Thank You...Thank You...Thank You...

That is exactly what we said to the roughly 400 people that joined us for the Campaign Thank You Breakfast at the Hyatt a couple weeks ago. This annual breakfast is one small way we can show our appreciation to all the companies and campaign coordinators who helped raise $32.5 million as part of our 2008 campaign. This money will go to help support programs that deal with prevent violence and child abuse and promote literacy and health care. Giving to United Way’s Community Fund addresses all of these issues at once – by funding over 100 programs this year.

As part of the program, we honored 10 Rising Stars who were first time company campaign coordinators that did a phenomenal job. There were also 10 Shining Stars – they are veteran coordinators that went above and beyond in their campaign. Fifty one companies received a Cornerstone Society award for raising more than $100,000. Out of the 51 Cornerstones, an incredible five of them were Million Dollar Roundtable winners. (For a complete list of winners, click here. For a few pictures of the event, click here.)

This year’s campaign was directly impacted by the economy – we know how much the rising cost of gas and food has had an impact on all of us. That is why, this year especially, we are so grateful to be part of a wonderful, giving community, and for your support. Be sure to stay tuned to read how your gift truly makes a difference, every day of the year!

A home away from home

A few weeks ago, several of my co-workers and I piled into a van with two Center for Youth employees. I wasn’t paying much attention to where we were going - I had been down the street many times. I was shocked when we pulled into the driveway and they announced we where there. Nestled in a beautiful neighborhood is what looks to be a typical house, but it’s actually shelter for runaway teens run by The Center for Youth.

The shelter helps kids ages 12-18 that are dealing with problems at home like abuse or drug issues. On any given day there are usually are 6 girls and 6 boys living there. Most stay about two weeks, and during their stay they work with counselors to build self-esteem and life skills. The staff also encourages a family setting - they prepare meals together, eat together, and do group activities. The ultimate goal is to reunite the younger teens with family. The older teens usually become independent.

Your support of United Way’s Community Fund supports the counseling programs and also the runaway and homeless youth services. The counseling programs focus on helping the teens grow an individual. They focus on enhancing internal and external strengths and decreasing high risk behaviors like substance abuse and school suspensions. Center for Youth only has one homeless shelter. They also have two apartment buildings that are used for the transitional living program, which most of the older teens go to after the shelter.

The Center for Youth shelter helped more than 260 teens last year. What surprised me the most is that over half of the teens came from the suburbs.

Thanks to your support of United Way, no matter where they live or what kind of problems they are experiencing, there is a safe place they can go for help and get back on track.

The turtle and United Way

On my drive into work this morning, I realized - just ahead of me - there was a turtle trying to cross the road.

Naturally, I stopped the car. As I watched him slowly progress across my lane, I had concerns that the other drivers may not be as patient, and he'd fall victim.

Sure enough, a few did, and started zipping around him.

In today's world, I understand the role 'instantaneous' plays in everything we do. We want things right away, no time to wait.

Take my kids, for example. One is in preschool, the other in kindergarten. As much as I try to explain it, both of them can't understand what live radio or television are. It's inconvceivable to them, at times, that you can't pause every television show, or replay a song whenever it's desired.

I worry how they'll handle life on its own terms. Sure, it's easy to be in control with iPods and TiVo - but the real world doesn't work that way.

As I watched the turtle cross the road, it reminded me of community change.

The real, meaningful change that we all want - and the kind we focus on here at United Way - doesn't happen overnight. Not in a week. Or a month. Or a year.

It takes a long time. One second, one moment, one person at a time.

Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare?

With perserverance and patience, we can get to the other side of the road.

Day of Caring

Thursday May 8 was the 16th annual United Way Day of Caring, and I wanted to tell you a little about some of the great things that happened that day in our community. More than 10,000 volunteers worked on about 500 project sites in and around Rochester worked, doing things like basic indoor spring cleaning, raking, weeding and planting, painting rooms, building decks and picnic tables, washing windows and more. All the volunteers were also invited to a free luncheon sponsored by the Clarion Riverside Hotel, as a way to say thank you for volunteering.
Also, this year we teamed up with the City of Rochester and M&T Bank to focus on literacy projects. The schools that benefited from these projects were Roberto Clemente Elementary School #8, James Duffy School #12, Henry W. Longfellow School #36, Mary McLeon Bethune School #45 and World of Inquiry School #58. Volunteers read books to students and helped make Mother’s Day gifts.

