August 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
- The Youth Success Network hosted a networking event for young people and those working with youth who took part in our Youth Social Action Projects. We organized enjoyable activities to help people connect, showcase the work they are involved in with the projects, and talk about why it’s important to have the voices of young people in our work.
- The Youth Success team has a new partnership! We have partnered with Sagacity Services and the Business Sidechick to offer the Corporate Compliance Capability Check-up (C-4). This assessment helps nonprofit organizations identify any gaps in their legal and regulatory infrastructure and provides guidance on achieving compliance goals.
- It was beautiful to see so many youth-serving organizations gather for our Youth Success Network kickoff on August 29th! They brought the energy! We now have nearly 200 organizational members in our network which offers training, capacity building, grant help, info sharing, and more.
- The Ages & Stages (ASQ) Developmental Screening Hub recently received a 3-year grant from Early Learning Indiana to expand the use of the Hub to Floyd, Clark, and Harrison counties in Southern Indiana. A contractor has been hired and has been meeting with key stakeholders and referral agencies to begin building a network of early childhood advocates in Southern Indiana.
- The Ages & Stages (ASQ) Developmental Screening Hub continues to have a huge impact children and families. Here are some recent examples:
- A mom of 3 was overwhelmed with her three-year-old’s behavior. She was referred to Seven Counties on Friday by Monday she had her first appointment.
- A longtime Hub family is getting back on their feet after an eviction. The ASQ Developmental Screening Hub was able to place a United Communities referral to A Place to Sleep for beds for her four children.
- After visiting her pediatrician, a mom was told her child needed early intervention and the pediatrician would make a referral for her child. When speaking with mom, the ASQ Developmental Screening Hub discovered that the referral was not made by the pediatrician and was able to connect the family to KEIS (formerly First Steps). The family is now receiving services.
- The ASQ Developmental Screening Hub has the privilege of being a small part of a child’s early learning. For some families, the Hub watches the children grow and learn over multiple years. The Hub celebrates milestones and helps to encourage areas of growth through those years. This month, the Hub graduated the last of 6 children from one family. Over the last 13 years, this family has completed 55 questionnaires and received 55 books from Metro United Way.
When we have strong households, we are creating pathways out of poverty to prosperity, which is a win for us all. LEARN MORE
- Our workforce financial coaching initiative is continuing to demonstrate results with the following impacts realized by program participants:
- 27 individuals have increased their income by a median of $7,932
- 80 have increased their savings by $666
- 55 have raised their credit score by 23 points
- 65 have decreased debt by $2,000
- Our Siemer Institute partnership, whereby families with children are supported to improve their income, housing, and educational stability, has served 224 families with 425 children through the first half of 2024 and achieved the following outcomes:
- 73% of families have reached a level of income stability
- 76% have reached a level of housing stability
- 99% have reached a level of educational stability
- In September, Metro United Way will convene our inaugural cohort of underrepresented entrepreneurs to learn from their experiences and celebrate their successes. We will also be bringing together other partners working in the entrepreneur support space to explore ways of improving our local ecosystem to best serve our community. We look forward to sharing our takeaways from these upcoming meetings.
- We are working with other local organizations to plan a community event in late October to share the impact from YALift! (Young Adult Louisville Income for Transformation), a guaranteed income pilot that was completed in 2023. During this event, there will also be a showing of the documentary film “It’s Basic” to raise awareness about this approach to supporting individuals and families as a means of improving quality of life, promoting agency and hope, and advancing income and employment.
- United Community will host two engagement events: United Community Social Needs Think Tank on 9/12/24 & United Community Lunch & Learn on 9/26/24. To learn more about these events and to register, please visit https://metrounitedway.org/united-community-events/
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
- On July 26th we held a Black L.O.V.E. (Live, Own, Vote, Excel) Philanthropic Partnership Education Session titled “Board Governance and Fundraising 101” with Carl Williams of 2020 Strategic, focusing on board roles, development strategies, and fundraising techniques.
- Conducted several planning meetings to expand our United Neighborhoods initiative into the Parkland area of Jefferson County and Southern Indiana.