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.