Living United

UNITED WAY YEAR OF CARING: Habitat for Humanity's Rake-a-Thon

About 500 volunteer rakers will turn leaves into cash during the fourth annual Habitat for Humanity Rake-a-Thon. The goal is to raise $5,000 for Project 20, Habitat’s effort to build at least 20 homes a year in partnership with hard-working local families.  

Habitat recruits "neighbors" who are happy to have their lawns raked by teams of volunteers. The neighbors make a donation in the amount of their choosing.

Thanks to an enthusiastic response from the community, Habitat has doubled the number of rakers and neighbors from last year. The growth of this unique fundraiser is a win for the neighbors, volunteers, and Project 20.

Working with Habitat has not only been fulfilling, but also empowering,” says Jessica Chandrasekhar, a long-term Habitat volunteer. “It connects me with future Habitat homeowners and other volunteers, who are all working towards the common, ultimate goal of bettering the world around us. The Rake-a-Thon furthers this mission by raising awareness of who we are as an organization and of the community that we are trying to build.

It’s too late to sign up for this year’s Rake-a-Thon, which takes place on Saturday Nov. 19. But Habitat offers many other volunteer opportunities throughout the year. To learn more, visit cvillehabitat.org/volunteer.

United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area 2012 Annual Report

We are very proud of the work our board of directors has done this past year in researching local needs and determining where services were lacking and how best our United Way could make an impact in our community.

Our 2011-2012 Annual Report does a great job in explaining the issues and showing how we are addressing them through community impact grants and direct services.

We'd love your feedback.

 

 

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

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.

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."

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

 

Are you Invested in Our Community? We Are.

What would happen if families had access to quality health care, kids entered school ready to learn, and individuals had the job skills they needed to become financially stable? How would their lives be different? How would our community change?

That is our vision. And we need your help.

The United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area is invested in: School Readiness, Self-Sufficiency and Community Health.

To ensure people have the tools they need to thrive, we have assembled a winning team: local nonprofits, business leaders, educators, health professionals and public servants. We are leading these team members in solid, research-based community strategies and linking them with the resources needed - funding, volunteers, advocacy, technology, in-kind resources and corporate partnerships - to deliver transformative, measurable results.

Today we’re appealing to you to step up to the plate and invest in our community. Please make a gift to help the United Way hit a home run for programs that make families more successful, and our community more prosperous.

We’re all on the same team; we all care about this community. It’s time to come together and Hit One Out of the Park.

Everyone who makes an “Out of the Park” donation that is received by June 1, 2012 will be listed in a full page ad in The Daily Progress (please indicate if you want to be anonymous).

What are you invested in? Give today. Click here.

Thank you.

 

Pulling People Together

We have each been involved in supporting local nonprofits for more than 20 years. Jane thrives on helping organize special events for a variety of organizations and Bryan has served on the board of our United Way for more than 20 years, as well as serving as the chair of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce and as a volunteer for Special Olympics, the Red Cross, Blue Ridge Rotary Club, and the Party Parade.

Our United Way impacts the community in many ways that people do not see. Not just by providing grants for local programs and by offering many direct services, but by advocating for the human service needs of all citizens. There are many issues in our community that concern us, including the education of our children and their well-being. Children need to be raised with the appropriate education and social skills plus the understanding that they are part of a larger community. The economic prosperity of our region is also very important, and we need to provide people with the skills they need as well as the jobs needed to sustain a healthy and safe living environment for everyone who lives here.

Our United Way addresses these issues by looking at where the needs are; we do this by pulling together community members-from nonprofits, businesses, the education and health care communities, and the public sector -and listening to them about what works and what hasn't, and where they see the need for more action. That is why we support our United Way both financially and with our time -because of the important role it plays in our community. We feel strongly that the dollars raised here stay in our community. We have a staff that works tirelessly to provide direct services like the Volunteer Center, Child Care Scholarships, Prescription Assistance and so on. We can see a tangible impact on our community through the United Way.

Posted By:

Bryan Thomas, Area Executive, BB&T

Jane Thomas, Community Volunteer

Paying Taxes, Saving Money

Our office has been hopping lately. The Thomas Jefferson Area Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Coalition is headquartered in our office, ably coordinated by our staff member, Pamela Frank.

