LIVE UNITED Y’All!

By Christopher Locke

Wow, it’s that time of the year again! A time when young people of all ages have visions of cartoon-covered backpacks, reams of three-hole, loose leaf paper and bounties of yellow Number 2 pencils dancing in their heads… Which means it’s indeed time for school! With the return to school and visions in mind, I’m reminded of a Henry David Thoreau quote that says “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

And while most parents and adults in the community are expectedly looking at purchasing items like sports and band uniforms, instruments, or even lab supplies to support their children’s education success in the classroom and school– a lot of well-meaning and caring adults have been spending a lot of time creating a compelling child-centered, community-based vision for young people to be successful outside the classroom and school. These caring adults and young people were callers, conveners and participants in a community effort called the Youth Vision. It was exciting to participate and witness the process of developing a vision that the community can be proud of that will also mobilize us to action.

The community response to an invitation from a group of youth development and education experts convened by Metro United Way to come and share their thoughts on youth success was overwhelming. When all the conversations were complete, 36 community conversations had taken place with residents from 30 of the 32 zip codes in the Louisville Metro area, from 11 other Kentucky zip codes and from 3 Southern Indiana County zip codes. The participant demographics revealed that the conversations had attracted broad and diverse participation from community residents interested in young people.

And as Thoreau said, they looked at some things. In fact, the participants looked at a long list of depressing challenges that often impede many young people’s paths to educational success.

• 1 in 4 freshman entering 9^th grade in JCPS don’t graduate on time and in four years with their peers.
• 65% of JCPS students are on free and reduced lunch.
• Worse still, last year JCPS reports that 10,500 students were classified as homeless.

In all three cases, a disproportionate number of the students are African American and Latino.

But again, like Thoreau wisely recommended, the community residents participating in the youth vision conversations did not get mired in pessimism. No, instead, this spirited group, led by Metro United Way and Metro Government, decided that the callers and the residents see what matters. So the optimists flipped the deficit-based reality that many of our students and families deal with everyday on its head and decided to engage resident voices in the process by asking three strengths or asset-based questions.

• Think about a young person in your life…What are your hopes and wishes for their success?
• What helps a young person be successful?
• If you could waive a magic wand, how would our community look different if ALL youth were succeeding?

After over 500 people had answered, the compelling Youth Vision emerged.

Louisville Youth…

• Have the skills and education to be self reliant, healthy, engaged and economically thriving.
• Have hope and show strength of character to achieve their goals, follow their dreams, respect others and contribute to bettering their community and world.
• Live in a caring community where everyone values, supports, invests in and fights for their success.

It sounds  pretty compelling to me, and we hope you agree! What are some of your ideas for our community’s youth? Would you be willing to act in creative ways to bring this vision to life in the community? How?

Advocacy, Education, General back to school, Children, Community, Education, future, High School Graduation, kindergarten, making a difference, Metro United Way, opportunity, parenting, Southern Indiana, students, success, youth, youth development, Youth Vision

by Mary Ann Steutermann

I’ll admit it – I have few domestic skills. In particular, I absolutely, positively do not cook because 1) I don’t enjoy it and 2) previous attempts have resulted in blaring smoke alarms and upset stomachs. Fortunately for me, I am married to a great cook who both enjoys the process of creating a fine meal and actually produces dishes that people find not only edible but downright delicious. Over the years, I have watched him in the kitchen preparing a meal, and I’ve learned his secret to success – preparation.

The Right Ingredients

I was surprised to learn that most of my husband’s culinary efforts go into selecting the best ingredients and then spending quite a bit of time cutting, chopping, dicing, and seasoning them. In fact, he probably spends at least twice as much time preparing the ingredients as he does actually heating something on the stove or baking it in the over. Similarly, Metro United Way has been hard at work preparing to develop a strategy map that will guide our efforts in the coming years as we work to ensure that all of our children arrive at kindergarten ready to be successful and that at least 87% of them complete high school by earning their diplomas.

Just as it’s tempting to jump right into to turning up the heat on the stove without taking the time to chop and season the ingredients first, it’s tempting for an organization to jump too quickly to decisions about its future work without doing the necessary leg work in preparation. But we won’t make that common mistake. In fact, we’ve been hard at work in the kitchen for several months now.

