Living United

Our United Way Has Got Talent!

In 2008, we partnered with our friend, Don Rich, owner of Zestivities! (now in Nellsyford) while he was also a Segway dealer. We had a lot of fun using Segways during our United Way Day of Caring and then had the idea to create a "United Way Segway Drill Team" for Charlottesville's Dogwood Festival Parade.

We had a blast practicing and then participating in the parade. Here is a blog post about it, featuring the videos we posted to YouTube. They are our most popular YouTube videos to date.

Imagine our surprise when we received this email last Friday:

-------- Original message --------
Subject:America's Got Talent Season 8

Hello,

    I work for the television show America's Got Talent, and I came across some youtube videos of the United Way Segway Drill team and loved it! I couldn't find a direct email address for the team but found this one that is associated with it. I don't know if you have seen our show before but we are NBC's number one show of the summer and are the only variety talent show on television where you can be any age and have any talent! Every season we look for new and exciting talent we have never seen before and we have never had a segway drill team on our show before! I was wondering if your team would be interested in auditioning for us this season. We are going to be holding an open audition in Norfolk, VA in December and love you guys to come out for it! The routine would have to be a 90 second routine and we ask that people use current or popular music. I think NBC and our producers here in Los Angeles would really like you guys! Look forward to hearing from you!

Best--
Kayla DeFrancesco 

Assistant to Producers

Americas Got Talent

Season 8

Our current and former Segway drill team staff members could not stop laughing as we exchanged emails back and forth. Tempting as it may be to hold a reunion tour, we won't be participating, but it has been fun reliving the experience!

Posted by: Kim Connolly

United Way Excellence Awards Dinner POSTPONED

Thanks to Hurricane Sandy and the forecast wind gusts of up to 60 mph later today, the United Way Awards of Nonprofit Excellence Dinner scheduled for tonight, October 29, at the Boars Head Inn, has been POSTPONED.

We will announce the new date as soon as possible.

Please stay safe.

 

Posted by: Kim Connolly

October 29 United Way Awards of Excellence Update

We are watching Hurricane Sandy very closely as it may impact our plans to hold the United Way Awards of Nonprofit Excellence tonight at the Boars Head Inn.

As of 6 a.m, Monday, October 29, the dinner is still ON. If the Boars Head Inn loses power today, we will postpone the dinner to another date.

Please bookmark this blog and check back during the day for updates. If our office loses power, we will not be able to update our website, but can update this blog.

Posted by: Kim Connolly

Vice President of Marketing & Communications, United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area.

Celebrate Excellence in Local Nonprofits

Tomorrow is the last day to RSVP for the United Way Awards of Nonprofit Excellence next Monday, October 29 at the Boars Head Inn. Join us in recognizing, celebrating and promoting excellence in local nonprofit leaders and boards of directors.

Finalists for Excellence in Board Governance award: Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville, The Senior Center, and The Women's Initiative

Finalists for Excellence in Nonprofit Leadership award: Jacki Bryant, CYFS; Fay Painter, MS Society, Blue Ridge Chapter; Erika Viccellio, Charlottesville Free Clinic.

We are so fortunate to have such strength in our local nonprofit organizations. Help us shine a light on those who work so hard behind the scenes to make our community a better place to live.

 

Posted by: Kim Connolly

Do Nonprofits Have What They Need to Actually Solve Problems?

The Wall Street Journal ran this article on September 15: Why Can't We Sell Charity Like We Sell Perfume?

The author made the argument that it is time to change how the donating public views charities; instead of obessing with overhead and executive pay, ask instead "whether these organizations have what they need to actually solve problems."

He states, "In short, we are asking nonprofit groups to deal with social probems whose scale is beyond easy comprehension, while denying those groups the tools they need to build any meaningful scale themselves."

The greater Charlottesville area is chock full of nonprofits and the people who support them. Read the article and let us know what you think. Does he have a point? If so, how can we change the paradigm? It would also require nonprofit staff and boards to change the way they view themselves.The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation seems to use this model of fully funding specific efforts in order to truly create change.