Our Information and Referral Center's phone has been in constant use, with Martha Trujillo, our Community Services Coordinator, fielding phone calls and scheduling appointments for folks to have their taxes prepared for free. There are many member agencies in our local coalition and approximately 100 volunteers who have been certified by the IRS. Most notable are the students from the University of Virginia and the law school, plus the UVA Community Credit Union, which offers free tax preparation in its branches, especially those in our surrounding rural counties.

While our office may be crowded (since we are one of the tax sites) and our phones ringing constantly, it is a good feeling knowing that we have saved these families and individuals earning less than $50,000 a year a lot of money. Not only do they save the the tax preparation fees, but we help them to claim all the credits for which they are eligible. The IRS estimates that more than a quarter of the people who are eligible for the earned income tax credit do not claim it, and we aim to remedy that. In addition, we help people avoid the so called "instant refunds" which are in reality high interest, short-term loans. Folks who file their taxes through our nonprofit coalition can normally expect their refunds direct deposted into their bank acount within 7 to 10 days.

Pamela reported this morning that since mid January, the coalition has helped around 600 people with their taxes, and we are still barely into the season!

Why do we do this? It all relates to our impact area of Self-Sufficiency. We want to help working people keep their hard-earned dollars, and hopefully save their refunds to use to build a nest eggs or pay off bills. The coalition's motto is Earn it. Keep it. Save it. And that is what we hope they do.

 

Posted By: Kim Connolly

 

Music Resource Center: not just an afterschool program

January is National Mentoring Month.

All month long we are featuring guest posts from many of our local nonprofits that work with youth and need volunteers to become mentors and tutors. On January 26, 2012, the United Way Volunteer Center invites you to our annual Mentor and Tutor Opportunity Fair from 11:00 - 2:00 at the Omni Hotel. There you will be able to meet in person with representatives from 17 local organizations and fit the right fit for you as a mentor or tutor.

Mentor. Tutor. Pass it on!

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If you’re familiar with the Music Resource Center (MRC), you probably know that we are an after-school music program where Charlottesville youth can explore their musical talents in our state-of-the-art studios.  But did you also know that the MRC teaches students during the school day? 

Through theCharlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center (CATEC), the MRC offers a two-credit elective class to juniors and seniors in Charlottesville city and Albemarle county high schools. The goal of the class is to equip students with technical skills that will allow them to compete for jobs in the music industry after graduation. In the class, which meets for two hours every weekday, students learn aspects of recording engineering, live sound engineering, instrument maintenance and repair, beat production, music journalism and radio programming. 

The Music Industry Technology class was started in the 2008-2009 school year and is now in its fourth year. Approximately fifty students have taken part in the class over the course of four years. To learn more about the Music Industry Technology curriculum, visit the CATEC website.

 

Guest post by: Maria Gall, Music Resource Center

Initiative for Effective Nonprofits Grants Available

Grant application are now open for local nonprofits wishing to strengthen their governance and management so that they will be more effective in delivering services. Organizations that are managed well are better able to develop, implement and sustain effective services to meet community needs.

The Initiative for Effective Nonprofits is a collaborative effort of community organizations, foundations and individuals to strengthen nonprofit organizations that provide services to residents of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District which includes the City of Charlottesville and the Counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson.

Below is a guest post from one of the local nonprofits that received the grant and used it to strengthen a local coalition.

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The Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) is a well-documented and successful model of improving police interactions with people experiencing acute episodes of mental illness. The training is designed to educate and prepare police officers who come into contact with people in crisis, to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental illness and to respond effectively and appropriately to the individual. Because police officers are often the first responders in these incidents, it is essential that they understand how mental illnesses can alter people’s behaviors and perceptions.

The trained CIT Officer is skilled at recognizing and de-escalating crises involving people with acute episodes of mental illness, while bringing an element of understanding and compassion to these difficult situations. The goal of the CIT program is to reduce unnecessary restraint and incarceration of people with mental illness and to provide individuals with appropriate treatment in the community.

The Charlottesville CIT project began in 2005 with the support of an Initiative for Effective Nonprofits Grant from the United Way. The first 12 months were spent building consensus in the Charlottesville community to decide whether or not to bring a Crisis Intervention Team to the area. With overwhelming support within the community, we began the implementation phase of the project with a grant from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) in 2006.

