United Way Of Southeast Louisiana

Programs: Community impact - strategic planning & fund distribution: united way of southeast louisiana (uwsela) has a bold vision for eradicating poverty in sela. Grant-making supports the vision of "equitable communities where all individuals are healthy, educated and economically stable. " this means both a sharpened focus on poverty through supporting the critical programs that form the bedrock of serving our population, and a systems change approach centered on collaboration. Our grant-making is rooted in addressing the complex interplay of symptoms and drivers of poverty in the region. In 2016, united way launched its first cycle of grants to support programs and groups working together in a collaborative way to address the outcomes in our blueprint for prosperity. This portion of the community impact division, as distinct from the initiatives and programs it coordinates, is responsible for the annual strategic grants funding processes. It develops strategic plans to guide the funding processes and program or initiative development, and establishes and monitors measures of program success and financial accountability. Accomplishments: 1. Program grants: total # of people served by our 69 grant partners from july 1, 2017-june 30, 2018 - 229,535. Uwsela-funded 69 programs, from july 1, 2017 - june 30, 2018 to address priorities such as housing, medical and mental health care, child and adult care and academic supports. Uwsela answered over 229,535 appeals for help from our community. 2. Collaboration grants: based on the blueprint, uwsela provided $500,000 in funding to support seven (7) collaborations focused on systemic change to eradicate poverty. Accomplishments: ending homelessness through systems change collaborative - implementation stage- 60 organizations actively participating in collaboration- 3 new coordinated entry projects completed- 2,075 beneficiaries directly supported by collaborative- 3 trainings held for the continuum of care agencies- 2 informational documents created and disseminated to partner agencies, employees and participants in programs- 2 meetings held with public housing personnel to discuss housing the homeless- 186 chronically homeless individuals housednew orleans trauma-informed schools learning collaborative - implementation stage- 12 organizations actively participating in collaboration- 5 trauma-informed intervention training and refreshers to all schools- 1 all-schools convening hosted for shared learning and professional development related to trauma-informed practices- 5 mini-grants to partner schools distributed- 26 on-going technical assistance to individual schools around trauma-informed practicesnew orleans work (now) collaborative - implementation stage- funders collaborative made up of 8 funders that is focused on workforce solutions. - through our partnerships with employer partners, ochsner health system, southeast louisiana veterans healthcare system, and lcmc health 97 people have been trained during this grant period through our employer led trainings that give jobseekers and incumbent workers the skills they need to attain jobs with career pathway opportunities and through our partnerships. - over the past year, through our partnership with southeast louisiana veterans healthcare system (va) and the creation of the hudson thomas program, 34 incumbent workers have graduated from the program. The hudson thomas program focuses on helping incumbent workers build their skills in areas like computer literacy, numeracy, reading, writing. In the last two years the program has also put an emphasis on building worker's soft skills and helping them think about their career opportunities via career coaching. In june, a graduation was held for cohort 4 which consisted of 24 participants. Almost 60% of program graduates have received promotions and those that participate in the hudson thomas program are twice as likely to get promoted. 100 percent of people that have graduated from the program are still employed at the va today. - this year 42 people (27 incumbent workers and 18 jobseekers) have graduated from now funded programs within the lcmc network of 5 hospitals. It is important to note that this includes the expansion of the original children's hospital advancement and mobility program to all five lcmc hospital sites (children's, umc, n. O. East, touro, and west jefferson hospitals). - the joint collaboration between lcmc and ochsner health system to train jobseekers and incumbent workers for jobs as medical laboratory technicians has 18 people enrolled in the 22-month training program. This is the first now funded training program that will provide those that successfully complete the program with an associate's level degree as well as providing participants with the ability to earn nationally recognized credentials along the way including the as a phlebotomist and lab assistant (all high demand positions). - in an effort to support workers beyond attachment to work, we were excited to launch and gain traction around the new orleans workforce innovations program which is providing on-the-job post hire supports for workers. This program is based on the national worklab innovations model. The worklab model utilizes specially trained "navigators" (case managers) to support workers that are having difficulty navigating issues like childcare, transportation, housing, health, and financial stability. To date, we have received commitments to provide services to ochsner health system, gallo mechanical, and the windsor court hotel. Louisiana prisoner re-entry collaborative - infrastructure stage- 35 organizations actively participating in planning on steering committees (orleans, jefferson, & st. Tammany)- 28 individuals actively participating in planning on steering committees - 12 former prisoners engaged on steering committees (target population)- local coalition is seated; 200 members adopts la-pri framework in orleans, st. Tammany and in january of 2018, jefferson adopted the la-pri framework. - the goals and vision of the collaborative are approved by the steering committee w/ a data-informed problem definition, shared vision, strategies, and guiding principles. - conducted four coalition and steering committee trainings on la-pri framework in orleans and st. Tammany and two in jefferson- 0 local community coordinators under contract in orleans, jefferson & st. Tammany - grant from department of public safety & corrections is pending; which includes funding for the community coordinator positions that requires a match from the community. Need additional funding to fill this critical position. - community assessments completed - st. Tammany completed, orleans pending, jefferson just starting- department of public safety & corrections (dpsc) completes pipeline 1 data and distributes to steering committees. Pipeline 2 data just released in july. - center designs annual comprehensive plan with the help of la-prista. - engaged in la-prista to provide technical assistance to steering teams and coalitions. - dpsc reap (re-entry accountability plan) policy/procedures completed, steering committees trained- st community co-chairs seated on state implementation steering committees - orleans and st. Tammany- uwsela agrees to serve as the intermediary for jefferson and st. Tammany parish for the dpsc grant. New orleans grade level reading campaign - planning stage- 40 organizations actively participating in the collaboration. - 70 of community members involved through the collaboration- multiple partnerships established in two of the three areas. Partnerships and their purpose have included: early care and education funding & policy (stand for children, louisiana policy institute for children, united way, women united, wyes, kingsley house, urban league of louisiana, louisiana children's museum, agenda for children, new orleans early education network); and summer learning (nordc, new orleans public library, urban league of louisiana, new orleans youth program quality initiative/nola youth alliance, national summer learning association, firstline schools, abundance of desire, discoveryfest, communities in schools, and orleans parish school board). Partnerships are still under development to support an attendance pilot, but will likely include city year, communities in schools, attendance works and a few select charter school management organizations(continued below)

