United Way has partnered with ABC’s View from the Bay and Starwood Resorts to offer Bay Area residents the opportunity to enjoy the paradise of Hawai’i while helping others. Visit Starwood’s “Endless Summer Escape” website to learn how you can book a Starwood Hawai’i vacation while supporting United Way’s Road to Recovery.
You can also nominate a Bay Area hero to win 500,000 SPG Starpoints for their own Endless Summer Escape. Nominate your hero on the View from the Bay CARES web page.
2008/09 Campaign Fellow Lauren Friedman at a Week of Caring event last year
United Way of the Bay Area is accepting applications for 2009 Community Fellows Program. Every fall, we hire Fellows to help lead the United Way fundraising campaign in hundreds of Bay Area companies.
From August 3 to November 6, Fellows coordinate United Way workplace campaigns inspiring people to take an active role in their local community.
For some of the Fellows, this is an excellent opportunity to learn skills they can use in their current positions, or that they can take to new ventures in both the for-profit and nonprofit worlds.
“I utilize the skills gained from the program on a daily basis as I train to be lawyer. I believe [the skills I learned as a Campaign Fellow] are necessary in order to be successful no matter what profession you choose,” said Lawrence Lee, 2005 Fellow.
Through the close contact United Way offers with other area nonprofits, many Fellows have gone on to very successful careers either as fundraisers or program oriented staff. The Fellowship Program is sponsored by Wells Fargo and Bank of America.
At the same time we’re recruiting and training new staff new skills, we also offer a unique opportunity for Bay Area employers through the Loaned Executive program. This program enables seasoned professionals give back to the community, while offering an ‘out-of-the-box’ way to cultivate the next generation of community leaders.
Visit our website to find out more about the Campaign Fellows program, we are always looking for enthusiastic community champions. To apply, please email a copy of your resume to CampaignFellows@uwba.org.
United Way grantee Springboard Forward has developed a fundamentally new model called Engaged Employment™, which inspires low-wage workers to develop a long-term vision for career mobility. The program begins with the job they currently have and uses that job as a springboard for improving their future.
Springboard Forward’s approach not only advances workers’ careers, but also benefits employers by addressing chronic business challenges such as low retention, poor employee performance, and unsatisfactory customer service. By addressing these challenges, Springboard Forward creates bottom-line incentives for employers to help change the landscape for workers in low-wage jobs.
Springboard Forward client Marquita is an employee at the Goodwill Store in Bayview. Before she discovered Springboard, she felt stuck in a dead-end role, and was intensely focused on the negative aspects of her job, which included cleaning up the mess customers left behind. Marquita longed to tackle additional responsibility and expand her role, but lacked confidence in her abilities, particularly because she struggled with reading and math, and believed that might set her up to fail. “I didn’t want to mess up, so I didn’t want to try,” she said.
Her participation in the Engaged Employment™ Program helped Marquita transform these challenges into a whole new mindset.
She found the courage to share her reading challenges with her Springboard coach, and together they found resources to help her overcome what had felt like an insurmountable barrier. She participated with the Project READ chapter at her local library, and, when she felt ready, asked her manager to support her in expanding her role at the store and become the closing supervisor.
With the encouragement of her Springboard Forward coach, Marquita is taking better physical care of herself, trying to stop smoking and implementing an exercise routine into her life. She even approaches the daily frustrations of her job from a new perspective.
“I smile a lot more in the store. When customers tear the store apart, I am not so angry with it,” Marquita said. “I pick it up and smile, just pick it up and smile. Just my ways are different.”
Marquita says that, through the Springboard Forward program, “I learned…which way to go…I’ve got to take these steps. I have to put that fear aside and just do it.”
BRE Properties Employees volunteered last year at Glide
Registration is now open for United Way’s 19th annual Week of Caring! You and your co-workers can sign up for one or more of hundreds of volunteer projects.
Week of Caring is a fun, free and easy way for teams of employees to work together and create lasting change in their own communities.
Volunteer projects include:
• Packing and preparing meals for seniors
• Packing and prepping food at community food banks
• Helping connect 2-1-1 callers to vital community services
Find out more about Week of Caring and how it is to get involved, registration is currently underway.
United Way’s Lorne Needle was recently interviewed on Comcast Newsmakers about our Road to Recovery campaign. Lorne spoke about the importance of charitable donations during these tough economic times. He also explained how 2-1-1 is a resource for working families who may need assistance, but are not sure where to turn.
Watch the video below, or catch the segment on Bay Area Comcast stations in July, when it will air at the top of the hour before CNN Headline News.
United Way and the SF 49ers installed a play structure at Belle Haven during the 2008 Hometown Huddle
Ten-year-old Julio threw frequent temper tantrums and refused to do his work when he was first referred to the Family Support Center at Belle Haven Community School. Belle Haven is one of several Bay Area “community schools” supported by United Way.
The “community school” model brings support services – such as health services, counseling, mentoring, after-school activities, and parenting programs – directly onto school campuses in low-income neighborhoods, enabling teachers to focus on academics, while the community provides added support that students and their families need.
