LIVE UNITED Y’All!

By Kelly Hutchinson, Donor Relationship Manager

I am old enough to remember rather vividly when Billie Jean King took the court to play Bobby Riggs. This fact really has very, very little to do with much about me except I really wanted her to win. Having lived through more than a few decades, I will attest the times they are a-changing. So this post unfolds as Score 1 for the Women.

An amazing thing has happened over the last decade. Women now give more to charity than men. That’s right. Women on average donate twice as much to charity and make 3 times the number of donations as men. Although there is still a disparity in the equality of work and pay, even still, women are leading the way when it comes to charitable giving.

According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, collectively, women support a variety of causes but the research shows that the majority is designated for the needs of children, creating opportunities for women, education and health issues.

Today’s affluent donor is just as likely to be a woman as a man and the research shows that women want something different from their philanthropic giving. No surprise there. Of course we do.

Women want to create new solutions for old problems. Women want to enjoy a personal connection to an organization and they want to collaborate and work with others as part of a larger effort. Women want to win and they want to make the world a better place and they want their lives to make a difference in the lives of others. When women can do this through giving it makes them feel empowered. Last but not least, women want to celebrate…or socialize with others!

Now, consider this…3 of every 4 people living in poverty in the United States are women and children. Yet even so, women with annual incomes less than $10,000 who are often homemakers with children gave 5.4% of their income to charity – the largest income to gift percentage for giving!

At Metro United Way we know that we all win in our community when children succeed in school, when families are financially stable and people have improved health. 

Wanna know more about what women want? Well just ASK. Seriously, if you ask a woman for her opinion, she will more often than not give it to you. Listen and learn. Want to know more about how to improve lives in our community and create opportunities for a brighter tomorrow for men, women and children in our community? Together we will accomplish more than any single organization or man…or woman can alone.

Giving, Income, Volunteering Add new tag, Metro United Way, Women and Charitable Giving

by: John Sands

I’m not sure how many of you may be familiar with the television program entitled “The First 48″.  It is a reality based crime investigation program, where law enforcement officers try to solve murder cases within the first 48 hours of the crime.  Apparently the odds of solving cases decreases considerably after the first 48 hours.  You may be wondering why I am choosing to highlight such a program?  Well, our fair city has been featured quite a bit lately and it has given me great pause as to what might be going on in our community.   Or better yet, what can I do to help change it? 

Being one person, I’m not sure I can affect a huge change, but there are small things I can do and that I encourage you to do as well, to spark the atmosphere with good things.   

If you are anything like me, you might find your mind turning to thoughts of warm weather, long sunny days and time away from the daily grind.  Spring is certainly a time for “Mother Earth” to renew all that is around us.  Just like the grass, trees and flowers, we too, need to renew ourselves and our communities.    

I’ve found that being able to focus on those things outside of myself are extremely beneficial to me and those ar0und me.  It may be as simple as helping your elderly neighbor with going to and from the local grocery store.  Or maybe organizing your neighborhood to take on a beautification project in your neighborhood.  Or how about just getting out and greeting your neighbors.    

Getting back to the days of close knit, caring communities is not as hard as we may think.  It just takes each of us, stepping outside of our comfort zones.

General, Giving

By Patty Belden

I grew up in a full house…actually that is the understatement of the year. I am the youngest of eight children but our house was full of much more…six girls, two boys, mom, dad, Valentine a.k.a. “Fat Cat”, Virgil and Bubba the hamsters, Sonny and Cher the goldfish, Harvey the rabbit, and Herman the turtle. To be fair, Herman did live outside.

Out of eight kids, you would figure at least one of us would be quiet, shy, and reserved. But this is not the case…we are all blessed with loud, “look-at-me” personalities (sometimes I feel very sorry for my parents!). Needless to say, it was always hard to stand out in this family. Although, don’t feel too sorry for me, I had the greatest advantage over all of them…I’m the baby! And don’t tell them, but I’m pretty sure I’m the favorite too! However, I still needed to find my own way. To figure out what I was passionate about.

Finally after years of searching, I found my way in the world of non-profit, particularly with children’s organizations. Before working for Metro United Way, I spent 6 years working with children in residential programs. I absolutely loved it; I loved the kids. I had found my calling, until my eyes were opened to something new…volunteering. I obviously new what volunteering was and had even volunteered before and enjoyed it. But this was different, now I was on the other side…the receiving side (or at least my agency was). I began to see volunteering in a whole new light.