Guest post by Tom von Hemert, OAR/Jefferson Area Corrections

Christmas Trees, Living on a Budget and Wonderful Volunteers

Years ago, when I was working at a nonprofit in another state, I had an assistant  who was one of the most outgoing, happy and hardworking persons I have ever met. She was also the same age as me (30) and had a 14 year old daughter. Yes, the math says she was 16 when she became a mother. One day, as we were driving to a meeting, she pointed out a large evergreen bush in front of an unoccupied industrial building. She told me the story of how one year, she could not afford a Christmas tree and so instead took a very large branch from the back of that bush and brought it home and decorated it for her young daughter.

Having grown up in a protected suburban bubble, this was the first time I had realized that for many families, a Christmas tree is a big expense. Perhaps that is why I so wholeheartedly embraced the Target stores’ Share-A-Tree program when their store opened in Charlottesville.

For 21 years, Target stores across the country have donated a couple of special display Christmas trees to their local United Way to give to families or a local nonprofit organization. We are so fortunate that our local store manager may actually be Santa’s special envoy, because he donates ALL of the store’s display Christmas trees to us each year. This year there were 24 trees.

We try to spread the joy every year by working with a different local organization to identify families who are struggling to make ends meet. These artificial trees enable families to keep money in their pockets each holiday season by eliminating the need to purchase a new tree each year. Whether you are a real or fake tree aficionado, you can agree that this makes good economic sense for these families.

In past years, we have worked with the Charlottesville City Public Housing Association of Residents, Love Inc.(which put us in touch with local churches), MACAA and GRACE in Greene County. This year, it was not hard to see that the people in hard-hit Louisa County, the epicenter of the August earthquake, could use some extra holiday cheer. So we contacted Donna Isom at the Louisa Resource Council, who immediately began finding homes for the trees. Two of the trees, which were quite high-tech looking as they were made of black tinsel, were given to Computers4Kids here in Charlottesville, to be decorated using a technology theme.

Ryan McKillip, regional manager of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, has provided us with a box truck for the fourth year in a row, and looks forward to volunteering to pick up and deliver the trees each year. Henry Graff, reporter for NBC29, joined as a volunteer last year when we delivered to his Greene County neighbors, and has now made this an annual volunteer effort (of course producing a news story along the way). The three of us are beginning to be a well-oiled machine.

Here is the link to our still photos from the day, and below is Henry’s story.

 

In addition, Bryan McKenzie of The Daily Progress, put his signature spin on the story in his column this week. Many thanks to the good folks at Target’s national headquarters, and many more to the employees of our local store for embracing and enhancing this wonderful concept.

Give. Advocate. Volunteer. That is what is means to Live United.

 

Posted by: Kim Connolly

Give. Advocate. Volunteer...Be Energy Efficient?

The United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area is one of the seventy businesses that have joined the Better Business Challenge, an initiative by LEAP and Better World Betty that encourages businesses to become greener. Points are given for assessing current practices (such as reviewing a year’s worth of utility bills) and implementing sustainable changes (such as replacing incandescent light bulbs with CFLS or LEDS)

We are exited to start earning points for incorporating greener practices in our daily operations. To become “certified,” we have to get at least forty points in the areas of energy, water, waste, purchasing, leadership, and transportation. With the help of LEAP we have started benchmarking our energy and water usage so we can set reduction goals and identify areas in which we can improve sustainability.

I am helping Alaina Schroeder with this energy efficiency challenge as one of my internship projects here. Since the start of the challenge, we’ve been reading up on “greener” practices. Alaina attended a meeting where she learned about more efficient lighting and we met with our two volunteer UVA student Better Business Challenge “concierges” to discuss our options. Now, they are off researching light bulbs, lighting assessments, energy audits, etc. for us.

Being such a small organization has both pros and cons for the challenge. The transportation category doesn’t apply at all and because we use relatively little water (especially compared to restaurants), our water saving options are also limited. I have made an inventory of all electrical equipment in the office; it would have probably taken me days had we been much larger. In addition, it turns out we are already doing a number of sustainable things in the office. We recycle, store and make documents available online, we print double sided, and we’ve planted drought resistant plants that we don’t water at all. 

We hope that as the challenge continues our energy and water costs go down with the changes we implement. This way, the Challenge will not only help us contribute to a greener planet, but will also make it possible for even more of our funds to go towards community projects instead of bills.

We will keep you updated as the challenge goes on with the improvements we have made. If you are interested in joining, the official deadline to join the Better Business Challenge was October 1 (extended from September 15) but they are more than happy to accept participants throughout the fall.

 Submitted by: Ellen Janssen

With Your Help, We Are Changing Lives

Wow.