Engaging the Community

Before settling on our specific strategies in support of educational progress, we have been doing a lot of homework. An essential part of this has been engaging the community in various ways in order to make sure we have all of the data and information needed to make good decisions. We have been working with various groups to get their feedback on our emerging role as leaders in community support of educational progress. So far we have engaged the community through:
• Donor conversations
• Colleague discussions
• CEO calls
• CSC committee discussions
• Council of Agency Executives discussions
• CI Cabinet conversations

Another major engagement opportunity we have embarked upon is an Education Research Project in conjunction with Kentucky Youth Advocates. In addition to providing the latest research on how to promote high school graduation and reporting on essential quantitative data by county, the project has also engaged superintendents, principals, government officials, business persons, faith-based leaders, parent organization leaders, service providers, and various other community movers and shakers on their perceptions of both strengths as well as perceived needs. This will allow us to not only identify what is going on in each county in each of the 5 “tipping points” of the UWW education framework (kindergarten readiness, 4th grade reading, middle school transition, high school graduation, and college/career), but it will also let us also know what the community feels they most need to see improvement in educational attainment.

We are in the process of planning community forums in each county to discuss the results and get further input during October and November. We’ll keep you posted on this!

Lessons Learned

Without a doubt, I will never cook a sumptuous meal that meets with the praise (and shock) of my family and friends. But lots of us at MUW have been hard at work in the kitchen doing the prep work on another masterpiece – a framework for moving forward as community leaders in support of greater educational attainment. Watching my husband prepare a wonderful meal has taught me that an ideal result to any creative endeavor takes patience, preparation, and persistence. Even though the thought of applying these traits in a real live kitchen gives me hives, I’m thrilled to be applying them to our emerging plan for helping our community meet its educational goals.

Advocacy, Education, General advocate, Children, Community, Education, engagement, future, Louisville, making a difference, Metro United Way, research, strategic planning, youth

From the Bridgehaven website

By Patty Belden

I was recently invited to Bridgehaven Mental Health Services to attend a “Bridge Builder” lunch and learn.  I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.  I was aware of Bridgehaven, but I had never visited and didn’t know a great deal about their services.  All I really knew was that Bridgehaven worked with individuals suffering from mental illness.  What I didn’t know was that Bridgehaven offers much more than a service…they offer the chance to be part of a family.

Having never visited, I was not familiar with the campus and in true Patty-fashion I entered through the wrong door.  It was only seconds before I was greeted and offered assistance by two people (my confused look must have given me away as a visitor).  Everyone seemed to know that today was a Bridge Builder lunch and assumed that was why I was there.  To my surprise, I wasn’t just given directions to the room, but I was personally escorted by a client.  During the short walk I was thanked several times for visiting and asked repeatedly if I needed anything…what a great host!  Little did I know that later I would have the opportunity to hear this man’s personal story.

Upon entering the lunch room, I was warmly greeted again, offered a beverage and directed to my seat.  I was at a table with seven strangers…I assumed they were all here for the same reason that I was, to learn about Bridgehaven.  To my delight, the man, who had previously escorted me, came to our table and filled the eighth empty chair.  I also learned that of the eight, two were clients and three were volunteers.

The program began.  The welcome and thank you was nice and even included a personal story from the Executive Director…I was refreshed by her honesty and amazed that she was so comfortable to share her story.  However, nothing could have prepared me for the next piece of the program…several clients were going to share thier personal stories.

We sat captivated by this man and his story.  He was so open and so honest.  He talked about his struggle with alcoholism and his inability to form positive relationships.  He talked about hearing voices in his head.  Voices that put him down and made him feel worthless.  He drank alcohol to drown the voices, but it didn’t work.  They got louder and louder.  They became aggressive and threatening.  He drank more.  Because of his drinking, he was unable to keep a job, take care of himself, or build relationships.  He kept himself isolated.  What struck me the most was that this man didn’t realize that he was different.  He believed that everyone heard voices.  He didn’t know there was help out there.

When he talked about Bridgehaven, you could see the appreciation in his eyes and hear it in his voice.  He had found help.  He had found a family.

Bridgehaven’s services truly offer hope for the future by teaching the skills necessary to live, learn, work, and socialize.  These skills are taught through individual and group therapy as well as skill building activities.  Most importantly, Bridgehaven offers a family-like network of support.

Do you want to learn more about Bridgehaven or become involved as a volunteer?  Click here.

Do you know someone who could benefit from the services offered at Bridgehaven?  Click here.

