United Way invests community funds in Education, Income and Health. Considered the building blocks for a good life, these three areas are addressed by different nonprofit and public programs that propose to improve the lives of their clients in very specific ways and to measure how successful they are. After experts in these areas recommend to the United Way board which programs should receive funds, the board votes, contracts are signed and the programs begin their work. At the end of 12 months, each program submits a final report of their clients’ results.
In Education we envision an engaged community where each child develops and succeeds academically, socially, and emotionally. But the barriers to that vision are the realities that many children are not prepared to enter kindergarten, many children do not move successfully from kindergarten through high school graduation and the diverse educational needs of children and youth are not met.
Because of these barriers, United Way directs community investments into 6 specific community level results. Take a look at what happened in Education from July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013:
Children from birth to kindergarten attend high quality, affordable early care and education programs
| Dollars Invested in Programs | Proposed Number Successful Clients | Actual Number of Successful Clients |
| $253,776 | 334 children | 534 children |
Parents and caregivers enhance their support of the development of children from birth to kindergarten
| Dollars Invested in Programs | Proposed Number Successful Clients | Actual Number of Successful Clients |
| $11,634 | 15 parents, caregivers | 15 parents, caregivers |
Youth strengthen the social and basic life skills they need for success
| Dollars Invested in Programs | Proposed Number Successful Clients | Actual Number of Successful Clients |
| $240,634 | 2,198 youth | 2,362 youth |
Parents, caregivers and the community increase their support of the academic success of all children
| Dollars Invested in Programs | Proposed Number Successful Clients | Actual Number of Successful Clients |
| $32,394 | 85 parents, caregivers | 191 parents, caregivers |
Children performing below grade level increase their basic academic skills
| Dollars Invested in Programs | Proposed Number Successful Clients | Actual Number of Successful Clients |
| $171,476 | 644 | 760 |
Students with disabilities or special needs have diverse education options
| Dollars Invested in Programs | Proposed Number Successful Clients | Actual Number of Successful Clients |
| $42,819 | 108 | 98 |
Overall, we saw 117% success rate in these programs that support education for our young people. This is an amazing result – one that the youth and their families can rightfully claim as their own personal successes; and one that all the programs and all the investors can be proud of.
It just goes to show that when a community can come together and agree on what needs to be addressed and how, positive change happens.
United Way is going after these results again in 2013-2014 by making a community investment of $764,010 in Education. We will track the results for the people they serve and will report them out next fall.
