United Way Inc

Programs: Education: education is the cornerstone of individual and community success. It is essential to getting and keeping a job with a livable wage and health benefits. It is also fundamental to a community's economic prosperity: a well-educated workforce attracts world-class jobs. United way of greater portland funds 27 programs at 13 partner agencies that focus on education, helping children, youth, and families reach their potential. Just as the strength of the foundation determines the stability of the home, all future learning, behavior, and health is based on one's early experiences. Our vision is that young people will grow up healthy and ready for the future; that they are prepared for kindergarten; that children are reading on grade level by the end of third grade; that middle school youth are at grade level in math and reading; and that high school students graduate with proficiency and ready for college, the workplace, or the military. Research and experience show that each one of these benchmarks is essential for long term success. During 2017 united way of greater portland worked with community volunteers to develop community goals that would guide future focus of the organization's efforts. The early childhood portion of united way of greater portland's education work is expressed in thrive2027 goal 1, "every child will have high quality early learning experiences beginning at birth. "in addition to funding our partner agency programs, we have a number of place-based initiatives that allow us to conduct intensive, targeted work in the identified communities. Most of our partner agencies are involved in one or more of the projects outlined below, which strengthens the impact of our investments and community partnerships: 1. The westbrook children's project ("children's project") continues to be an example of how we are working to fulfill our vision. This year the children's project expanded in scope, identifying a range of goals and strategies to support the success of youth in westbrook from cradle to career. Active and focused partnerships among the westbrook school department and community partners have grown. Important children's project strategies, activities, and accomplishments in fy 2017 included:- support of westbrook communities that care which utilizes an evidence-based national model proven to reduce problem adolescent behaviors and support positive youth development. - identification of children who would benefit from a summer "jump start" program; children attending this program showed progress in letter identification, sound identification, or both of these important indicators of future academic success. -preparation of literacy kits, books and school supplies that were distributed to parents and 200 incoming kindergarteners. - continued refinement of a quality improvement cycle to evaluate the initiatives of westbrook children's project. 2. Portland connected is a cradle-to-career initiative intended to coordinate efforts, align resources, and harness the expertise of local and national organizations and leaders to prepare portland residents to meet the challenges of the future. Portland connected's initial efforts and resources are focused on the goals of kindergarten readiness, grade-level reading proficiency by third grade, high school graduation, and post-secondary enrollment, persistence, and completion. As the backbone for the 0 - 8 portion of the initiative, united way of greater portland coordinates the efforts of starting strong, a subcommittee of portland connected focused on school readiness and grade-level reading proficiency. In 2017 through the activities of four work groups, starting strong implemented strategies, including:- coordinating a literacy program for children pre-k to third grade at three free summer meal sites. - joining partners to plan and implement a school readiness rally in conjunction with the week of the young child. - implementing a program for first-grade students reading below grade level to receive one-to-one tutoring twice a week from trained volunteers at two schools. - developing strategies to promote and support school readiness focusing on families and children who will attend reiche school. - implemented a walking school bus pilot program for a neighborhood where multiple children were identified as chronically absent. 3. Count me in is an innovative partnership of schools, parents, youth, and community organizations working to improve elementary school attendance, with the goal of decreasing the number of students with chronic absenteeism in cumberland county elementary schools by 50% by 2018. Count me in facilitated the district and community teams to build a data-driven process that can be implemented and sustained within each of the elementary schools involved with this effort. 4. South portland partners for student success (sppss) is a collaboration of the south portland school district and community-based organizations to provide integrated support for children who are at-risk of getting off track and their families. Sppss unites school and community partners to design and implement strategies that keep students on the track to academic success. This includes increased collaboration and integration with partners to build systems and learn strategies to maintain and improve daily attendance of students in pre k-5th grade. In addition, parents will be engaged as partners to enable their child to meet or exceed rigorous content standards while developing the skills and habits of mind necessary for future success. Accomplishments and analysis included:- increased engagement of school staff and community partners have come on board. - attendance data reviewed in fall 2015 continues to have positive trend in decreasing chronic absence. - increased parent as partners engagement has fostered heightened knowledge and appreciation of positive ways of engaging parents to address chronic absenteeism and early interventions. 5. United way of greater portland provides fiscal management to the early childhood funders group, a statewide consortium of foundations and other organizations that provide funding for early learning in the state of maine. The group meets quarterly to discuss issues related to early childhood education and determine how the combined resources and influence of the group can have the greatest impact. This funder affinity group has been meeting now for six years, and currently has a total of thirteen active members. Over the past year, the group has explored some shared investment opportunities. Experts in the field have presented on different issues for young children and families from systemic and direct service perspectives. One of the more significant activities of the group has been to continue to collate investment data from members, recording the total amount and type of early childhood investments in maine.