Although there is a lengthy waiting-list for mental health services in the school district’s counseling program, Belle Haven’s Family Support Coordinator Maria Magallanes was able to immediately assist Julio. Maria facilitated family therapy sessions to address a history of domestic violence and enabled Julio to address these issues through individual play and talk therapy.
Working with Julio’s teachers, Maria taught him a system in which he could use cards to communicate with his teacher when he was frustrated or needed a break during class, rather than having an outburst. Eventually, there was no need for the cards because Julio began to communicate verbally when he was frustrated or needed a break. The teacher began to see a change in his behavior, and Julio’s mother saw a dramatic decrease in his temper tantrums.
The Belle Haven Community School has yielded significant results for other students: higher academic achievement, improved relationships with peers and teachers, and reduced violence. Parents are more involved in the school, and the program connects families with resources needed to remain healthy, stable, and engaged in their children’s education.
Communities throughout the Bay Area have started free summer meal programs for children, serving meals on weekdays throughout the summer at summer-school and community sites. All children 18 years old and younger are eligible, regardless of their families’ income.
NOTE: Because of funding cuts, many school districts and community organizations that have previously served summer meals have curtailed or eliminated summer meal service this year. Families are encouraged to call 2-1-1 to obtain the most up-to-date information about meal locations, serving times and dates. 2-1-1 can also provide referrals to food pantries and other resources if there is no summer-meal program nearby.
Meals are served at schools and community sites in many Bay Area school districts, including Antioch, Calistoga, Concord, Fairfield, Richmond, San Francisco, San Pablo and San Rafael, just to name a few. Most meal sites are located at or near schools that have 50% or more students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches.
Residents who can’t dial 2-1-1 should call 800-273-6222.
The 2009 San Mateo Warriors is a rugby team created by the Interfaith Collaborative program, which United Way has funded for 2 years. The team is comprised of kids who often can’t play sports because their grades aren’t high enough, but who are starting to run into real trouble with gang involvement, etc. This is an opportunity for them to engage in a popular sport, as well as connect with mentors, who help them in off-the-field areas like tutoring.
As part of the San Mateo Police Activities League, which engages some of the highest risk youth from San Mateo, the program represents a dynamic partnership involving not only the local police department but leaders in the faith community, union representatives, the rec & parks department, and the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center.
The results have been tremendous, particularly with violence reduction and establishing a positive relationship between the community and local police departments — both the San Mateo and San Bruno police chiefs have been very actively engaged. For example, there was a 10-15% reduction in police incident reports relating to Tongan youth.
The Warriors have recently been honored with a Distinguished Program Award by the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. This program is one example of how United Way works with partners to change the outcomes for troubled children and youth in San Mateo County.
The effects of the economic downturn have been widespread and felt throughout the entire Bay Area, but each community is different. In East Palo Alto, the effects have been particularly acute with respect to the homeless situation.
According to the 2008 homeless count, East Palo Alto has the highest homeless population in San Mateo County. This number is due in part to numerous mortgage foreclosures, which have significantly in this community. There is some evidence that this increase has prompted a surge in crime and violence.
Last fall, United Way partner One East Palo Alto convened a collection local community leaders, concerned residents and homeless families and individuals to create a community-based initiative to tackle the problem.
Together, they established a shelter last winter which provides overnight accommodations for people during inclement weather. The coalition also secured additional financial support from San Mateo County and the City of East Palo Alto.
The effects of this economic crisis will be felt for years to come, which is why United Way is supporting local nonprofits in each of our Bay Area counties to empower communities and devise creative local solutions. United Way is committed to staying along the road to recovery - no matter how long it takes.
UPDATE:
Recently the City of East Palo Alto approved a funding request that would allow United Way partner One East Palo Alto to expand their Sponsored Employement Program that places youth in summer jobs as paid interns. Besides helping young people get a foothold into the working world, the program has shown extremely effective results in helping youth who face barriers to employment secure jobs, raising income, building community and curbing youth violence.
The funding doubles their current budget for the program and will allow for exponential growth and provide sustainability during this difficult economic time.
United Way is also a major funder of this program, but we also advocated on behalf of One East Palo Alto highlihgting the success this program has acheived and why it is a model that should be expanded. This is a great example of how the changed economic landscape in which funding requests are up but overall nonprofic fundraising is down, we are still vigourously supporting community driven projects and helping them get funded.
CBS-5 Anchor Ken Bastida recently visited United Way’s 2-1-1 call center to film a segment about the community information line for his “Good Question” feature. You can view the video on the CBS website by clicking the arrow on the right side of the screen.
United Way has partnered with ABC’s View from the Bay and Starwood Resorts to offer Bay Area residents the opportunity to enjoy the paradise of Hawai’i while helping others. Visit Starwood’s “Endless Summer Escape” website to learn how you can book a Starwood Hawai’i vacation while supporting United Way’s Road to Recovery.
Communities throughout the Bay Area have started free summer meal programs for children, serving meals on weekdays throughout the summer at summer-school and community sites. All children 18 years old and younger are eligible, regardless of their families’ income.