We’re also excited that, thanks to M&T Bank, $10,000 was given to United Way to help support literacy summer programs in five City schools, and to launch a new program geared to ensure classrooms have supplies of books for students.

Click here to check out some of the pictures we captured throughout the day. In all, more than $1 million worth of work was completed in one day. If you have some pics to share of your team in action, send them to us - we’d love to add them to our gallery! And thanks again to everyone who took the time off of work and school to be part of the 2008 United Way Day of Caring.

Great Fundraisers

I wanted to tell you about some of the great United Way fundraisers happening at area companies that people have written to us about. First, Jared Sabado over at the Democrat and Chronicle sent us some impressive pictures from their bake off which raised $330 toward their goal! At Hillside Children’s Center, Erin Donnelly and Todd Pipitone invited me out to their annual pancake breakfast, where I was able to witness the staff pancake eating contest -- which was quite a spectacle! They had about 50 people turn out and raised $150 toward their goal.

Our supporters throw great fundraisers for United Way, but I want you to know about some of the cool events we employees at United Way had as part of our own internal campaign. One of the most successful was a friendly competition we called Jar Wars. Our building was divided into three teams and we all put money into our jars. But the catch was dollars and quarters were negative money – they subtracted from the totals! There was some pretty intense competition at the end, each team was determined to win! In the end, we raised more than $700. Check out some of the pictures from all the great fundraisers – and thanks to everyone for supporting our community through United Way!

The importance of a mentor

Rochester and its surrounding counties have been fortunate enough to be part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization for the past 30 years. Their program offers a basic concept - to help kids build skills to succeed in school, graduate and become self- sufficient.

United Way funds the Mentoring program which provides guidance, support and exposure to positive life choices to at-risk kids thru a one-on-one relationship. Last year, our funding helped 625 kids.

In 2000, BBBS started a school based program where they would match a high school student to a elementary student. An interesting element to this new program is when they are choosing the high schooler, they choose someone who is an average student- not an “over achiever.” It has shown that 90% of the kids involved are more likely to make better decisions about relationships and drugs.

Big Brothers Big Sisters was actually featured in an issue of our news magazine, Real Time. Read about Mohamed Gazali and his experience with BBBS here.

Big Brothers Big Sisters is always in need of mentors. There are 115 kids on the waiting list and of them, 88 of are boys. If you or someone you know is interested, check out their web site for more information.

Holy Childhood Fundraiser

Our Spring campaign is in full swing and we are hearing some great stories about the different fundraisers going on to raise money for United Way.

Students over at the School of the Holy Childhood made a lunch for the staff and charged $4 with all proceeds going toward their campaign. The students did everything from making signs, creating the menu, and making and serving the food! The lunch raised $240 toward their goal!

Two thumbs up to the students at School of the Holy Childhood.

If you haven’t already, check out my previous blog to learn more about SHC.

If you have a great fundraising idea that you would like to see on our blog, send me an
e-mail at Elizabeth.lewis@uwrochester.org

Campaign Kickoff

This week we officially kicked off our 2008 campaign with a bus tour and media event. It was a great success! 2008 United Way Campaign Chair - Paychex President and CEO Jon Judge - invited members of our Board and Campaign Cabinet to join him for a brief bus tour that drove by several funded agencies - including Wilson Commencement Park, Baden Street and Urban League. There were several staff members who talked about Community Fund supported programs at those agencies that either help children succeed in school, help first-time homebuyers, or help people with disabilities.

The bus tour ended at The Community Place where everyone took a tour of the building and learned, first hand, about their Community Fund programs. At Community Place, we support programs that help children and programs that help seniors (there were even some seniors from the senior day program there to watch the press conference). On the way back to United Way, those on the tour learned about how United Way supports Medical Motors, who donated the bus service for the event.

We’re happy to report that we had great media turnout for the goal announcement, check out some of the coverage we received.

South Wedge at work~

It was Friday evening after work, - it was a time to, as one my colleagues so aptly put it, “put on your snugglies and STAY HOME”. Instead, my family & I were headed back in town to see a show at the German House, in the heart of the South Wedge neighborhood. I was wondering “were we crazy?” There were lots of signs that it was a bad plan: it was end of a long work week, it was snowing sideways, it was 20 degrees & we were headed for a City neighborhood that has had more than its fair share of vacant commercial space & crime over the last decade. Would there be other folks who would be willing to brave the elements to enjoy the show? Would we have fun?