health: improving people's physical and mental health and well-being is one of the building blocks of a thriving community; however, numerous obstacles stand in the way of good health for many residents of greater portland. United way of greater portland funds 40 programs at 18 partner agencies that focus on health, helping advance our health goals in the community. From addressing substance abuse to funding vision rehabilitation programs and outpatient mental health clinical services to addressing domestic violence, united way works tirelessly to improve lives for thousands of residents in greater portland. United way of greater portland is also leading work to align partners behind thrive2027 goal 3 of reducing premature death. In collaboration with several community partners, united way of greater portland developed the let's go! Program. Let's go! Is a nationally recognized, community-based childhood obesity prevention program that promotes healthy lifestyles for children, youth, and their families. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the program and it continues to grow in greater portland and beyond. The goal is to build and support heathy environments to increase physical activity and healthy eating, thereby impacting trends regarding youth obesity. We accomplish our goals using the 5-2-1-0 message: eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables per day; limit recreational screen time (tv or computer use) to 2 hours or less; get 1 hour or more of physical activity every day; and drink 0 sugar-sweetened beverages, choosing low fat milk or water instead of soda. This message is used consistently across the multi-sector model to reinforce evidence-based environmental and policy change strategies. Let's go! Statewide efforts are managed by barbara bush children's hospital at maine medical center. United way of greater portland continues to provide important leadership in the statewide work and financially supports the work in cumberland county by funding the equivalent of two full-time coordinators to implement the multi-sector model locally through let's go! Cumberland county. In fiscal year 2017, let's go! In cumberland county reached many youth through work in multiple sites. This entails working with 2,374 students in 55 childcare sites, 16,936 students in 43 schools, 2,849 students in 24 out-of-school sites, and 56,476 children in 33 health care practices. Let's go! Also recognizes sites in all sectors based on how many of the priority strategies are being implemented, written into policy, and enforced. In fiscal year 2016, let's go! Cumberland county worked with 155 sites and at year end, 73% (113 sites) were recognized as sites of distinction, including 20 schools, 45 childcare sites, 24 health care sites, and 24 afterschool centers received recognition status. Fiscal year 2017 data will be available in late fall of 2017.

financial stability: in greater portland, through thrive2027, the goal is set to ensure that individuals and families have the education, employment opportunities and resources to achieve financial stability. The measure of this success is the percentage of income that a household spends on housing costs. Currently, 65% of households pay less than 30% of their income on housing and by 2027, the goal is for 70% of households to pay less than 30% of their income on housing. To do this, community members have identified several drivers of this work: ensuring that all individuals have a high school credential; all individuals complete a post-secondary degree, certification and/or training to meet their career needs; all individuals and families have the earnings/income and assets to be financially stable; and all individuals and families can afford and access goods and services. To support these community needs, united way of greater portland invests in sixteen programs at nine partner agencies that support work that focuses on improving individuals and families' financial stability. By helping to address the root causes of issues faced by our most vulnerable - homelessness and food insecurity, unemployment and barriers to employment - united way of greater portland is working collectively in the community to connect people to resources that will help them embark on, or continue down, the path to financial stability. Additionally, united way of greater portland invests in the following initiatives toward this goal:1. Ca$h (creating assets, savings, and hope) greater portland is a partnership of community leaders and industry experts empowering individuals and families to achieve long-term financial stability. Ca$h is a year-round resource for the community, offering free income tax preparation to qualified filers during tax season, and educating hard-working residents about how they can make the most of their money. In 2016, ca$h greater portland irs-certified volunteer tax preparers filed 1,069 free federal and state income tax returns, returning $1,240,483 in federal income tax refunds to individuals and families, including $322,614 in federal earned income tax credits. Thanks to these efforts, 653 households saved roughly $139,896 in tax preparation and filing fees. 2. United way of greater portland serves as the cumberland county local board administrator for the local board of the federal emergency food and shelter national board program (efsp). This program is designed to help communities respond to local emergency food and shelter needs. Efsp funds are intended to help local existing programs, such as food pantries and shelters, expand their capacity to serve those in need. Local funding decisions are made by the local board, which sets priorities, advertises the availability of funds, makes funding recommendations, and provides technical support to recipient organizations throughout the grant period. Efsp's phase 34 funding awarded $84,333 to 21 programs at 18 agencies in cumberland county. 3. In march 2017, united way of greater portland took on backbone responsibilities for the greater portland workforce initiative (gpwi). It is a collective impact collaborative that builds on the existing work and experience of 20 community organizations and connects with the public workforce system to create a dual-customer pipeline aligning with the needs of jobseekers and employers. To achieve this, the gpwi identifies sector-specific opportunities for sustainable employment, engages employers for input into the core and occupational skills required for increased employment of jobseekers with barriers to employment, provides individuals with barriers the skills and supports necessary to enter into the identified pathways, and provides employers with access to qualified jobseekers.