A little recent number crunching on our part yielded this statistic:

The average annual benefit this past year for our United Way RxRelief Prescription Assistance Program clients was $4,017 in medications (retail cost) -- this represents 30% of the average annual income of our clients ($13,186).

This is how we have an impact on our community.

In order to qualify for assistance from this program, individuals must have a chronic, long term condition like diabetes, heart disease or mental illness that requires medication, and they must be uninsured.

They no longer have to choose between paying their electric bill or paying for medications. They are staying healthier because they are taking their medications regularly. This reduces the need for emergency medical care, which reduces the financial burden on hospitals treating uninsured patients, or on the families facing insurmountable medical bills. Because they are healthy, they miss less work, so they have a steadier income and their employer has a consistent employee.

Community Health and Self-Sufficiency are two of our impact areas (the other is School Readiness). This program, in which our employee, Medication Assistance Caseworker Helen Frye, spends her time mostly at the Charlottesville Free Clinic and Region Ten Community Services Board, as well as at Martha Jefferson Hospital's satellite offices, demonstrates how we can leverage our resources to have a very large impact.

When you are considering where to make your charitable donations this year, please consider how our United Way uses your donations to maximize the ways we can have a positive impact on individuals’ lives and strengthen our community.

 

Posted by Kim Connolly

UVA Employees Can Have a Powerful Local Impact

Starting today, October 3, employees of the University of Virginia, our area’s largest employer, can support their favorite charities through the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign.

This workplace giving campaign allows employees to designate a gift to a specific nonprofit organization or several organizations. With more than 12,000 employees, just imagine the impact if each gave $1 a week to an organization! Not all employees do participate, but many of those who do, designate $5, $10, $20 or more per pay period.

The United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area was formed in 1943 by the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce, and has from our beginning been known for our workplace giving campaigns. This is not a surprise since we were formed by a business owners organization. However, we are just one of 1,300 nonprofit organizations that UVA employees have to choose from in their state-run campaign.

It is our hope that our friends and neighbors at UVA have heard and read about the many ways we have an impact on our local community, and that they realize that every dollar contributed to the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area not only stays here in our local community, but because of our strength, stability and thoughtful leadership, we bring $4 of services to the community for each dollar donated.

We focus on school readiness, self-sufficiency and community health.

In the past year:

• 2,100 volunteered for the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring, providing $280,000 worth of labor to local nonprofits and schools.
• 2,416 children received shoes, clothing, medication and eyeglasses through the Santa Fund.
• 1,500 low-income individuals received free tax help creating $2.6 million in saved fees, tax credits and refunds, to be saved and spent in our local community through our local Earned Income Tax Credit coalition.
• 575 uninsured adults received $2.24 million in needed medications through our prescription assistance program.
• 100 United Way child care scholarships were provided and 96% of those parents maintained their employment.
• Volunteers collected, sorted and distributed over 50,000 lbs of food for local food banks through the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive, for which we recruit volunteers and provide local marketing.

In short, we hope that University of Virginia employees will scroll down that long list of national, international, regional and local organizations to get to the end of the alphabet at the “U” and use code #3627 to designate the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area to receive their support through the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign. We promise to use their gifts in a thoughtful, impactful and powerful way to change lives right here in Charlottesville and Albemarle, Greene, Fluvanna, Louisa and Nelson Counties.

 

Posted by Caroline Emerson

What Is a “School Ready” Community?

Parents everywhere are grappling with the start of school. Here is some food for thought from the Smart Beginnings State of Local School Readiness Report:

We know what children, families, schools and the community need to provide to ensure a child’s readiness for school. The Getting Ready research states that children “…need to be surrounded by strong structures in their lives: Caring families, Supportive communities, Ready schools and Effective service. Efforts to improve school readiness are most effective when they embrace the rich cultural and language backgrounds of families and children.” A young child’s readiness for school is influenced by a child’s development in five areas:

1. Physical health and motor development
2. Social and emotional development
3.  Approaches to learning
4.  Language development  
5. Cognition and general knowledge

 

For our children to be ready for school, our community needs to be ready to prepare them for success. A child’s readiness for school is the result of: Ready Children, Ready Families, Ready Services, Ready Schools, Ready Communities. Each component plays an essential role in school readiness and no one component can stand on its own. Smart Beginnings’ initiatives and goals address the five areas.