My worries were for nothing. We arrived an hour before the show (I hate being late) & the neighborhood was absolutely hopping – sweat-shirt clad teens engaged in a friendly snowball fight, folks enjoying neighborhood restaurants, drivers vying for precious parking spots. We had an amazing evening & the show was so good that I laughed until I cried.

Why should UW donors care? Because this is clearly a neighborhood that is working & my experience tells me that it hasn’t happened by accident – it has taken countless hours of focused, creative thinking on the part of neighborhood folks to foster a place where residents, businesses and visitors work and thrive. United Way has been working with the South Wedge Planning Committee for the last 4 years or so, funding programs that support neighborhood revitalization – small business development, home repair, etc. Clearly it’s paying off & I couldn’t be happier.

United Way and the LPGA Tournament

You may have read in the paper, or heard on the news about our new partnership with Wegmans.

United Way's Board of Directors voted on whether to take ownership of the Wegmans LPGA Tournament, and approved it. Basically, what this translates to is that starting with the 2009 tournament, United Way's Children's Success Fund will begin receiving proceeds from the event.

We created the Children's Success Fund a couple of years ago. It's a special fund, separate from the general campaign fund, which focuses on programs that will help children in our community who are considered most at-risk of failure.

We see this partnership as another tremendous way we can work with Wegmans to benefit the Rochester community. Wegmans, historically, has been such an incredible supporter of our region, and their remarkable generosity has continued far beyond what we ever imagined.

At the end of the day - this transition will allow us to broaden our reach and help as many people as we can.

One quick note too... once the change takes place, the Rotary Sunshine Camp and Camp Haccamo will be eligible to apply for funding through the Children's Success Fund.

A Community Partner

Have you ever been to the Baltimore Harbor or Faneuil Hall in Boston? If you have, you probably have marveled at the design of these fascinating tourist destinations. Both were built by Jim Rouse - who just so happened to have started the national non profit organization called Enterprise!

Enterprise specializes in providing funding for neighborhood groups across the country. The Rochester branch of Enterprise has helped support organizations like Rural Opportunities, Sector 4 (the area around Thurston, Genesee and Jefferson), and the South Wedge Planning Committee so they could build up their neighborhoods. Our local chapter has been around since 1982 and has invested $6 billion to help improve low income communities. Enterprise has helped build 577 affordable housing units, has spent $5.5 million toward rehabilitating foreclosed houses and turning them into for sale or rental properties and has spent $2.2 in grants to nonprofit organizations to develop affordable housing, bring in new business, and revitalize local neighborhoods.

United Way’s Community Fund helps support programs like the Rochester Community Development Collaborative – one of Enterprise’s programs. The RCDC is actually a funding collaborative between Enterprise, United Way, the City of Rochester, and several local banks, that focuses on building up the real estate, providing intensive technical assistance, prepare organizational assessments, business plans and facilitate board and staff development sessions.

To learn more about the great things Enterprise makes possible in our community, check out their website.

A Friend Makes All the Difference

That is the basic concept for Compeer. They help link people with mental disabilities with volunteers who can provide support, guidance, and friendship. Compeer was started in Rochester back in 1973 at the Rochester Psychiatric Hospital with a friendly visitor, and has been such a success that it has spread to 30 states, Canada, and Australia. They serve children ages five and up, and adults.

Compeer is finding that the friendships are beneficial to both parties. Volunteers often welcome their ‘new’ friends into their families. Compeer is also seeing positive results in the youth program. They are seeing better behavior and better grades for those who have been matched.

It was surprising to me when I learned that one out of every four people with disabilities in Monroe County has a mental disability. Research indicates that mental illness that goes untreated costs Americans $113 billion every year. Overall, our United Way will invest $2.5 million into programs which help people with disabilities this year, including mental disabilities. Compeer plays a critical role.

The organization hosts several events throughout the year- holiday parties, a summer cookout, and different skill building classes like knitting, gardening, and art. Even the clients who are awaiting matches still attend these events. Those who waiting to be matched are set on a phone list, and receive a friendly call once a week to see how things are going.

In Rochester alone, they have 300-400 volunteers, but are in desperate need for more. If you, or someone you know is interested in becoming a friend - check out their web site to learn more.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words… and More

If you saw the front page of the Democrat and Chronicle yesterday, I’m sure you saw the vivid picture which went with the lead story about two 15 year-olds who were shot and killed on Wilkins Street the night before.

There are far too many young people in our community who are losing their lives to violence. The City of Rochester has taken extra steps to ensure that these crimes stop by enforcing the city curfew and through the Zero Tolerance program, but more needs to be done – four deaths this year is four too many.

