Aug/100
A mom’s perspective: how volunteer efforts can change the lives of students
United Way board and cabinet members at Day of Caring
As a designer/photographer and mother of a kindergartener, I saw this event mainly through my camera lens. This was a cool perspective - watching others (United Way of Central Indiana board and cabinet members) help motivate young students from IPS school #14 through the creation of a colorful outdoor reading tree environment and through an authentic use of an education curriculum as seen in the bathroom wall art. [See more photos]
Thank you all for starting off your morning last week thinking of others - LIVE UNITED!
-- Michelle Davis, United Way of Central Indiana
Aug/100
Thanks, Duke Energy!
A big "thank you" goes out to our friends (and long-time supporters) at Duke Energy in Plainfield. They recently added a HUGE banner to the side of their facility on U.S. 40, showing their support for United Way. Thousands of people will see it every day as they travel through Hendricks County. Duke Energy was one of the first companies to step forward and agree to help us increase awareness about the campaign. Thanks, Duke!!
Aug/100
Your gifts, their story: The Millers
Stacie Miller, single mom and long-time Martindale-Brightwood resident, has long known the Edna Martin Christian Center (EMCC) was a safe place for her children to go after school. Her daughters, 11-year-old Terri and 13-year-old Sherrell, are regulars and leaders in the Center’s youth programming.
The Miller family
Stacie occasionally took advantage of the various other social services offered at EMCC including the food pantry, rent and utility assistance. Now the agency is helping her increase her job skills to obtain a living wage job. Stacie is one of the first participants in the Center’s Strategies To Empower and Promote Success (STEPS) program and is currently training as part of the Center’s food service staff where she helps provide nutritious meals to youth and seniors.
This training will lead to Stacie receiving food service certification so she can compete for gainful employment. The program includes a battery of training activities, orientation, case management meetings and activities to help overcome any barriers to success. The fact that she can train while watching her girls complete homework makes the obligation that much more rewarding, said Stacie. “I’m thankful that I get the chance to work and spend time with my kids. It’s been really good for me,” she added.
Both of Stacie’s daughters have enthusiastically accepted responsibilities as leaders in training. students at IPS, the two have experienced academic gains due partly to the center’s emphasis on scholarship, respect and service via the Leadership and Legacy Youth Program. A year-round effort incorporating life skills and character development through afterschool and summer activities, the program fulfills the agency’s mission by helping give students the tools needed to compete in a global society.
Sherrell and Terri have participated and excelled in training designed to help youth understand their roles as community stakeholders. They have worked with seniors, assisted in the center’s first breast cancer awareness drive and, most recently, volunteered to voice their support of moving center operations to the former IPS School 37. “We have a lot of fun at the center, and they make us do our homework,” Terri, a sixth grader at IPS 69, recently told members of the City-County Council. “We just need more space so we can do more things.”
Stacie, Sherrell and Terri are an example of EMCC’s vision to provide holistic, wrap-around services for the entire family. A study in total family case management, the Miller family is on the way to achieving opportunities they may not have previously believed possible.
United Way of Central Indiana’s mission of helping to “sustain vital human services for those who need help most” includes support of agencies whose programs contribute to one or more of its priority outcomes: e.g., all vulnerable families and individuals have temporary and emergency assistance needs met; all youth and adults have the skills needed to obtain productive and meaningful employment; all children and youth attain life skills and develop competencies needed for success now and in the future.
Since 2004, UWCI has invested more $505,000 to assist Edna Martin Christian Center provide services for the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood including an afterschool program, senior citizen ministry, human services and networking with other community organizations. This funding includes approximately $100,000 from the Capital Projects Fund for Center renovations. (All capital and facilities-related grants are funded with monies contributed specifically for these needs and do not come from the annual UWCI campaign.)
For the current 2009/2010 funding year, the agency’s UWCI Community Fund allocation is $42,380.
Jul/100
Sharing great outcomes: Concord Neighborhood Center
"Darrell” is an IPS fifth-grader who lives on Indianapolis’ near southside with his mother, “Ruby”. A single mom, Ruby works full time at a nursing home and recently completed training to be a Qualified Medical Assistant. She will soon begin a training program to become an LPN (licensed practical nurse). Her current annual household income is around $18,000 - less than 150 percent of the federal poverty level. Ruby didn’t like Darrell to be on his own after school or during the summer and was thrilled when she learned that nearby Concord Neighborhood Center, a United Way agency, offered quality school age child care programs on a sliding fee scale.