Volunteers REALLY made a difference. Harsh economic times or not, it seems like most non-profits are always struggling to find enough resources. Building a strong volunteer force can fill many of those gaps. During my time at Brooklawn it was amazing to see the volunteers in action. I loved every aspect of working with them…I was able to help them put their passions into action.

All of this thinking came from a recent experience I had at the Shawnee Boys and Girls Club. I have visited their after school program twice over the last several weeks and it has been quite touching. Each time I eagerly wait and then like a rush of flood waters in come the kids. All of them smiling and laughing with homework in their hands. And then they see us, the volunteers, and their smiles get bigger. They rush toward us, “you’re back!”, “hey, I remember you!”, “are you here to help me with my homework?” They are so excited to see visitors and glad to know that they will have help with their work. We get them settled and select a couple of kids to work with. They are so sweet and appreciative of our help. They pull out their folders and show us their homework and their graded papers from the week. We give them praise for the good grades and talk to them about how they can improve the not-so-good ones. They take it all in and you can tell they love the attention.

Each time I have visited (accompanied by two young Metro United Way volunteers) I noticed that we were the only volunteers there (at least the only ones in the tutoring room). I can’t help but imagine how great it would be to have volunteers in this room everyday. The kids who visit the club are there for a reason…in most cases it’s because they don’t have all the support they need at home. It could be that they live in a single parent home with several other siblings and there is no chance for individual help with homework. It could be that mom or dad is working late hours to support the family and they just can’t be home after school.  Or maybe they’re like me…one of eight kids and seven pets with very loving parents who try hard to stretch themselves evenly between everyone, but it’s just impossible.

Whatever the reason, the point is that these are great kids who simply need some extra attention.  Volunteers can fill the gaps in their young lives. Volunteers can provide attention, assistance, encouragement, and consistency. The Shawnee Boys & Girls Club is already doing great work but with a strong force of volunteers, it can be even better!

This opportunity is great for high school, college, and adult volunteers. If it sounds like something you are interested in or would like more information on, shoot me an email patty.belden@metrounitedway.org. 

Education, Volunteering Brooklawn, Shawnee Boys & Girls Club

By Jan Sherrell

In my role at Metro United Way, reviewing the agencies we invest in – I’m seeing an openness to change in the agencies like never before. Times are tough, budgets are down and needs are up. I’m seeing agencies building a board of savvy business-minded professionals that bring their business acumen to nonprofits. Nonprofit boards and directors are working to run the agency like a business to guarantee its survival in these tough economic times. I’m also seeing them embrace technology as a better way to meet their needs and needs of their clients. Goodwill Bridgepointe Services in Southern Indiana is pursuing both of the above changes.

Goodwill operates Children’s Academy, an early childhood center; Career Services, a job training and placement for adults with disabilities and several other programs vital to the community. Their budget is 86% funded by sales at their thrift stores. Goodwill has recognized that some items of value are being sold dirt cheap in their stores and that the internet could help put those items in front of a broader audience. Hence the creation of ShopGoodwill.com. The site works like eBay and items can be sorted by category, store or ending bid date. Everything you purchase is coming from a Goodwill store to support their services. Don’t worry- there are still plenty of deals waiting for you in the stores also!

Beth Hammond, a college student, is in charge of ShopGoodwill in Southern Indiana. She operates out of the Clarksville Goodwill store, and communicates with all eleven Southern Indiana Goodwill stores. ShopGoodwill encourages Goodwill stores to send them donations that are of higher caliber than your typical Goodwill fare- jewelry, artwork, instruments, designer clothing. They are looking for items that could sell for a lot more than five or ten dollar items on the sales floor.

ShopGoodwill associates then do their research. Beth spends hours every day scouring Google and eBay for information regarding the things she gets sent. Beth said,

I actually find that the most enjoyable part of the job- I always feel like Indiana Jones when I discover something really interesting. For example, last week one store sent me up a couple of tiny red bottles. They were carved and had Chinese characters on the bottom. After an extensive search, it turns out these were Cinnabar snuff bottles, detailed in ancient Chinese, that were popular back in Imperial China. So you never know what you are going to find.

After researching, the associate will list the item. They take pictures, measure it, and clean it; anything that needs to be done to make sure the item is presentable. They list it on the site with appropriate information, and sit back and watch! “I always love the day that items come down. Around here, we call it the bid-war. Especially with the more popular items, every time you refresh the page, the bid has gone up! It’s a lot of fun to watch” Beth shared.