Advocacy, General, Health, Volunteering Bridgehaven, mental health, Metro United Way agencies

By Kelly Hutchinson, Donor Relationship Manager

Here’s a brief little quiz and my challenge to you. Take a moment as you read to think about these inspirational statements on education and as you do, see if you can match the correct statement to the person who made the statement. We will call our little game…“Who Said It?”  Here are your choices and you can use each only once:

Helen Keller, Mark Twain, Confucius, Aristotle, Ben Franklin, Malcolm Forbes, Lee Iacocca, John F. Kennedy, Steve ”Crocodile Hunter” Irwin, Eleanor Roosevelt, Michael Jordan, Anonymous, Socrates, Malcolm X, Proverbs 12:1

1.  Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.

2.  Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.  Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.

3.  In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have.

4.  If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

5.  The habits we form from childhood make no small difference, but rather they make all the difference.

6.   I believe that education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message.

7.    The highest result of education is tolerance.

8.   To learn, you must want to be taught.

9.   Great minds discuss ideas, mediocre minds discuss events, small minds discuss personalities.

10.   The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.

11.   I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed.

12. I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

13. Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.

14.  If you think Education is expensive, try ignorance.   

15.  Wisdom begins with wonder.  

Answers: 1. Malcolm Forbes, 2. John F. Kennedy, 3. Lee Iacocca, 4. Ben Franklin, 5. Aristotle, 6. Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter, 7. Helen Keller, 8. Proverbs 12:1, 9. Eleanor Roosevelt, 10. Mark Twain, 11. Michael Jordan, 12. Confucius, 13. Malcolm X, 14. Anonymous, 15. Socrates

How did you do? Is there one quote that you like the best of these? Thanks for playing!

Metro United Way focuses our efforts on the building blocks for a good life- a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health. We know that helping children and youth achieve their potential will have a positive impact on our community for years to come. It all starts with Education and we have made a promise in our community. By 2018, we promise to make sure all children in our community are prepared for success in kindergarten and we are working to increase the high school graduation rate from 73% currently to 87%. To learn more about our work and the Education promise, visit our www.metrounitedway.org, check out Success by 6, Bridges to Tomorrow, Kids Count, or give us a call and together we will make a difference.

Advocacy, Education, General, Volunteering Bridges to Tomorrow, Community Youth Print, Kentucky Youth Advocates, Kids Count, Success By 6

By: Angie Ditsler

This past weekend I went to the wedding of a friend and former co-worker of mine.  This particular wedding was more than just a celebration of love and marriage, however: It was a celebration of triumph and success- and not just for the bride, but for many of her guests, as well.

I met my friend Zahra about 6 years ago when we worked together at Kentucky Refugee Ministries.  At the time, Zahra was an interpreter, receptionist, mediator, and caseworker.  As a refugee herself from Somalia in the early 90s, Zahra was the most trusted and relied upon person on our staff among the clientele.  As the years went by and I changed jobs, Zahra continued to push herself as she furthered her own education and career.  Knowing Zahra as I do now, it’s hard to imagine all the obstacles she’s faced in her life: escape from Somalia, survival in a refugee camp in Kenya, arriving in the U.S., learning a new language, and adapting to a new way of life.  A recent article in the LEO describes Zahra’s life prior to coming to America: http://leoweekly.com/news/seeking-refuge

Seeing how beautiful she looked on her wedding way was particularly touching because it was a reminder of how far she has come, and the exciting adventure that still awaits her as she continues her life journey in Colorado with her new husband. 

The wedding itself was a bit of a reunion of sorts.  Catching up with former colleagues and clients was wonderful, especially being reunited with those people I had met years earlier just days, or hours even, after they stepped foot on U.S. soil for the first time.  Watching the women dance in their beautiful dresses the other night with smiles on their faces made me smile. Being introduced to their own children for the first time- children born here in the United States- was proof that not only Zahra, but all the women there that night have overcome so much adversity and are thriving.  I was reminded once again of the reason I chose Louisville as my new home six years ago: this is a place where cultures and languages are bridged together, and families can thrive.

Advocacy, General Community, culture, refugee, success

by John Nevitt

I heard a statistic not too long ago that very few Americans know their neighbors except for those on either side of their home or apartment. Why should that be troubling to us? Well, if it truly takes a village to successfully raise a child, we need to know who we can turn to in our neighborhoods for help. Plus, if we want to reduce our chances of being burglarized, the more neighbors we know, the more sets of eyes to help protect our property.

Another reason to get to know your neighbors is to strengthen our broader community. Our vision at Metro United Way is to build the most vital, caring community in the nation. We accomplish this by getting to know one another, sharing ideas, stories, (and food) which leads to a sense of connection, and more often than not, a group of allies who are there to support us.