It is an interesting question for both nonprofits and donors to ponder.

Posted by: Kim Connolly

A Big United Way Day of Caring Thank You!

Any event that involves over 2,300 people, 65 businesses, 113 nonprofits/public schools and 234 volunteer projects take the coordination and involvement of many.
As I reflect on my second and our office’s 21^st United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring, I can’t help but to feel grateful. I’m grateful for all of the people, organizations and groups that came together to bring over $304,000 of volunteer hours into our community on a single day.

I want to take this time to thank you.

Thank you to the sponsors who made the breakfast possible (State Farm), provided lunch for our staff (Raising Canes) and covered the event on the radio (WINA) and television (Charlottesville Newsplex).

Thank you to the nonprofits and schools that hosted volunteers and organized meaningful projects for local businesses.

Thank you to the thousands of volunteers who took time away from work to spend time making our community a better place to live.

Thank you to the companies that allowed their employees to miss time from work to volunteer painting houses, landscaping and much more.

Thank you to the United Way staff who spent time in the weeks leading up to the United Way Day of Caring to help print signs, bring up and sort supplies from our basement, and arrive so early in the morning to set things up.

People always thank me for the work that I do behind the scenes to plan the day, but I don’t (and can’t!) do this event alone. It’s because of the wonderful team leaders, thoughtful project coordinators and my supportive colleagues that this event is able to happen each year and make such a difference in Charlottesville and the surrounding counties. Without the support and teamwork of the thousands of people involved in even the smallest details of this community-wide event, the United Way Day of Caring wouldn’t have such a lasting impact on our community.

Thank you!

 

Posted by Jessica Snyder, United Way Volunteer Center Director

Sweating the Details for the United Way Day of Caring

The United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring.

The United Way Day of Caring.

The Day of Caring.

Or, in our office shorthand: DOC.

Our office is in “All hands on deck!” mode in preparation for our annual volunteer extravaganza next Wednesday, September 19^th.

This year, we have 2,300 volunteers registered for 234 projects at 113 nonprofits and schools. There are teams from 65 local businesses and organizations, with the University of Virginia and UVa Health Systems providing nearly 1,000 of our volunteers. Our good neighbor, State Farm Insurance is sending around 100 volunteers, and Lexis Nexis and the CFA Institute each send around 70 employees to volunteer. And other local businesses send from 2 to 50 employees.

That means a whole lot of local businesses allow and encourage their employees to spend a day volunteering in our community. And we can’t forget those employees left behind to keep things running.

Jessica Snyder, our Volunteer Center Director, is seeing her 9 months of preparation come to fruition and is deftly handling the thousand details that make the day run smoothly, not to mention taking the last minute changes in stride. The rest of us do what we can do help her. We haul the signs out of our basement, print new signs, arrange pick up of traffic cones, alert the media, assign our board members project sites to visit to thank the volunteers. The spread sheets detailing every one of the projects are voluminous, and the details (weights for balloons? – check) are numerous, but necessary to making such a huge undertaking seamless. It is fun, it is exhausting and somewhat overwhelming, but on that day, at the kick-off breakfast at Albemarle Square, when the State Farm Singers are lifting up their voices in joy, and the hundreds of volunteers are full of energy to make a difference in our community, it all seems worth it.

 

Posted by Kim Connolly

Charlottesville Region Anticipates the 2012 United Way Day of Caring

The excitement is building in our region as 2,300 volunteers prepare to work on more than 200 projects for local nonprofits and schools in the city of Charlottesville and Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson counties on September 19.

Many thanks to Charlottesville Newsplex for capturing the community's anticipation in this public service announcement.

 

Nonprofit Volunteers, Boards and Governance in Charlottesville

This is a busy week for us.

Jessica Snyder, our Volunteer Center director, is finalizing all the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring projects, with the final volunteer teams choosing their projects today.