ShopGoodwill buyers are encouraged to contact the sellers before purchasing anything to ask questions. Beth spends time conversing with different customers, describing each item in minute detail, sending additional pictures, or just taking care of problems. With the goal of making sure each customer is satisfied, not only with the product, but also with the information given them about it.

Besides increased revenue, the stores are rewarded with a prize ribbon. It’s a simple thing, really, but the stores love competing with each other to send in the most expensive item or make the most money for the month. Last month Southern Indiana Goodwill’s highest item was a Tenor Saxophone that sold for over five hundred dollars. I’m sure the buyer was thrilled with the purchase and Goodwill had more funds to better serve the community and their clients. So again, change is what keeps us alive, so in addition to eBay – check out ShopGoodwill.com next time you go online for a little “retail therapy.”

General Agencies, eBay, Goodwill, shopping, shopping online

By Sommer Lally

The first day of Spring is tomorrow and I don’t know about you but, for me, it can’t get here soon enough!  Maybe it has something to do with my name but I hate cold weather like a cat hates water so, the arrival of Spring is always something I look forward to.  But this year I am especially excited.  You see, I bought my first house last fall and I’ve not yet been able to enjoy basking in the sunshine in my new yard. 

My husband and I already purchased and assembled (okay, okay, he assembled) a grill and have plans in the works for patio furniture.  Even better, I’ve talked him into making improvements to our landscaping.  As you can see, right now the landscaping leaves (no pun intended) a little to be desired.

I’m thinking some nice evergreen shrubs and some leafy bushes might do the trick.  There’s just one little catch.  As I’ve been reading up on landscaping tips, it has become clear – much to my chagrin – that we won’t reap the benefits immediately.  It will take years for the shrubs and bushes we plant this spring to grow and mature into the beautiful landscape of my dreams.  Slowly but surely, it will get there.  I just have to be patient, which is not my strong suit.

When I think about it, landscaping is kind of like the work around community change that we’re doing here at Metro United Way.  Community change doesn’t happen over night, it takes years to see the results of the work you’re putting in today.  But you better believe when 2018 rolls around and all of the children in our community are prepared to enter kindergarten and half as many high students are dropping out, we will know that our efforts were worth it.

What about those of us who need to see the immediate results?  I would put myself into this category which is where the grill and patio furniture come in.  They’ll allow me to enjoy my yard immediately, albeit in a different way.  The same is true for our focus on basic needs here at Metro United Way.  Our investments in early childhood education and drop-out prevention will pay-off in the future while those in basic needs help the community right now. 

It helps me to think of our work in this way.  How do you think of Metro United Way’s work?  What helps you to better understand and communicate to others what we do?

Education, General Children, community change, early childhood, making a difference, Metro United Way

By David P. Calzi
2009 Metro United Way Community Campaign Chair

Photo by Walt Norris of Dave Calzi at the Metro United Way 2009 Community Campaign end event at Neighborhood House. Click on the picture for more photos from the event!

The results that Metro United Way achieved during 2009, raising $27.1 million, will help continue to make a difference in many lives in our community. To all of our donors and volunteers who have supported us so generously, we are very grateful and hope that you feel a sense of pride in all that has been accomplished this year.

We realize, however, that the difficult times are not yet behind us. Over the past year, Metro United Way has continued to see an increase in requests for assistance with basic services — food and shelter. Many of these requests are from people who have never had to ask before. This means the needs are greater than ever and our work will continue to be important. We, as a community, will need to stay vigilant and address these challenges in 2010 and beyond.

It’s been an honor and pleasure to serve as your 2009 Metro United Way General Campaign Chair. I treasure every minute spent with the Metro United Way staff, volunteers and agencies and am appreciative of all that they have taught me and the opportunity I have had to serve our community.

I thank each of you for your support and know that you will continue to champion the cause of Metro United Way for many years to come.

Live United!

Sincerely,

David P. Calzi
2009 Metro United Way Community Campaign Chair

Giving community campaign, thank you

By Jan Sherrell

photo by David Reece - click for link

It feels like Metro United Way is in the midst of big changes and changes are unsettling. Wednesday I had a flash of a moment that encouraged me – that change is positive … in due time.

Over 5 years ago Metro United Way rocked our agency world by implementing new submission requirements – asking for outcomes and indicators of all our programs. We wanted to know what changed in the clients’ lives and how did agencies know that change happened. We were met with much resistance and it was a “change is tough” time.

Wednesday I facilitated a meeting at Jefferson Alcohol & Drug Abuse Center (JADAC) to review their year of service Metro United Way funded. I had such an affirming comment from the director, Diane Hague. JADAC houses a substance abuse treatment center with a $6.5 million budget. Metro United Way funds $27,780 for their Concerned Persons program. This is a program that JADAC feels is imperative for friends and family of the addict. It teaches them what is helpful behavior and what is not supportive behavior when dealing with addicted loved ones.

