Hear from our Chief Equity and Impact Officer, Robert E. Gunn, Jr.
- Two of MUW’s priorities bills in the Kentucky legislative session have been signed into law—HB 165, improving the Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership approved last year and HJR 39, codifying the directives of the Benefits Cliff Task Force.
- The Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership, a program for which Metro United Way served as a lead architect and advocate, will open for applications for the first time on April 2.
- Our Youth Success team hosted a successful Youth Program Vendor Fair for National Youth Violence Prevention Week on Monday, March 27.
- Our Youth Success RFP available to youth-serving organizations in Jefferson, Bullitt, Oldham, and Shelby counties in Kentucky and Clark, Floyd, and Harrison counties in Indiana received 108 completed applications with a total of $7 million requested investments for year one. Our staff and volunteers reviewed applications, scores, and made recommendations to our Community Impact Cabinet for investment recommendations to help ensure every setting a young person encounters is adequately resourced and a safe place for them to succeed. Our Executive Committee approved these recommendations last week and we will notify all applicants within the next two weeks whether receiving investments or not. We plan to invite all applicants to be part of the Youth Success Network of more than 100 youth-serving organizations.
- We hosted our first in-person Ready for K quarterly meeting in three years with more than 50 people in attendance!
- Our early care and education team recently participated in the Office of Women’s panel on child care:
- Our Ready for K’s Family and Caregiver Engagement Action Network is planning the third in its series of professional development training sessions. This session will be focused on resources and tools that JCPS offers families whose primary language is not English.
- Our Ready for K’s Access and Quality Action Network is developing phase two of the quality improvement initiative for center-based child care providers in the Russell Neighborhood. Implementing a Community of Practice model, partners are building an initiative that is dedicated to improving the quality, availability, and accessibility of child care that is culturally responsive and based on the expressed needs of the providers it will serve.
- Our ASQ team will be attending a preschool day on Saturday, April 15 hosted by 4 JCPS FRYSC units. We will be doing four 30-minute presentations for parents during this event.
- We also worked to ensure MUW’s continued HIPAA Compliance and passing HIPAA recertification to protect the privacy of our ASQ families.
- We are participating and investing in Black Maternal Health Week which will be held April 11-April 17, 2023, providing a sponsorship for this week of events and offering additional support by finding experts in the community to speak on various topics related to Black maternal health, scheduling webinar presentations, assisting with Zoom and Facebook live streaming during webinars, and facilitating webinar Q&A sessions as well as assisting in the planning of a donation-based Bowling Social to support scholarships.
- Our first cohort of Black entrepreneurs through our new partnership with FundBLACKFounders launched with an RFP and we have evaluated these organizations and are finalizing next steps to notify entrepreneurs who will be awarded investments. This initiative will include coaching and support to assist with training, capacity-building, raising capital, and identifying customers.
- For the new American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Healthcare Workforce Innovation Coalition initiative, we will be serving in multiple roles: 1) leading the coordination of financial coaching support for individuals participating in workforce training; 2) connecting fundraising support to entrepreneurs from marginalized communities; and 3) coordinating consultation for employers to promote inviting workplaces for diverse populations. Read more about this $40 million investment in our community HERE.
- VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) sites are open for the tax season. Qualifying for one of the tax filing options is easy and simple! Visit this website for more information
- Volunteer-supported tax preparation program returns that are prepared and electronically filed (In order to qualify, your household income should be $66,000 or less). Please view 2023 Tax Preparation Sites Brochure to find a location and hours of operation for all tax services. There is never a charge for any of the volunteer-supported services. There are also options for preparing yourself. The self-file options are free as long as you meet the income qualifications. More information can be found here.
- We have successfully completed the first year of a wealth-building strategy in the California neighborhood in partnership with New Directions Housing Corporation by repairing 38 resident-owned homes in the neighborhood. More information about United Neighborhoods HERE.
- Metro United Way officially joined the 211 National Data Platform which will give us deeper analytical insights to 211’s get help and connection networks across the country.
- Save the date for two United Community events: Lunch & Learn on Thursday, May 18th and Convening on Wednesday, May 31. More details to come.
- We are hosting a “Coffee with Adria” on Thursday, April 27 in Harrison County and highlighting United Community.
- Our planning for Phase II Housing work kicked off on Wednesday, March 15.
- We are working side by side with Mayor Greenberg and his team to ensure that Louisville continues its tradition of celebrating volunteer service during National Volunteer Month in April through Mayor’s Give A Day (MGAD) Celebration of Service. Learn more here or sign-up to volunteer: HERE. More than 500 volunteers have already registered through the site for one of the 108 projects that are listed.
- We are working with Humana to create 60 Tie-Knot Blankets for individuals and families in need and they are also participating in a Little Free Library Book drive, UAW volunteers will create 400 healthy snack kits and 32 blankets. Financial empowerment kits and more healthy snack kits will be created by our advisory councils and Fifth Third Bank.
- MUW’s 42 Little Free Libraries are in need of books. Books can be gently used or new. Click here to learn more about what types of books we need and accept. If you donate books, please log your time for Mayor’s Give A Day Celebration of Service HERE.
- Our Farmers Feeding Families RFP closed and we will be evaluating and scoring applications soon.
- Our Racial Wealth Gap Simulation continues to be a powerful community engagement tool. We will partner with Actalent in as well as United Healthcare and Boys & Girls Club of Kentuckiana over the next few weeks.
- Our first cohort of our Black L.O.V.E. Philanthropic Partnership convened for an all-day retreat last week that included networking, team building, education, and information sharing at the Leadership Louisville Center. The retreat featured Dr. Pamela Jolly of Torch Enterprises along with Metro United Way’s Robert Gunn, Jr. and Trent Findley for an insightful and impactful day of growth. More updates to come on this powerful group of Black-led organizations.
- We are excited to soon begin a pilot program through United Way Worldwide called Young Men United. Several United Ways across the country will embark on this journey to positively impact our young men, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on our community.