Our annual board retreat is this Friday. It is a time to reflect and to plan. At last year’s board retreat, our board members self-selected which of our three impact teams they would serve on: School Readiness, Self-Sufficiency or Community Health. Board members invested a lot of time and energy this past year investigating the issues and unmet needs in our community relating to their specific impact areas. Our board members have already shown their commitment to positive change and are energized for further
action.

Speaking of good board governance, the deadline for nominations for our United Way Nonprofit Awards of Excellence, for leadership or board governance, is this Friday, September 7. Find more information and nominating guidelines here.

 

Posted by: Kim Connolly

Good Nonprofit Governance Means a Clean Office

Oh the joys of a neat and organized office!

We had our annual “Office Cleanup Day” last Friday. Our staff set aside the day to go through their files and piles, clean out shelves and organize common areas and storage areas in our building. Jeans and sneakers are the uniform of the day. On Cleanup Day, I drive my family’s 14 year old pickup, and bring file boxes to our off-site storage facility, and also make at least one trip to the dump, while another staff member brings papers to recycling. And of course, we also recycle office items amongst ourselves, trying out new desktop file holders and inboxes, in the hopes of cleaner, more organized desks.

One of the highlights is going down into our basement - “The Dungeon” as we fondly call it – and getting rid of the various items we have stowed down there. It is an interesting place – we have donated bottles of wine, dozens of signs we use for the United Way Day of Caring each year, snow shovels, gardening tools, Christmas ornaments, our pop-up tent, a portable podium, and everything else that gets used only occasionally. Our building was built as a home in 1915, so you can imagine the character of our basement – sump pump and all.

Somehow, I ended up with two NEW boxes in my office from other folk’s room; items related to our history (we will celebrate our 70th year of service in 2013) that I will need to go through in my “spare time.” I think I will need to set aside a “History Day” to go through the boxes. If there is anyone out there who loves to create scrapbooks, I could use your help!

Posted by: Kim Connolly

United Way Day of Caring - The Olympics of Volunteering

Let the games begin!

Sure, it’s not as exciting as watching Olympic synchronized diving or your team’s next NFL preseason game, but completing the Project Selection Lottery for the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring certainly feels like competing in a marathon! For two straight weeks, I’ll be working all day, every day to ensure that more than 140 volunteer teams are able to find a project that is both meaningful and fun.

Instead of playing out in a stadium, this game is played in my tucked-away nook at our United Way office downtown. The rules of the game are pretty simple: make sure that all of our teams walk away happy with their project and that the nonprofits and schools will have enough volunteers to fill their needs.

To ensure fairness in picking projects – and to make sure that 10 teams don’t all pick the same project, we have a lottery system. I use an app that randomly mixes up the volunteer teams and assigns them a number. The first day, I notify teams 1 – 25 that it is their day to pick their project. They are the lucky ones, as they have all 200+ projects to choose from. Each consecutive day, the next 25 teams on the list get their chance. From year to year, I do make sure that the last 50 or so teams do not get bottom spots again, but that is the extent of my manipulation of the numbers. And believe me, I have been bribed! But just like a referee, I must remain impartial.

My “playbook” is a notebook filled with spreadsheets, project lists and team rosters. The teams wait anxiously for their turn to see what projects will still be available to “draft”. I receive about 40 calls per day from team leaders, who fill a role similar to a coach. Our team leaders are responsible for encouraging their teams, making sure that everyone is where they need to be and maintaining communication with their players and also the nonprofit or school where they will be playing.

As each project is filled and each team walks away happy with their pick, I record a win on my score sheet. You see, this is the kind of game that everyone wins. The nonprofits and schools win, because they are getting volunteers to complete projects that have been on their wish lists for months or even years. The volunteers win because they’ll get to spend a day team-building with colleagues and making a real difference in the community.

Before we know it, our teams will don their Day of Caring t-shirt uniforms and head out to pre-game party at our State Farm sponsored Kick-Off Breakfast. After the breakfast, they’ll gear up to participate in our “Super Bowl” of volunteering – the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring. That evening, people will watch the highlights of the event on the Charlottesville Newsplex or listen to a recap on WINA.

