April 2024
Metro United Way Impact Tracker
This impact tracker is updated on a monthly basis to share highlights of the work that we do every day to help make our community better for everyone!
There’s nothing more important than making sure our community’s children have what they need to thrive. LEARN MORE
- In partnership with NCFL and Community Coordinated Child Care (4-C), the Ready for K Alliance has provided online and in-person professional development to providers seeking to enhance their skills in engaging and collaborating with parenting adults. The content focuses on engaging families of children aged birth to five and supports Kentucky All-Stars. In total, we have had nearly 200 educators registered and 61 have completed and received ECE-TRIS credit. Three hundred and fifty family engagement kits have been distributed to eligible educators to provide to students and families they serve.
- Each year JCPS holds a Kindergarten Camp during the summer for rising Kindergartners. This camp provides an opportunity for rising kindergartners to experience a classroom setting prior to the first day, thus easing the transition. The Ages & Stages Developmental Screening Hub (the Hub) provided over 300 rising kindergartners with the opportunity to enroll in the camp.
- Through the Hub’s pediatric Ages & Stages outreach, we have received 95 referrals from healthcare providers.
- Each year the Ages & Stages Developmental Screening Hub conducts a survey of parents to measure the impact of the Hub’s work. The following are excerpts from parents:
- “These screenings have both opened my eyes to needed areas of improvement such as speech, but also provided reassurance that my children are developing on track for their age levels. It’s extra support that we love and appreciate.”
- “….(The Hub) noticed developmental delays and suggested First Steps which is currently helping my son with his speech and motor delays. We’d never known or connect to these resources if not for the (Hub) and the great work they are doing”
- The best part of Play Cousins is….”They offer a safe space and they give back to the community with events and services that are really beneficial to the child.”
- Metro United Way’s partnership with the Buttafly Group, called the Ukuaji Project, to support grassroots partners in their program development and grant writing capacity is underway. MUW recently wrapped up Pod 2 of this year’s Ukuaji project and are conducting interviews for the next set of ten organizations to be in Pod 3.
- Our Youth Success team held the first meeting with our ten Youth Social Action Project grantees and have started site visits to provide support and technical assistance with our partners at the University of Louisville Center for Social Justice Youth Development.
- The 2024 Community Impact Awards featured many Youth Success Network partners, including the opening performance by the amazing young women of 300 for 300, as well as the 2024 recipient of the Changing the Narrative Award, Sowing Seeds with Faith.
- On Saturday, April 13, 2024, we celebrated 10 years of providing books to Louisville neighborhoods through Metro United Way’s Little Free Library program. Volunteers, library hosts, community partners, book donors and MUW staff gathered at Westwood Presbyterian Church (which hosts a Little Free Library) to share breakfast, say thank you and celebrate the many he accomplishments of the last ten years. Did you know:
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- MUW built, maintains and fills 36 Little Free Libraries in the Algonquin, California, Chickasaw, Parkland, Portland, Russell, Shelby Park, and Smoketown neighborhoods.
- MUW fills each of the Libraries in our network every two weeks with approximately 45 books for toddles, youth, young adults and adults.
- In the first ten years, 257,282 books have been distributed through the MUW Library network.
- In ten years, MUW has not had to purchase a single book to fill the libraries! THANK YOU to our generous book donors! If you would like to help you can visit the MUW Little Free Library page HERE to learn how and about what books, we can and can’t take.
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When we have strong households, we are creating pathways out of poverty to prosperity, which is a win for us all. LEARN MORE
- Our financial coaching partners are producing strong results for the participants they are serving. Through a collaborative grant from Louisville Metro Government, our three direct service providers have met with 171 distinct individuals, of whom 112 have been seen more than once. Among this group, 74 participants have realized a gain in one or more financial goal area, listed as follows: 14 have increased their annual income by an average of $7,400; 52 have increased their savings by an average of $678; 30 have increased their credit by an average of 16 points, and 40 have decreased their debt by an average of $1,915.
- In the first quarter of 2024, we served 200 families to promote a higher level of financial stability and thereby increase the probability their children can be successful in school through our partnership with the Siemer Institute. We look forward to sharing specific metrics of success in our next report. Learn more.
- Through partnership with Kentuckiana Works, we continue to engage employers and young adults of color in conversations to bridge the gap between job openings and a diverse group of emerging job seekers. In the months ahead, we will produce a toolkit designed to elicit strategies that create inviting workspaces to advance success.
- Metro United Way proudly sponsored the 17th annual Startup Weekend Louisville April 12 – 14. This 54-hour event equipped individuals of all backgrounds with the training, mentorship/coaching, and tools needed to launch a business, in one weekend. When we invest in local entrepreneurs, we are bolstering equity, diversity, creativity, and economic growth. Startup Weekend Louisville plays a vital role in our entrepreneurial landscape, and we were proud to support this year’s event.
- Our pilot initiative with 16 JCPS schools and the Elev8 Academic center has been finalized for United Community. Training will take place the first week of June, and the community organizations will be identified soon. While all schools have access to the platform, we are investing time in 16 schools surrounding our priority neighborhoods to focus on eliminating barriers to student basic needs.
- On April 17, we hosted a gathering of impassioned partners to discuss the work of our community’s entrepreneurial support organizations as it relates to underserved entrepreneurs. We are grateful for the collaborative spirit among organizations as we look for ways to continue to improve our ecosystem to advance success for more individuals.
We envision the Greater Louisville region as a place where zip code doesn’t determine destiny and everyone has the opportunity to live up to their full potential. LEARN MORE
- Our second Black L.O.V.E. (Live, Vote, Own, Excel) Philanthropic Partnership (BLPP) cohort has been selected, consisting of 23 organizations committed to advancing racial equity and social change in our community. A launch retreat for the new cohort was held April 19, marking the beginning of a transformative journey that will last until Spring 2026.
- Over the last month, the Kentucky and Indiana General Assembly’s completed their 2024 sessions. In Indiana, Hoosiers saw significant changes to state law that will increase access to child care for Hoosiers. In Kentucky’s budget session, we saw historic funding for child care, expansion of access to physical and mental health services for new parents, and increased access to vital documents for unhoused Kentuckians. While these are just a few wins we experienced alongside our various partners and coalitions, we also fought to stop harmful legislation (Learn More). We advocated to lessen the harm of legislation like the Safer Kentucky Act, which failed to address crime in the ways we know work. Be on the lookout for more analysis and insights regarding the outcomes of each state’s General Assembly. You are also invited to join us for an in-person session on Monday, May 13 from 11:30 – 1pm at Metro United Way to hear from state legislators on the session’s outcomes. Register HERE.
- The team behind our new Young Men United initiative partnered up with St. George’s Scholar Institute to take students on a college trip of the Washington, D.C. area over spring break! They visited Coppin State University, Morgan State University, Howard University, University of the District of Columbia, and Georgetown University — and had some fun along the way.