flood recovery / rebuilding initiative: in 2016, southeast louisiana was hit by two separate flood events, which affected the united way of southeast louisiana (uwsela) region. In march of 2016, three of seven of uwsela parishes were impacted by floodwaters affecting approximately #10,000 homes/families/individuals. Just five short months later, the 2016 august flood affected over #10,000 homes/families/individuals again in those same three parishes. Numerous families impacted in march were again flooded in august. Overall, the august flooding affected 21 of louisiana's parishes damaging tens of thousands homes and businesses. As uwsela has a bold vision for eradicating poverty in southeast louisiana, we know that many families are just one disaster or crisis away from being thrust into poverty. Costs around recovery from a disaster, such as the 2016 floods, can be staggering. And although there may be fema funds or sba grants available to disaster victims, in some instances victims receive no monies or in many cases the funds received are a fraction of what is needed to start, much less finish, recovery. In addition, families or individuals living in poverty rarely qualify for sba low interest loans that would help them rebuild their homes from a disaster. With no funding available, many families impacted by a disaster do not have the resources to begin to recover and many are unable to recover at all. This is why organizations such as uwsela are so important. Following the march flooding, uwsela was there to assist families. And, again in august, uwsela was there for assistance. Within 3 days of the flood declaration uwsela opened a collection and distribution warehouse where we collected then distributed over 1. 5 m recovery items valued at more than $1. 4 m dollars. Throughout ffy 2016 uwsela worked with rebuild organizations to impact the lives of flooded families and uwsela reached out and collaborated with 90 various community organizations to assist those in need. Uwsela also coordinated 368 volunteers giving #2100 service hours at a value of $50,694, assisting families in need. Uwsela made a long-term commitment to help those in need following the two 2016 flood events. Rebuilding a community following a disaster is vital to the long-term sustainability of a city, town, parish or states economic stability. Immediate response and recovery is extremely important, however, uwsela understands that recovery takes time. Once the initial response organizations complete their disaster response and leave the community, families are still in need. This is why a long-term response is vital to the community. Throughout ffy 2017 uwsela worked to rebuild/rehouse and meet unmet needs of those families and individuals identified as having little, not enough or no resources for recovery. With a goal of helping bring those families flooded back to safe, sanitary and secure living conditions, uwsela working with community partners, affected the lives of numerous families. Accomplishments: - $2,809,435 leveraged in flood recovery services- $989,846 invested in recovery efforts to rebuild / rehouse / meet the unmet needs of clients needing assistance in recovery - 128 families / individuals were assisted in rebuild efforts- $121,702 dollars' worth of donated goods received and used in rebuild efforts- 1,675 volunteers were mobilized to assist in rebuild efforts with flood victims- over 50 volunteer days were given to assist in rebuild efforts with flood victims- 70,335 hours of volunteer services were given to assist rebuild efforts with flood victims- $1,697,887 of value from volunteer services were given to assist flood rebuild victims. Without these volunteer services homeowners/flood victims would have paid out of pocket for those recovery efforts- 82 long-term recovery stakeholder meeting were convened- worked with: 13 unique organizations in 2017/18 on long term recovery - 2 long term recovery organizations - 6 rebuild partners - 4 funders - 4 case management agencies

individual development account project (ida):an ida is a matched savings account that helps low-income individuals and families save money to acquire an economic asset that can be a foundation for long-term financial stability and self-sufficiency. This project allows participants to use their idas for a down payment/ closing costs on a new home, to start or expand a small business, transfer ida for post-secondary education, and vehicle purchases. Participants are required to attend financial education courses and asset specific training prior to making a purchase. They are also required to save for at least six months before making a purchase. Ida project partners provide financial education, credit counseling, and asset specific training. We received a $250,000 asset for independence (afi) on september 30, 2013 to start our second program. Accomplishments: * total number of participants enrolled-114* 89 homeownership * 11 vehicle * 10 business start-up or expansion * 4 post-secondary education* total number of participants that have completed 12 hours of homebuyer training-89 * total number of participants that have completed 12 hours of financial education-114 * asset purchases-114 total; 89 homeownership, 10 small business and 11 vehicle, 4 post-secondary education