At the end of the day on September 19^th, I will breathe such a sigh of relief and take a moment to reflect on the whirlwind. All of the hours of preparation, hundreds of phone calls and thousands of emails will be so worth witnessing the biggest win of all - seeing thousands of smiling faces at the project sites while tackling some of our community’s biggest needs.

Nonprofits, Audits, Financial Strength and Transparency

If it is August, it must be audit time at our United Way. Each August, two auditors from Hantzmon Wiebel, LLC take over the lunch table on our third floor for an exhaustive review of our financial records. From individual donations, to grants we have received, to grants that we make to other local nonprofit programs, our audit is complicated. In addition, we are the fiscal agent for several programs like The Santa Fund and Women United, among others. Plus, we have several direct services of our own, such as Child Care Scholarships, Prescription Assistance and the United Way Volunteer Center. Whew! No wonder the auditors set up shop upstairs for about a month.

Why is all this important? Transparency and accountability. When a donor is evaluating a nonprofit, they should also look at the organization’s financial stability and efficiency. An annual audit should be available on that organization’s website. If an organization is not large enough to require a full audit, they should have at the least an independently performed year‐end income and expense statement available to the public.

Not only do we have a full audit performed every year, we also have an Audit Committee which includes a Darden professor of economics, a corporate Chief Operating Officer, and an accountant.

One of the results of our fiscal and management practices is that our overhead is impressively low – last year it was a mere 16.01%. The Better Business Bureau states that nonprofits should spend no more than 35% on overhead. Not only do we require ourselves to have a full audit each year, we also require an audit from each local agency applying for a United Way Community Impact grant. If an agency's revenues are under $200,000, the agency may submit a financial compilation in accordance with Statements and Standards for Accounting and Review Services issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. When a program receives a grant from us, you know it is well-vetted.

Ask the hard questions. We welcome yours. Our Audit Committee has worked very hard to make a complex document clear and understandable. Here is last year’s audit. Once this year’s audit is complete, we will post it on our website. We are proud of our well run, financially stable and - most important – effective organization!

While is all this important? Because heartfelt stories and emotion-triggering photos need to be balanced with proof of financial stability and program results. Nonprofit donations are like investments in a program’s stated mission. And folks want to see a good return on their investment. United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area is invested in School Readiness, Self-Sufficiency and Community Health. What are you invested in? Join us and see the results.

Our United Way Targets Important Issues

The following is a letter to the editor which appeared in the July 28, 2012 issue of The Daily Progress.

United Way targets important issues

Thanks to The Daily Progress for the June 4 article about our United Way’s emphasis on strategic philanthropy(“UnitedWay adjusts funding”). We recently undertook an extensive strategic planning process, resulting in a refocusing of our efforts toward the themes of self-sufficiency, school readiness and community health. By focusing our resources on specific, targeted issues, we can have the greatest return on investment for our donors who share our concerns, and the greatest impact in changing lives.

From our board’s year-long investigation,we adopted priorities in each impact area where we believe we can have lasting, significant impact: job training; addressing barriers to employment; increasing financial education and literacy; increasing home visiting services for young children to ensure school readiness; improving prenatal care and the health of babies; promoting physical activity, improving nutrition and obesity prevention; and increasing access to preventative and basic health care.

We will seek innovative approaches to address these critical issues and will bring funding, advocacy and volunteerism to create better outcomes.

Our region is fortunate to have an abundance of tremendous nonprofit organizations. No single organization can meet every need in our community. Through partnerships with many of these great organizations and by encouraging collaboration on similar programs, our new approach will enable us to focus our efforts in areas of significant challenge and create lasting, life-changing differences for our citizens.

We are energized by this new direction; it is our hope that the public will join with us through their financial support and volunteer efforts. Together, we can have a tremendous impact.