This issue affects everyone in our community – whether you live or work here. There are so many causes, and no quick fix.

You may be thinking – what can I do? Well, one of the big issues United Way is focusing on is preventing violence. Thanks to supporters of United Way’s Community Fund, there are after school programs and support centers at Marshall, East, Franklin, Douglass, and Wilson - just to name a few. These programs keep kids off the street, provide them with mentors and safe after school and summer activities -- and help guide them to adulthood. We also support youth development programs thru Baden Street, Boys & Girls Club, Charles Settlement, Community Place, SWAN, and Urban league. While there’s no way to know just how many lives we’ve saved through these prevention programs – I’ve talked with so many young people who have been part of these programs - and it has made a big difference to them.

My point is, together – we can make a real difference. And if you would like to read more about how together, we are helping to prevent violence click here.

Valentine's Day...

Happy Valentine’s Day! Although I wasn’t able to spend this special day with my fiancé, I did get to spend my morning with some special new friends at the Metro YMCA. I stopped in to learn about the great programs they offer, and while I was there, I got to see some of the kids making their Valentines or eating their special treats (check out some of the pictures).

There are 11 different Y locations throughout Rochester. The centers that receive the majority of United Way funding – for programs that focus on youth development - are the urban branches which include Maplewood, Monroe, Southwest, Carlson Metro, and Lewis Street. These branches host after school programs, have organized sports teams, and a number of other programs for young people. The YMCA is actually the largest provider of after school programs in Monroe County.

Every year, through United Way funded programs (like those at the Y) more than 22,000 kids receive mentoring, tutoring, and guidance. These programs work to help kids in school – and keep them off the streets. And many of the kids who attend after school programs are part of summer programs too. What’s great is that many of them end up back working at the Y when they are older, as mentors to other young people. Talk about coming full circle!

Growing up, I attended many programs at the Monroe Y. I was on their swim team for many years, attended Camp Arrowhead, and stop by the Teen night occasionally – it was always a great experience.

If you want to learn more about how your support of United Way is helping kids succeed, click here.

A building full of smiles...

As soon as I walked through the doors of School of the Holy Childhood, I couldn’t help but display a huge smile on my face. What an incredible place to visit! You can’t go wrong visiting the only school that I have ever seen where you are allowed to ride a bike in the hallway!
United Way’s Community Fund support the School of Holy Childhood’s Children’s program, which helps children with development disabilities with independence and integration. Teachers and staff focus on individualized education, vocational training, and clinical treatment.
When I was visiting, I noticed a board with a picture of last year’s graduating class. The students graduate at the age of 21. It was really emotional looking at it, because most of the grads have been going to Holy Childhood since they were five years old.
Each year, on average 10 students graduate. They go on to jobs in the community such as Wegmans, or are placed at different non-profits like the ARC of Monroe, CDS, Lifetime Assistance, Heritage Christian Services, and some of the grads come back to places at Holy Childhood. They work in the bakery, woodshop, or the workstation stuffing envelopes.
I don’t think I have ever experienced anything like Holy Childhood. The walls are full of great artwork and pictures. Every new wing brought another surprise and each classroom was totally different than the next. Classrooms showed the student independence skills such as loading a dishwasher, doing laundry, folding laundry, and basic cooking skills.
The school also had an amazing ceramics class, a bakery where they create their famous pies, a weaving room that the whole back wall was full of yarn waiting to be made into a masterpiece, and an unbelievable wood shop. The School was even a host of a work station that the graduates could come and work, where they put together the 401k packets for Paychex!
If you want to learn more about the great things that School of the Holy Childhood is doing, check out their website at http://www.holychildhood.org/.

