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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Celebrating 25 Years of Leadership

On November 8th the Latino Leadership Development Program celebrated its 25th anniversary. This is the second year I have coordinated the program so planning this event seemed like a daunting task. With only a year and a few months of experience, I kept thinking, “how was I to capture in a meaningful way the 25 years of this program?”

What at first seemed like an overwhelming project, I can honestly say has ended up being such an enriching experience, one that has allowed me to see how important my role is beyond being simply LLDP Coordinator. I had the opportunity to really gain a better understanding of what the community looked liked for Latinos 25 years ago and how a program like LLDP has been one of the forces that has brought and continues to foster leadership among our diverse Latino population in Rochester, so that participants become effective members of boards and committees.

Being out in the community, it’s not surprising when I meet graduates of LLDP; maybe this is because in the past 25 years we have had over 500 graduates. When people now tell me stories how this program has also helped them to not only sit on boards and committees in the community, but have also grown personally, professionally and academically, it makes me feel really good that I am involved in carrying out a program rich in history and significance in the community.

If you would like to know more about the Latino Leadership Development Program, our website is www.uwrochester.org/lldp.