LIVE UNITED Y’All!

If you were to close your eyes and think about your ideal place to live, what would come to mind?  For some of us, it would be a cottage on a beach where it was warm all year long.  For others, it would be living in the mountains or on several acres out in the country.  But let’s think about living here in the Louisville area.  We’ve already got a lot of things that make living here good: museums and the arts, sports, beautiful parks, entertainment, top-notch health care, plenty of shopping and restaurants, the Ohio River, colleges and universities, and the Derby, to name a few. 

But let’s dare to dream even bigger.  What other things would we want in our ideal metropolitan area?  How about if every child was wanted and loved, kept safe, and was given every chance to develop his/her mind and talents?  What if marriages were strong and loving and couples received the coaching and guidance they needed to make their marriage healthy and vibrant?  What if every older adult was loved and given the resources he/she needed to remain as independent as possible for as long as possible?  And when that was no longer possible, that they would be assured of having people around them who cared well for them and helped them to maintain their dignity.

Wouldn’t it be great to live in a community where people who have physical and mental disabilities were accepted as equals and where their human worth would be valued?  Imagine a place where animals were cared for and wouldn’t live their lives chained or caged or neglected or abused.  How about living in a place where people took seriously their responsibility to tread lightly on the earth so that future generations would have a healthy and beautiful place to live?  Would you like to live in a place where everyone who wanted to further their education had the ability to do so?  What if we lived in a place where everyone who wanted a job had one, and that job paid a living wage so that everyone could afford decent housing and could provide a reasonable standard of living for themselves and their family?

To quote John Lennon, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”  Together, we can bring this city and the surrounding area closer to our ideal vision.  But in order to build a place that better suits the needs of everyone, we need everyone’s voice and everyone’s help.  So speak up.  What does your ideal community look like?

Advocacy, Education, Health, Income Advocacy, Community, Education, Health, Income, Louisville, opportunity

Perhaps none of us are immune to the economic crisis we see unfolding before us everyday. Indeed, the Louisville area is struggling along with every other city in the nation. While we all have our own way of dealing with the implications of this terrible downturn, we must keep in mind its effects on the particularly vulnerable among us: the elderly, low-income families, the recently unemployed, the disabled, and our very young. Basic needs are more important than ever before. Investments and efforts to alleviate hunger and food insecurity, promoting housing and financial stability, and connecting people to public benefits and tax credits are all very important in providing the “safety net” we all hope is strong and stable when we need it most.

Many organizations, including Metro United Way, are coming to together to coordinate a response to the many needs we see growing in our community. Meaningful and relevant responses to immediate needs are obviously important now, but hopefully not at the expense of our long-term solutions. Our community can address critical and immediate needs without overshadowing the important work of developing long-term strategies that lead to a unique community strength, an ability to thrive, not just survive.

Everyday, each of us practice proactive measures to keep us from getting in bad situations in the first place. We can all relate to the importance of checking our engine oil before going on a big trip, brushing our teeth regularly, and the painting of the exterior of our houses. Prevention is a word we all know and understand in our everyday lives, it is no different for the life and vitality of our community. Advocating on behalf of others for greater access to public benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (formerly known as the Food Stamp program), the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Earned Income Tax Credit is equal to advocating on behalf of the whole community, that means me and you.

These public programs not only promote physical and financial health, but bring so much back into the community, especially in tough times. SNAP creates economic activity by bringing dollars into local businesses, securing jobs, and ultimately bringing more taxes into our community. EITC is equally beneficial to stimulating the local economy, but many of the families eligible do not know about this very helpful credit. Finally, what better way to invest in our future than through our kids? They must be healthy now if they have the hope of being healthy later in life. Personally, I want to know that future generations in my community are there for me when I need them most. Selfish? Maybe, but I don’t think I am alone my thinking.

Interested in EITC work?  Check out the Louisville Asset Building Coalition website on how to become a VITA site volunteer: http://www.labcservices.org/

Want to help more eligible kids get enrolled in KCHIP? Check out Kentucky Youth Advocates website and learn more about Children’s Advocacy Day at the state capital on February 12: http://www.kyyouth.org/Advocacy/

Want to learn more about the benefits of SNAP and help eliminate local barriers to access SNAP? Check out the Food Research Action Center’s webpage on food stamps: http://www.frac.org/html/federal_food_programs/programs/fsoutreachprg.html#anchor826588

Advocacy, General, Health, Income advocate, Community, Health, Income

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Howard Mason. I am the Director of Community Building at Metro United Way. In many ways, I may have the best job in the community. But that’s going to be our secret for now.

My work is about finding, connecting and supporting the people and organizations that are working to advance the common good in this community. I mean the innovators, social entrepreneurs, neighborhood heroes—the ones who are close to both the problems and the solutions.

Metro United Way can’t do everything, but we can play a key role as a leader and a partner to those who are trying to do the right things—the community leaders and social entrepreneurs who are trying to solve the 21st century problems with 21st century solutions. If you yearn to change the world, then I am writing for you.

By the way, I yearn to change the world too, so I’m writing for us.

Let’s face it: if doing the same things we have always done in the same ways were all we needed to change the world, I probably wouldn’t be writing this today. We might already live in the most vital caring community in America.

So let us also face the fact that we are going to have to try new things, go about our efforts in new ways if we are going to get the new results we seek. I want to help us look at new ways of doing things.

Our conversation will not be about getting somebody else involved or what some other group needs to do. It is now about what each of us can do. The time has come.

In this blog I’m going to be writing about us—who we are, what we do, where we get our strength, what it takes to be successful.

I hope you will read and comment and add your experience and perspective.

Education, Health, Income, Volunteering Change the World, Community, Education, Health, Income, Innovator, Social Entrepreneur, Volunteer