Diane’s comment was:

When we first started attending the Metro United Way info meetings and trainings about outcomes, indicators, etc, etc, my first reaction was —“More hoops to jump through for Metro United Way.” I even went so far as to think—“Is it worth it for us to have to do all of this for the amount of money we get from Metro United Way?” Finally after the training and looking at what we would need to do for our Metro United Way program in order to conform to the new requirements about outcomes, the light bulb came on. I understood. Why would anyone want to pay for something if they didn’t know what the outcomes were? We began looking at what we wanted for outcomes in our Metro United Way program and what was the best way to gather that info.

We decided the best way to get the info about the outcomes was to ask the participants. We were already doing client satisfaction surveys so we added our outcome indicator questions on those surveys.

Then another light bulb, why not do this for all of our programs? We were giving out client satisfaction surveys in all of our programs, why not ask outcome indicator questions for all programs on these surveys? We started with a few programs and then expanded to all programs and even expanded the number of indicator questions in many programs. We now have a whole report called Outcome Predictor Responses which shows each program and its 2 to 10 indicators and responses by quarter. We review this report every quarter in our Quality Improvement committee and make changes in programming as a result.

So we have Metro United Way to thank for jump starting us into thinking about what was it we were looking for in terms of outcomes in all of our programs. How do we know we are truly making a change in the client’s lives? We continue to make needed changes as a result of the survey responses

So a belated very big thank you to Metro United Way for this initiative!!!!!!

General Agencies, change, outcomes

1. Attend the Taste of BoomBozz on Wednesday, March 24th from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.
2. Enjoy yourself! $15 gets you in for a pizza & appetizer buffet and wine & beer tastings.
3. Feel GREAT knowing that your attendance is helping to support your Metro United Way!

BoomBozz Taphouse is generously donating 100% of the proceeds from the Taste of BoomBozz event to Metro United Way. So your $15 admission not only gets you in to enjoy the event, but also means that more people are helped through Metro United Way funded agencies and programs, initiatives like Success By 6 and services like 2-1-1.

BoomBozz Taphouse
1448 Bardstown Road
Louisville, KY

March 24th, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Please join us! Simply purchase your tickets using the Google Checkout button below. (No ticket or receipt is needed to get in. Just give the name of the ticket purchaser at the door!)

Events BoomBozz Taphouse, fun!, fundraiser, Taste of BoomBozz

By Kerri Cokeley

Today, I had lunch with a friend who is a mental health provider. We had a specific agenda to discuss, but ended up having the kind of conversation I wish more people were having.

The purpose of our meeting was to talk about the huge need for mental wellness services in our community and what we could do about it. We talked about three-week-long waiting lists for people who finally decided to seek help, the exorbitant cost of treatment (both on providers and patients), and the fact that there are still many people who could benefit from counseling services but don’t realize or admit it.

A little later, we got on the topic of data. Did you know that in the 2009 Attitudes & Behaviors survey, over 80% of Clark County 10^th graders reported that they had felt sad or depressed in the past month? And that 19% admitted to trying to kill themselves at least once in their life?!?

It’s disturbing. Very disturbing.

We then discussed next steps and the leaders we would make appointments with to ask for their partnership to make more services available. We committed to making this happen. But, what followed was the conversation that everyday people, here in our hometown, need to have more often.

We shared our own experience. Acknowledged the rollercoaster of life, its many ups and downs. The points in life when we didn’t know how to handle the grief, trauma, and stress that’s inherent in just being human. The fact that we tend to suppress our feelings, until things spin out of control. And how hard it is to reach out for help when things seem dark. Thankfully, we have both found the strength at different points in life to reach out when we needed support to make it through. We understand the concept of mental wellness, that it’s about trying to find and maintain balance.

After the check was paid and hugs were exchanged, we went on about our afternoon. But hours later, I sit here with the topic heavy on my heart. How is it that we so often gloss over the darkness, the depression we all experience in life? Why does being melancholy have to be taboo? Why don’t we talk about it and help each other work through pain more often?

I wonder what it would be like if we didn’t suppress our feelings so much? And if people recognized a problem with someone they would extend a caring hand? And if we all could work through painful feelings with support and without judgment?

What if, when we greet our acquaintances by saying, “How are you?” we really meant it?

Health Health, mental health, Mental Wellness