Importance of Starting Early

The first five years of life have an enormous impact on how well children learn and grow throughout their lifetime. Early experiences have tremendous influence on the development of the brain’s neuron connections. This “wiring” impacts the capacity to learn and develop social, emotional and cognitive skills. In the first three years of life, the majority of a child’s language development occurs.

During this critical time of development, we invest the least in children. The research shows that early learning experiences, the quality of young children’s environment and social experience have a decisive, long-lasting impact on children’s successful development and their ability to learn. However, during this period of rapid growth, communities invest the least in children’s education, care and services.

To learn more about what our community is doing to address this, visiting our Smart Beginnings section of our website.

When is a Deadline a Deadline?

Nonprofit project and volunteer team registration for the September 21^st United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring opened on June 1^st and a month before that for schools.

Since the first of June, we have had news stories and interviews on TV and radio and have run public services announcements on all three Charlottesville Newsplex stations and on nearly every radio station in Charlottesville encouraging nonprofits to register their projects and for volunteer teams to sign up. Several Constant Contact emails have been sent to everyone who has participated in the past.

Our intern called all the agencies who had not submitted projects a week before the deadline. CVille Calendar sent out a blast to their 7,000 subscribers. SuzySaidCville has posted about project registrations. Announcements have been made at meetings of local nonprofits and on the Chamber of Commerce weekly e-newsletter. And of course, we have done several blog posts about the Day of Caring, as well as had a prominent widget on our United Way home page and on the sidebar of this blog.

Volunteer Center director Jessica Snyder released the project list to all registered teams on Monday, and will be releasing the list of lottery numbers by which teams get to choose their projects next week.

And still…

Her phone is ringing and emails are pouring in from Proscrastinating Pollies (and Pauls) -  nonprofits who had not registered projects by the July 29 deadline and folks wanting to register their volunteer teams. One nonprofit even got phone calls from past volunteers who did not see the organization listed on the released project list asking why they did not have a project listed. What a missed opportunity for that nonprofit!

 The Proscrastinating Pollies say they had not heard anything about it… TV, print, radio, email, phone calls, Twitter, Facebook, website and postings on this blog since the beginning of June – are we missing something?

 

Posted by Kim Connolly

You Deserve to Have One Fine Day

We are so fortunate to have great relationships with all the media outlets in Charlottesville. Recently, our good friends at WINA, sponsors of our One Fine Day for the United Way, a Day at Keswick Hall, Club & Estate, recorded the following public service announcement for us.

 

United Way Golf Classic PSA

 

And, our friends at Charlottesville Newsplex and Comcast Spotlight collaborated to created this terrific television spot.

 

Plus, event sponsor The Daily Progress is running this ad on Sundays for us.

Hurry up and sign up for your spot on the golf course or a relaxing day at the estate. We have sold out the golf tournament the last couple of years. Call Caroline Emerson at 434-972-1701.

 

Posted by Kim Connolly

 

Join us for Live Radio on the Patio at Keswick

As part of our promotion for One Fine Day for the United Way, a day at Keswick Hall, Club & Estate, our wonderful radio partner NewsRadio 1070 WINA will be broadcasting LIVE from the patio at Keswick Hall on Monday, June 27. Join us for a special broadcast of Jay James' "Best Seat in the House" with special guests UVA Head baseball coach Brian O'Connor, his assistant coaches, and pitcher Tyler Wilson.

The always accommodating staff at Keswick is offering $15 drink and appetizer specials for our friends joining us for this fun evening. Last year’s radio event was especially memorable because it was one of the evenings we had a severe weather microburst and the power went out at Keswick.  The party went on, and we ended up listening to an extended version of Coy Barefoot’s show as he fielded listeners’ phone calls reporting in damage around the area. Jay James was able to go on live later with an in-person interview with coach O’Connor. This year will be our third year of doing this special broadcast with Coach O'Connor.

Come by after work at 5:30, you are guaranteed to enjoy wonderful Keswick hospitality and some radio fun.

Everyone who registers at the party for either the Keswick-United Way Golf Classic or An Afternoon at the Estate is eligible for prizes.

Overall event sponsorships as well as hole sponsorships are available. The tournament fills up quickly, but now non-golfers can also enjoy An Afternoon at the Estate.

For more information or updates, call Caroline Emerson at 434-972-1701, follow us on Twitter as @UnitedWayTJA or “Like” us on Facebook as United Way TJA