Darrell struggled to fit in during his first few months in Concord’s before- and after-school youth development and summer day camp program. He had no male role models, was lacking in social skills and had limited exposure to group activities. Physically larger than most kids his age, Darrell had some learning disabilities and was being treated for ADD.
Fast forward two years...Darrell is an enthusiastic and productive participant in Concord’s various programs and activities. He never misses a day. He loves the “art reach” classes provided by the Indianapolis Art Center at Concord and last year was named art student of the year when one of his drawings was printed on Art Center note cards. Every week, Darrell is tutored by a retired IPS teacher who volunteers at Concord. He regularly participates in fitness activities and has lost weight. He plays football in the field behind the Center and was recently very excited when he caught his first touchdown pass.
He also participates in the Center’s Job Club, a weekly class taught by volunteers that exposes youth to different careers and teaches appropriate work practices. There, Darrell recently learned to tie a necktie and he now likes to wear a shirt and tie to school and to the Center. Darrell, Ruby and his grandmother faithfully attend Concord’s monthly family night and are enthusiastic supporters of all Center activities.
Prior to 2004, Concord Neighborhood Center was one of 14 neighborhood centers receiving United Way funds through the now defunct Indianapolis Settlements, later known as Community Centers of Indianapolis. Since 2004, UWCI has provided direct funding of more than $1.7 million to help this agency offer social, cultural, educational, health and recreational services for families and individuals living in Indianapolis' Concord neighborhood on the south side. UWCI funding during this time includes grants of nearly $350,000 from United Way’s Targeted Initiatives, Capital Projects, Facilities Maintenance and Technology Funds. (These grants are funded with monies contributed specifically for these needs and do not come from the annual UWCI campaign.) For the current 2009/2010 funding year, the agency’s UWCI Community Fund allocation is $217,108.
Jun/100
Sharing great outcomes: Catholic Charities Indianapolis
Catholic Charities Indianapolis, a United Way agency, reaches out to vulnerable older adults through its Senior Companion Program. SCP offers in-home care to frail, low-income seniors and respite for their caregivers by providing socialization, assistance with meal preparation and escort to medical appointments. The agency has made a particular effort to make SCP services known to residents of a subsidized adult housing apartment complex on Indianapolis’ northwest side.
“Mona,” 77, and “Sophia,” 79, are both African-American women living in this complex. Mona is a Senior Companion volunteer who was matched with Sophia, a widow on a fixed income struggling to maintain her independence and stay in her own apartment. Sophia has Alzheimer’s and her health is declining. Her daughter is her primary caregiver but she works two jobs. Since it is impossible to be with her mother on a daily basis, she relies heavily on Mona to keep her informed. Mona often sees things that the daughter may miss. The family is grateful for the care their mother receives and the weekly updates.
Mona maintains a 5-day, 20-hour official weekly visitation schedule, helping Sophia with meals and chores. Mona prepares Sophia’s meals, thus assuring that she maintains a healthy eating schedule. Mona also encourages Sophia to walk with her, either outdoors if weather permits, or inside the complex’s connecting hallways.
Since the two are close neighbors, Mona often checks in with Sophia “off the clock” to make sure her friend is OK. Mona says, “you get up in the morning ready to go; it feels good to know someone needs you.”
Since 1923, UWCI has invested nearly $26.8 million to help Catholic Charities Indianapolis provide services for low-income individuals and families including counseling, family services, senior services, caregiver support, educational and social programming for at-risk youth, refugee services, crisis assistance, emergency shelter and transitional housing. United Way’s funding includes over $1.1 million in grants from the Capital, Technology and Facilities Maintenance funds. (These were funded with monies contributed specifically for these needs and do not come from the annual campaign.) For the current funding year, the agency’s UWCI Community Fund allocation is $538,383.
May/100
Your gifts, Rhonda’s story
Meet Rhonda. You and United Way helped her return to the workforce after she lost her sight.
Buy 200 bell peppers. Bring them home, don an apron and go to work washing and de-seeding them. Now, standing on your feet for the next six hours (with a half-hour lunch break), chop and slice all one hundred of them. Oh — and do it blindfolded. Rhonda Hunt lost her sight in her forties. At age 53, she came to Bosma Enterprises, eager to jump back into the workforce.
A former hospital kitchen cook, she had marketable skills in the food service industry. The challenge was finding an open-minded employer willing to give her a chance.