Creating Hope for Women

Last week, several coworkers and I were fortunate enough to go on a site visit to Alternatives for Battered Women. We met with Cathy Mazzotta, the executive director for ABW who gave us some background information and a tour of their facility. ABW is actually featured in this year’s campaign film, so make sure you get a chance to check it out. Although it was enlightening hearing Cathy tell us stories, nothing really sunk in until I sat down with a coworker and heard her experience with ABW.
Theresa has been at United Way for 10 years now, but it’s been a long journey that has brought her to this point. It started 20 years ago when she met her now ex- husband, who although was abusive while they were dating, convinced her to get married. A couple months after she had her daughter, she tried to leave for the first time. He convinced her that he would change and Theresa ended up back with him and got pregnant with her son. Unfortunately, the abuse didn’t stop while she was pregnant, and she ended up going into labor 3 months early. Her son was born just over one pound and spent the first 3 months in the hospital.
The nurses noticed that she wasn’t visiting as much as the other mothers and also noticed bruises. One of the nurses got her information on ABW got her into some counseling. Once her son was out of the hospital she finally decided to leave her husband for good. It took her 4 times to leave until she was successful. She is actually pretty lucky because the average woman tries leaving her abuser 7 times before she is successful.
Theresa fled to the shelter with two babies and was finally safe. She was able to get the help that she needed and ABW actually referred her to Wilson Commencement Park- where she was one of the first residents. She continued going to counseling at ABW for a year after and enrolled in classes as Bryant & Stratton where she graduated. She also was active as a volunteer board and committee member at WCP for many years. Since her son was born so early, he has some learning disabilities but he has been able to use a lot of the services in the community like St. Joseph’s Villa, and taking therapeutic riding lessons at the Equicenter.
Hearing Theresa’s story really goes to show how intertwined a lot of our agencies are. She has learned to ask for help and use the tools that are available to her. Both her kids are doing great, and her daughter is getting ready to graduate high school and go off to college.
The nurse at the hospital saved Theresa’s life. Many of the programs in the community have helped keep her and her children safe and successful. If you or someone you know is affected by domestic abuse, please call ABW at 232-7353 or check out their website http://www.abwrochester.org/.

Building Healthier Families

Set back in the Corn Hill neighborhood in an old school building is the Mt. Hope Family Center. It was a place I never knew existed, yet it is one that is really helping to support people in our community who need it most.

Last year, MHFC served about 700 kids, most of which had been abused. Not only do the kids suffer physical effects from being abused - it affects all aspects of their lives. Fifty percent have trouble in school, drug use is 33% more likely, and 68% of kids have anxiety or depression. Those are just some of major issues that MHFC tackles.

The Building Healthy Children program at MHFC is supported through the United Way Community fund. The program focuses on the prevention of child abuse and neglect in young families. This program is home based but also offers programs for mothers to interact with once another so that they aren’t isolated.

All of the work that Mt. Hope does is evidence based and is backed by research. And research shows that intervention makes a great improvement in the lives of abuse victims, especially if they catch it early.
To learn more about the work that Mt. Hope Family Center does, click here

Cleaning up the Neighborhood

Do you ever notice how graffiti changes the look of a neighborhood? It brings the whole perception of the neighborhood down. This is why the South Wedge Planning Committee teamed up with the City of Rochester to clean up their neighborhood this week. It was the first time that the two have joined forces- the City provided all the supplies and SWPC provided the volunteers.
This was a bigger project then just removing the graffiti from more than 75 buildings. The City came in to inspect to see if any of the graffiti was gang related, good thing, it wasn’t. The City has played a huge part in trying to cut down destructive behavior. They have enforced IMPACT and have instated the County wide curfew. They are hopeful that it will get people off the streets after hours and cut down on gang related activity. SWPC has also been researching graffiti and its effects. A common theme was that if the neighborhood cleaned up the graffiti and kept on top of it, the people who were tagging buildings would get annoyed and move on. That is exactly what SWPC wanted for their culturally diverse neighborhood. It is very common in these neighborhoods that the residents and business owners team up to beautify the neighborhood- it benefits everyone.
Witnessing a neighborhood come together like they did this week really shows how they are trying to stabilize neighborhoods. The South Wedge takes pride in their neighborhood and they wanted to show whoever was damaging the building that they weren’t going to put up with- they were taking back the neighborhood.
The team made up of volunteers were planning on going to several neighborhoods to clean up the city. If you are interested in helping, check out OneCity Connection which list all different volunteer projects. Make it your New Years Resolution, volunteer today!

Here's a New Year's resolution you can keep!

Did you make a resolution for this new year? Many of us did. If yours included relieving stress, spending more time with family and friends, or helping others who are less fortunate – you’ve came to the right place! In as little as an hour a month, you can make a difference. It’s all possible when you volunteer.

United Way’s Volunteer Connection has literally hundreds of opportunities that you can do – by yourself or with your friends and family. The possibilities are endless! Take a few minutes to check out Volunteer Connection. I know you’ll find something you’ll enjoy. Or, if you are a college student looking for opportunities – check out Campus Connection. It’s a volunteer hub designed to match students with opportunities – and offers grants to cover any out-of-pocket expenses associated with those volunteer projects!

PS - January is National Mentor Month – a great time to make a new friend. Search Volunteer Connection – keyword mentor for opportunities!