DANIEL GOODALL, Albemarle County

Daniel Goodall is a member of the United Way executive committee. This letter also carried the names of Blair Kelly, chairman of the United Way Board of Directors, and executive committee P.K. Kamath, Liza Borches, Margery Daniel, Peter Brooks, Brad Groff, Alison DeTuncq, Ray Mishler, Jim Kennan, Dick Brownlee, Eric Johnson, Brad Ramsey, Mike Chinn, Deborah van Eersel and Mark Giles.

Does your Nonprofit Need Volunteers?

The United Way Volunteer Center can help you find volunteers to fix up an old fence, paint an office or take some things off of your growing to-do list this fall! The United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring will take place on September 19 this year and we’re now accepting project submissions from area nonprofits and public schools!

This is your chance to get a group of excited, enthusiastic, hard-working volunteers in your office space for a three hour or full day project. Start brainstorming all of the things that your staff or clients could benefit from and be creative! Projects in the past have included: 

• Data Entry

• Painting Indoors/Outdoors

• Landscaping

• Distributing flyers/materials around town

• Scrapbooking

• Designing a new newsletter or promotional materials

• Cleaning/Organizing

Once your office has decided what would be most helpful, visit our website to learn how to register your project. After you’ve registered, we’ll send out information over the summer about how to best engage the volunteers that select your project, risk management, and how to make the day successful for your organization.

 

We hope that you’ll participate in this year’s United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring by submitting one or more projects!

Visit our Day of Caring website for more information or contact Jessica Snyder with questions about registration.

 

Posted By Jessica Snyder, United Way Volunteer Center Director

Why Participate in the United Way Day of Caring?

Each year on the day of our United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring, United Way staff and Board members team up and travel to visit the volunteers and nonprofits where projects are taking place. As soon as we stepped into the door of the Virginia Discovery Museum on my trip to local nonprofits that day, I knew that something special was taking place. All of the volunteers were smiling, laughing and busily working away. We were greeted by the wonderful staff at the museum and heard about the amazing work that had taken place with the volunteers.

As soon as I got back to the office that day, I wrote a letter to the museum staff asking for them to share what made the Day of Caring so special for them. I thought that highlighting the excitement at the Virginia Discovery Museum and showcasing the impact the volunteers made that day could help other nonprofits see the benefits in participating in such a special event.

Here is what the Virginia Discovery Museum staff shared:

"Every year, the Virginia Discovery Museum participates in Day of Caring. In fact, we purposely schedule our exhibit renovations around that day. This year, we welcomed volunteers from BB&T and CFA for an all-day, museum-wide renovation project. Starting at 9am, volunteers painted every room in the museum with new, exciting colors, helped us move furniture that otherwise would not have moved, and constructed new exhibits for the kids to play on. It is safe to say that without the hard work and enthusiasm of these volunteers, our recent new exhibits (Discovery Garage and Virginia Frontier) would not have opened on time to the public.

The most memorable part of Day of Caring is the camaraderie and the “willingness to do anything” of the volunteers. More than once, staff at the Virginia Discovery Museum was told that the volunteers come expecting to work hard and accomplish the tasks set before them. The staff started the day with several possible tasks for the volunteers, thinking that only a token few would be accomplished. By the end of the day, every single task was complete; and both the staff and volunteers left the museum exhilarated with a sense of accomplishment.

In the following week, staff members raved about the help we received from Day of Caring volunteers. We wish this event occurred multiple times throughout the year. We genuinely hope that the volunteers had a great time at the museum and we eagerly await the next Day of Caring."

Attention Local Businesses!

The United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring is only 11 weeks away and registration is in full swing! Don’t miss the chance to get out of the office for a morning, afternoon or full day of team building and making a difference in your community!

  Any business, church group or community group is welcome to sign up to participate. As long as you have two or more people committed to volunteering in our community on September 19, 2012, we encourage you to join us.

  The United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring makes a huge impact in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Greene, Nelson, Fluvanna, Louisa and Nelson each year. On just one day, over 2,000 volunteers in our local community will complete over $290,000 worth of projects at more than 200 nonprofits.