A number of years ago, I took a leadership development class that encouraged us to design a project that would enhance a “community” of our choosing. Community can be defined as a group of interacting people sharing a common geography, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks, etc. I chose to work with two neighborhood communities – the east end neighborhood where I lived and the inner city neighborhood where I worked. I wanted to get to know some of my neighbors better and foster a sense of connection within our broader Louisville community.

Essentially, I organized a neighborhood exchange where we could share a meal together and get to know one another. We gathered in a circle and asked everyone to talk about their hopes, dreams and aspirations, and what was helpful to them along their pathway and what did they see were the barriers. As I listened, it was interesting to hear some major differences between the two groups of neighbors, but I was more intrigued by what we had in common. I created an intention that participants would experience a sense of connection, and would have a better appreciation and understanding of residents from another neighborhood. As we debriefed from our gathering, many reported the recognition that, though very different on the surface and facing very different challenges, we all want the same thing for ourselves and our loved ones and there was an immediate sense of connection.

Deep down, I believe that what we all want is for our children to be successful in school and beyond, we want to be self-sufficient, and we want to experience good health throughout our lifetime. In other words, we care about education, income, and health, the three building blocks of Metro United Way.

So, how do we help ensure we have what we all want? Getting to know our neighbors is a great place to enhance our chances for success by tapping into the caring power of our local community. Consider inviting your neighbors to a pot-luck dinner, join (or start) a neighborhood association, organize a block party, or begin a book club or discussion group with your neighbors. It only takes a small step to get started, and the potential rewards are tremendous.

For a list of ideas on how to meet community residents and to get more involved in your community, visit the website www.bettertogether.org/150ways.

What step will you be taking in the upcoming weeks?  Do you have a great success story about building neighborhood connections that you would like to share?<

Advocacy, Education, Health, Income building community, Common good, Community, connection, Neighborhoods, neighbors

By Cass Irvin, Louisville KY

Note: this post was republished with the author’s permission. It was posted originally on May 10th at The Political Bridge.

I can’t sing and I can’t dance but I can vote.  (I can sing, actually — but I shouldn’t — at least, not in public.)

People who know me well know I am big on voting.  I’m not sure why voting has always been important to me.  Maybe it’s because it is something I can do.

Helen Keller once said:   I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.

So I’ve been voting since high school — many, many years ago. (Did you know teenagers did not always have the right to vote?)  Life was not very accessible then. I registered to vote at the same time as my classmates. I just didn’t arrive with them.  All my classmates went downtown in big, yellow buses. School buses were not accessible then so my mom drove me downtown.

Maybe voting is important to me because it shows I’m equal to nondisabled people.  My vote carries as much weight as anyone.  My opinion matters.

And even though it is sometimes harder than it should be, I like the idea of going to the polls.  I like the idea of people seeing me out there voting.

So vote — because you can.

NOTE :   Many of us can vote absentee from home; that makes voting very accessible.  For information, to find out if you’re eligible and for a form — ASAP, go to: www.elections.jeffersoncountyclerk.org/absentee_voting.htm

The deadline is May 11th.

Advocacy voting

“I’m starving!” How many times do we say this with out actually considering what it means to truly be starving? Better yet, how many times do we say this while we’re in the McDonald’s drive-thru waiting on our two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a sesame seed bun? Don’t forget the fries, diet coke, and yes, I think I will super-size!

My point is that most of us have not experienced true hunger. Most of us have not struggled to scrape together enough money each week to feed our family. Skipped our own meal to allow enough food for our kids. Picked food out of a dumpster or crossed our fingers that the diners we’re waiting on will accidentally leave their doggie-bag behind. That is starvation; hunger. It’s real and it’s all around us. According to Dare to Care Food Bank, “Over 175,000 people in Kentuckiana struggle daily to get the food they need to be healthy.” This number takes a minute to digest (no pun intended).

The good news is that there are organizations working to change this. Today I want to talk about Dare to Care Food Bank and the great work they are doing particularly with mobile pantries.

The traditional food bank model relies on neighborhood food pantries to get food to people needing help. Dare to Care provides the partner church or other nonprofit with food and they then distribute the food to those needing emergency food assistance.

Many families and individuals, however, need help but live in neighborhoods lacking these partner pantries. They may have other issues that also prevent them from accessing a traditional pantry.

