services joined forces to respond to a dramatic
increase in local requests for emergency food by working families
affected by the American Axel work stoppage. Over 900 individuals
accessed the Labor Food Pantry in March 2008, more than three times the
clients served in the combined three months of the first quarter of
2007. With a special United Way Dislocated Worker Assistance grant,
the pantry opened two temporary satellite sites at local union halls
that served 2,500 families with demonstrated need in April.
United Way also made a special grant from the Emerging Needs Fund to Reach Out to help the clinic meet soaring requests for free medical care and emergency prescriptions.
These
initiatives affect and overlap all three of our three priority
areas. School readiness affects school success and lifelong
financial stability. Teen alcohol use is both a youth and health
issue. That is why we need a network of services…and why your continued support is essential.
We
are sharing these examples so you can know the good that you are
doing. Please carry the message to others to help us more fully
engage our community and increase our capacity to do even more on
behalf of our children, families, and community.
Our goal is
to create lasting changes that prevent problems from happening in the
first place. We invite you to be a part of the change.
Together, united, we can inspire hope and create opportunities for a better tomorrow.
Thank you for all the ways you, as stakeholders, LIVE UNITED.
Marc R. Levy
President
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