  Once your team signs up, you’ll get regular updates on the event from our office and will be invited to select a project to complete when we complete our project selection process in mid-August. We’ll have tons of projects to select from including working with children, landscaping, data entry, painting and hosting activities at local nursing homes. You’ll have the opportunity to find something to suite your skills and make a huge impact in your community!

  All of the information on how to register can be found here. You can also visit our Day of Caring website for much more information on forming teams. To see pictures from last year’s event, click here.

Help us find more volunteer teams in Louisa, Greene, Nelson and Fluvanna counties by passing  this sign up information along to businesses and churches there. We have projects in those counties each year and would love to have more volunteer teams to help cover those projects!

 

Posted by: Jessica Snyder, United Way Volunteer Center Director

United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area Announces $634,038 in Grants to Local Programs

 For the past nine months, the board of directors of the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area has been implementing its new strategic direction of focusing on three specific areas of impact: School Readiness, Self-Sufficiency and Community Health. Impact teams consisting of 49 United Way board members, plus interested community volunteers, met dozens of times in the past year to develop priorities within each impact area. Our board invited local nonprofits to submit proposals that would help meet the priorities in each of those areas. Our United Way is investing a total of $634,038 in grants this year to local programs, and for the first time has provided some multi-year grants.

The priorities of the SCHOOL READINESS impact area are: to provide home-visiting services for families with children zero to three years old; increasing the access to quality early education through the Virginia Star Quality Initiative; and to partner with schools, preschools and community groups to improve children’s successful transition to kindergarten.

School Readiness Impact Team Members: Eric Johnson, Chair; Bill Bradley; Peter Chapin; Mike Chinn; Bryan Elliott; Frank Friedman; Rondi Furgason; Phil Garland; Michael Geismar; Amanda Hoffman; PK Kamath; Chris Laing; Chris Lee; Brad Ramsey; Bill Wardle.

School Readiness grant partner programs:

• The Home Visiting Collaborative, consisting of Jefferson Area CHIP and CYFS, received a three year grant,
• CYFS’s Child Care Quality program also received a three year grant.

“Multi-year funding is something new for us,” notes Cathy Train, United Way’s president. “But in the case where there is a strong, ongoing program with proven results that specifically addresses our priorities, we felt that investing for the long term could create some momentum in children growing up healthy and arriving at school prepared to succeed.”

Our United Way’s SELF-SUFFICIENCY impact area team’s goal is to “invest in individuals and families working to become financially stable and economically independent.” “We found that this goal really spread across all three of our impact areas,” Train states. “A family struggling to make ends meet, or parents working two or three jobs without health insurance, doesn’t leave time to help children with homework or ensure adequate preventative health care.” Our United Way sought programs that addressed one or more of these priorities: addressing barriers to employment and job training for unemployed/underemployed local residents, including promoting high school graduation and post-secondary education; increasing access to financial education, literacy and budgeting; and supporting employment through adequate and accessible transportation, child care and shelter.

Self-Sufficiency Impact Team Members: Deborah van Eersel, Chair; Charles DuBose; Sasha Farmer; Adrian Felts; Dan Goodall; Fred Greer; Peter Harbilas; Allen Hughes; PK Kamath; Jim Kennan; Don Long; Abby Lunn; Susan Prindle; Joyce Robbins; Phil Sparks; Juan Wade; John Young.

The United Way has partnered with the following programs to help address these priorities:

• Changing the Odds, which addresses teen readiness for workforce, college and financial independence, offered by the Boys and Girls Club;
• Family and Individual Development Program, which teaches financial literacy to low-income, mentored adults, offered by Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries;
• Strive, a one-on-one mentoring program from Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries focused on goal setting and accountability for Charlottesville High School boys received a three year grant;
• Computers4Kids, which provides long-term mentoring, technology training, computer access, job readiness skills and college to career guidance to low-income middle and high school students, received a three year grant;
• Bank on Great Charlottesville is a program of the Legal Aid Justice Center that expands access to affordable financial services and financial education programming for unbanked and under-banked households;
• The Adult Tutoring program of Literacy Volunteers – Charlottesville/Albemarle has received a two-year grant to serve students attempting to pass the G.E.D. test;
• The Re-entry Services program of OAR/Jefferson Area Community Corrections assists ex-offenders with their reentry needs as they transition back into the community;
•  PACEM’s Journey Advocate program received a two year grant for providing one-on-one mentorship for shelter guests who are employed or have regular income;
• The Center of Hope, a Salvation Army program that assists homeless families to recover from homelessness to lasting self-sufficiency through employment, housing, meals, clothing, furniture, education/life skills programs and local collaborations with holistic assistance;
• The Salvation Army’s Emergency Shelter provides temporary and long-term shelter, money management skills, educational and life skills programs, meals, clothing and furniture;
•  The Welfare to Work program of WorkSource, which provides economic opportunities for low and moderate income citizens through workforce development activities aimed to support a job placement program for persons with significant barriers to employment who are making the transition from welfare to work.

Our research determined that in the area of COMMUNITY HEALTH, the priorities were clear: improve prenatal care and the health of babies; promote physical activity and improve the nutrition and eating habits of local residents, or other obesity prevention projects; and increase access to preventative and basic health care resources for underserved persons, including low-income and rural communities. “The United Way is invested in building a community where people are healthy and have access to needed care,” says Train. “We need to help develop healthy habits, starting at an early age.

Community Health Impact Team Members: Liza Borches, Chair; Guy Babineau; Glenn Bannan; Spencer Birdsong; Lisa Cannell; Deborah Conway; Margery Daniel; Dorrie Fontaine; Ray Mishler; Gary O’Connell; Eunhee Park; Jim Richardson; Carolyn Schuyler; Jim Shannon; David Stebbins; Margo Szeliga; Mike Wesson.

In order to meet the priorities of the Community Health focus area, the United Way is partnering with the following programs through grants:

• The Mobile Food Pantry, run by the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, distributes nutritious food, including fresh produce and perishables, directly to needy clients living in underserved, rural communities surrounding Charlottesville;
• The Community Action on Obesity Program, run by the Community Action  on Obesity Task Force, reduces barriers of access to healthy foods for low-income or working poor for improved nutrition and eating behaviors and provides activities utilizing consistent motivational techniques emphasizing the outdoors to increase active lifestyles for a lifetime;
• The Child Victims Health Access program of Foothills Child Advocacy Center provides a comprehensive continuum of physical and mental health services for 250 child victims of physical and sexual abuse and assault annually, and received a two-year grant for a forensic nurse;
• The Teen Pregnancy and Parenting program of Jefferson Area CHIP supports success by encouraging teen parents to continue their education, receive prenatal care, delay pregnancies and understand the important role they play in their children’s lives;
• The Neighborhood Health Outreach program is an obesity prevention partnership between the Women’s Initiative and the Martha Jefferson Hospital Wellness Clinic, and received a two year grant for its neighborhood-based offerings.

“By focusing our investments on specific goals and priorities, and through encouraging partnerships and collaborations with similar or complimentary programs with long-term goals and measurements,” Train declares, “it is our hope that we will create substantial positive change in our community.”

None of this would have been possible without the leadership of our Campaign Chair, Alison DeTuncq, president of UVA Community Credit Union, who led teams of volunteers in raising the funds necessary to address these priorities. And, in the end, it is the members of our community - our donors - who have invested their money in improving our community, that we have to thank. Together, we WILL make a difference.

 

Posted by: Kim Connolly

 

Reflections on 18 Years with United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area

Today is my last day after 18 years at the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area.  What a joy it has been to work with such a great group of people in such a great community!  I took a position in 1994 coordinating our Child Care Scholarship Program; since then I’ve gotten to be a part of helping thousands of local families with quality child care, prescriptions, health insurance, financial literacy, tax assistance and much more.  But the real joy is not the numbers – it is knowing that there is a story and face behind each one.  I know that our community is a much better place for the work that I’ve had the privilege to be a part of each day for 18 years.