The Dare to Care Mobile Pantry is a direct service to reach those in crisis who are struggling to access the help they need. With the Mobile Pantry program, Dare to Care brings the pantry to the neighborhood. Partnering with an agency that wants to help its neighborhood but doesn’t have the ability to operate a regular pantry, Dare to Care will schedule a time when it can deliver perishable and non-perishable food for immediate distribution. Dare to Care staff stay with the delivery truck to assist with the program.

This innovative program has improved nutrition in areas of Kentuckiana where fresh produce and emergency food are otherwise inaccessible.” (This information was taken from the Dare to Care website, click here to learn more.

Since beginning my career with Metro United Way in July 2009, I have had the pleasure of volunteering at five Mobile Pantries. The experience has made me very thankful for the life that I have. Recipients line up early, sometimes before the truck arrives, with old grocery bags, laundry baskets, boxes, anything they can use to carry their food. One Tuesday in December, it must have been 20 degrees, I remember being cold in my thick winter coat, gloves, hat, and scarf. When I pulled up to the volunteer, a least a fifty people were already waiting. Many of them had small children and hardly any of them had coats. These people were willing to freeze to get a few bags of food. This is starvation.

Mobile Pantries are happening each month, click here to help or contact Mary Sullivan at mary.sullivan@metrounitedway.org.

Volunteers setting up at City View Park.

Advocacy, General, Volunteering dare to care, hunger

By Kelly Thompson

What do I know about teenagers these days? My answer is… practically nothing. I don’t have kids of my own, at least not yet, but I do know that when I was a teen I viewed the world very differently than I do today. Some teen experiences I can relate to are ever-present: the in and out clothing fads, the obsession with pizza, and the crazy hairstyles. Today’s teen may not share exactly the same clothing fads (can anyone say shoulder pads?), pizza, and hairstyles, but the parallels are clearly there.

Beyond those similarities however, today’s teen represents a free-for-all of differences: the texting, the Facebooking, Twittering, iPhones, iPods, Twilight, and oh, did I mention texting? I admit, I am pretty clueless, so, why did I invite two lovely young women to join our team as guest bloggers over the next few months? Simple, I want to know what they have to say, and maybe teach me and others about their dreams for our community and how they view their role in advancing the common good for us all. And maybe while they are here they can teach me how to text more than two words in less than five minutes.

Later this month you will meet Emily and Maddie Calzi, or as I like to call them, the Calzi Gals. They will be spending the next month or so with us here at Metro United Way volunteering their time to promote school readiness, basic needs, advocacy, and so much more. You might even catch a glimpse of them as our very own “Teen Video Reporters”, capturing the stories of community volunteers in action.

Are you ready to learn and see a different community-view from these young folks? Personally, I want to know what really engages them in community volunteering, and what their hopes and dreams are for a better world. I am sure that I will learn all that and more!

Are you a teen reading this blog? We would love to hear your thoughts on what volunteering means to you and what your hopes and dreams are for our regional community too!

Advocacy, Volunteering iPhone, iPod, Twilight

By David Caldwell

I’ve never been a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. I always figured that if you really want to make a change in your life you should just do it – don’t wait for a “special” day to make it happen. That changed for me last year.

Since college I’ve been a non-smoker…sort of. I’ve always been that guy who might have a pack of cigarettes in his truck while he tells you he doesn’t smoke. I know how horrible the habit is for your health – I saw the black lung in science class too. I know how addictive the practice is – my dad smoked for 30 plus years. None of that ever stopped me from “kinda” smoking. I justified it to myself because I wasn’t a “real” smoker. I just smoked when I drank, or was really stressed, or it was Tuesday – you know, just a little. I was the familiar stranger in the smokers’ circle.

As the ball drops this year, I’ll be kissing my sweetheart with smoke-free breath, and celebrating 365 days without a cigarette. My goal is a lot more years of the same, but for now I’ll celebrate the first one.

So what are you resolving to do this year? If you haven’t quite decided, let me make a suggestion. Make a resolution to make a difference in the life of a child.

You could donate some books to the child care center down the street. You could volunteer to teach an art activity at your child’s school. You could find a way to be a role model for the kids across town and across the street that need a few more caring adults in their lives. You could write a check to your favorite child focused agency. You could call your legislator and tell them to make children more of a priority when they make decisions.

Think about all you’ll have to celebrate after a year of working to improve the life of a child. If you want to give, advocate, or volunteer, you can visit our website. If you want a few more ideas or some help in making your resolution a reality, let me know. Have a wonderful holiday, and ring in the New Year in a meaningful way!

Photo Credit: maxxtraffic

Advocacy, Giving, Volunteering Children, Live United, making a difference, opportunity, Volunteer