1. 211 maine is a partnership with the united ways of maine, the opportunity alliance, and the state of maine that connects people to resources such as heating and utilities assistance, access to food pantries, housing and shelter, and mental health services through a toll-free telephone number (211), a text option (898-211), and a robust online directory at www. 211maine. Org. Specialists assess callers' needs and refer them to help 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, utilizing a statewide database of more than 8,000 resources. Last year, 211 maine call specialists answered approximately 45,092 calls, providing information and referral services. 2. Keep me warm is a statewide partnership of the 10 united ways in maine and the 10 community action agencies (caps) to raise funds to supplement fuel assistance programs in maine. Keep me warm is the only statewide fuel assistance fundraising effort in the state. United way of greater portland is the custodian of the keep me warm fund and is responsible for collecting, distributing, and reporting. Funds contributed to keep me warm are distributed based on a formula developed by the caps and united ways in maine based on federal low income home energy assistance program (liheap) distribution percentages as well as population. Caps receive 65% of the funds, united ways receive 25%, and 10% is used to fund emergency overnight assistance through 211 maine. Donations to keep me warm provide emergency heating assistance. Caps use the funds to help households that might not be eligible for limited federal, state, or local fuel assistance programs. United way of greater portland funds support additional organizations and agencies in their communities that can help those in need of fuel assistance. 211 maine aids in the distribution of funds for statewide overnight emergency fuel assistance for people who have no heat and have children or elderly family members in their household. More than $148,550 was raised for heating assistance through keep me warm last year. United way of greater portland estimates that more than 654 households were helped last year, directly benefiting 1,504 people. 3. Designations are donor-directed contributions to health and human service organizations. Donors to united way of greater portland's campaign may direct all or a portion of their contribution to specific nonprofit agencies that provide health and human services. Each agency's nonprofit 501(c)(3) status and compliance with the usa patriot act is verified before funds are distributed. 4. Volunteers play a vital role in improving people's lives and in helping united way of greater portland reach our organizational goals. We know meaningful community solutions require more than just money, programs, or policies. The kind of real and lasting change that benefits everyone is only possible when people from all walks of life are willing to roll up their sleeves and go where their time and talent is most needed. United way of greater portland is helping to support thrive2027's (our community's commitment to 3, 10-year, community-wide goals, www. Thrive2027. Org) success by guiding its vision and strategy, aligning partners, and sharing best practices. United way of greater portland puts people at the heart of transforming their communities by calling on them to utilize their full range of assets - time, talent, and treasure - through volunteering. We believe volunteer efforts are the backbone of the community and strengthen the connections that create positive changes that benefit everyone. They help build the capacity of local non-profit agencies by enhancing and expanding the agency services to meet community needs. Additionally, uwgp not only uses its community investments, but also strategic volunteerism, public policy work, and evaluation capacity to help move thrive2027. To this end, united way of greater portland works with our corporate partners and others in the community to identify and recruit volunteers to fill identified needs in our schools and nonprofits. These volunteer opportunities include readers, skills based volunteers and volunteers who are responsible for evaluating making recommendations for our community investments. Through a collaborative effort with the united ways in maine, united way of greater portland offers a statewide, searchable listing of volunteer opportunities at volunteer. Unitedwaygp. Org. This valuable tool allows organizations to post volunteer opportunities and individuals to perform a customized search. In addition to hosting and administering the site, we offer technical support to volunteers and agencies. Additionally, united way of greater portland organizes a variety of community events, including an annual food drive, national family volunteer day, read across america day, literacy kit projects, kindergarten jump start and dozens of tailor-made volunteer projects for corporate partners. One of the largest and most well-attended events each year is our annual day of caring, during which over 1,000 volunteers dedicate more than 5,000 hours of service to 75 projects at more than 50 different sites.