So my thanks to all the wonderful United Way staff members, each special volunteer that I’ve gotten to work with, each donor that has helped support the United Way, and all the community partners that show such commitment and compassion each day.  It has been humbling to witness what you give to others every day, and I am thankful to have shared this journey with each of you.  I will miss you – keep up the great work!

Posted by: Jon Nafziger,
Vice President for Community Initiatives

 

Self-Sufficiency: Telling Stories through Numbers

The numbers are in. Our Thomas Jefferson Area Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) coalition prepared 1,880 tax returns at no charge for local low to middle income residents of Charlottesville and Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson counties.

The numbers tell us that the average refund was $1,491 and the average Earned Income Tax Credit (for those who qualified) was $1,742. Similarly, the average Child Care Credit was $784.

The average income for those we helped was $19,341. Think of the impact that receiving those kinds of refunds and credits can have on someone with that sort of income. You could buy new tires for your car. Pay off a medical debt. Visit your mother in another state. Start a savings account.

And the numbers go on. Our coalition volunteers saved these 1,880 people a total of $366,200 in tax preparation fees. We had more than 100 volunteers, most of them UVA students and law students. The total dollar value of credits for earned income, child care and education totaled $1,605,879. The most returns (649) were prepared at the site at the University of Virginia’s Human Resources department. The United Way’s office prepared the second highest number of returns (216). University of Virginia Community Credit Union employees prepared returns in their branches in Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson counties, plus their downtown Charlottesville branch, for a total of 367 returns.

The numbers also tell us that the total impact of our coalition’s efforts this year, including refunds, credits and saved fees, was $3,453,535.

But what the numbers do not tell us are the stories about the people whose lives were vastly improved by this boost to their bank accounts. Here at the United Way office, a staff member prepared a return for a woman who was a recent immigrant from Eastern Europe and had a middle school age daughter. She could not believe that she would actually be getting money back from the earned income tax credit, and even asked to review the return, in case we had made a mistake. Once she received her tax credit, she returned to our office to show us pictures of the new furniture she was able to buy: new beds and mattresses for her and her daughter. She said “Thanks to you, we will not sleep on the floor any more.”

One thousand, eight hundred and eighty  tax returns prepared. There are a lot more stories to be told.

 

Posted by: Kim Connolly

Winery Tours or Golf at Keswick? You Choose.

There is something for everyone on One Fine Day for the United Way on July 23, 2012. For golfers, the United Way Golf Classic offers the opportunity to play on the private Keswick golf course amid specatular scenery. As an extra, fun twist on the usual tournament, craft beer tastings are offered at select holes on the course. The day starts with a box lunch and ends with a sumptious casual buffet dinner as only Keswick can offer. In addition, dinner guests can participate in a diverse raffle as well as a small live auction for unique opportunities and items.

Don't golf, and wish you had the opportunity to spend the day with friends or clients like the golfers do? An Afternoon in the Country was designed for you. Start the day with a box lunch and a talk by Dr. M. Mala Cunningham: "Be Good to Yourself through Mindfulness and Yoga".

Then board the bus for "One Vine Day" of tours and tastings at three local wineries: Jefferson, Trump and Blenheim. Savor the afternoon with friends while sampling wine and enjoying the breathtaking scenery. We will finish up at Blenheim, where you can play a round of croquet if you desire.

Upon your return, you can join our golfers for the special buffet, raffle and auction. One Fine Day for the United Way serves to support our United Way's priority areas of School Readiness, Self-Sufficiency and Community Health. Help your community while having a wonderful day.

The United Way Golf Classic:

• An afternoon of golf, including a box lunch, craft beer tastings, hole contests and a buffet dinner: $150 per golfer

An Afternoon in the Country. Choose all of some of these activities:

• "Be Good to Yourself" lunch:   $20
• "One Vine Day" winery tour:  $60
• Buffet Dinner at Keswick Hall: $65

Or all three events for $140.

CLICK HERE FOR A BROCHURE

And, of course, there are plenty of sponsorship opportunities available.

To register, please call Caroline Emerson at 434-972-1701 or [email protected].