An Employment Services Specialist at Bosma pounded the pavement with Rhonda, helped her complete applications, and sat through multiple interviews—some encouraging, others demoralizing. But they never gave up, continuing to knock on doors until they finally found that open-minded employer who, after seeing Rhonda in action during an internship set up by Bosma, gave her a job slicing and dicing vegetables in a dining hall on the Purdue campus. Success!
Bosma’s relationship with Rhonda didn’t end with her finding employment. One of the perks of her job includes lunch in the dining hall where she works. Only, it’s a self-serve cafeteria. That blindfold you used for the peppers? Put it back on and find the trays, napkins and silverware, and decide what you want for lunch. Salad? Pizza? What ingredients in your salad? What toppings on the pizza?
And how do you get those onto your plate? Stir fry? Soup? Try ladling soup into a bowl in the dark! Bosma staff initially took turns driving up to West Lafayette to read the menu to Rhonda, fill her plate or bowl and make sure she found her way to a table. While there, the Specialists canvassed the campus and located volunteers from student service organizations who now help Rhonda at lunch on a regular basis.
Thanks to the commitment of BEST, Bosma’s Employment Services Team, Rhonda makes it into work on her own, finds her way up to the door and into the kitchen, and has assistance on her break. With these supports, she is able to maintain her job and perform as well as any other employee. (In fact, we think she’s better. She can do her job with her eyes closed!)
For the 2008/2009 funding year, UWCI allocated Community Fund dollars totaling $67,772 to help support Employment Services and other programs at Bosma Enterprises that help blind or visually impaired individuals gain the skills they need to live independently. To learn more, visit their website at http://www.bosma.org/.
Feb/100
Sharing great outcomes: 3 agencies come together
Another great success story to share - made possible by three United Way agencies...
Shortly before Dominic was born, his mother fled the genocide occurring in the Darfur region of the Sudan and immigrated to the States with her two older children. She had been blinded in an attack and Dominic’s father was killed.
Dominic’s mother is employed full time at Bosma Enterprises’ production facility. She now has five children (Dominic is the middle child) and has almost no discretionary income after paying the family’s rent and other monthly bills.
Dominic and his Big Brother Greg
Dominic, a Fox Hill Elementary student, was matched with Greg Beck by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana in June 2008. Greg, worried because Dominic’s mother couldn’t afford to enroll him in a quality summer program where he would have opportunities to develop and grow with other kids, contacted the Summer Youth Director at Fay Biccard Glick Neighborhood Center at Crooked Creek (FBGNC).
As a result of Big Brother Greg’s concern, Dominic received a scholarship from FBGNC, allowing him to attend the full 10-week program. Dominic had an awesome summer. He made many friends and was also able to be a part of FBGNC’s Skool of M.A.D.D. Arts (Music, Arts, Drama, Dance).
United Way of Central Indiana’s mission of helping to “sustain vital human services for those who need help most” includes support of agencies whose programs contribute to one or more of its priority outcomes: e.g., all children and youth attain life skills and develop competencies needed for success now and in the future.
For the 2009/2010 funding year, UWCI has allocated Community Fund dollars totalling $829,811 in support of programming at these three agencies. (Fay Biccard Glick Neighborhood Center at Crooked Creek - $195,253; Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana - $573,731; Bosma Enterprises - $60,827.)
Jan/100
Sharing great outcomes: Noble of Indiana
This story, shared by Rita Davis at Noble of Indiana, is just one example of how your gift to United Way helps to address today's needs in the Central Indiana community.
Granddaughter Molly’s constant chatter is a welcome sound to Sandy’s ears. At age two, Molly still wasn’t talking and often became frustrated and threw tantrums when she wasn’t able verbalize her needs. Sandy recalls thinking that Molly was such an unhappy baby. She never smiled; she just cried.
After some research, Sandy called Noble of Indiana. The first thing Speech Therapist Terry Duwe asked was, “what does she call you?” Sandy said, “she doesn’t call me anything; she doesn’t talk.” Terry’s worried look confirmed Sandy’s suspicions that something was definitely wrong...and that she had made the right move in coming to Noble.
During their weekly therapy visits, Terry would sit on the floor with Molly, and the two would play – at least that’s what it looks like to the casual observer. However, each game and interaction has a purpose. Whether it’s forming an “O” by blowing bubbles, making silly faces in the mirror to learn how to position the tongue against the teeth, or learning sign language to get past communication barriers, this play helps children build vital communication skills.
By Christmas time, Molly was showing remarkable progress. She visited a little neighbor boy’s house and when his mother brought her home, she said to Sandy, “I can’t believe Molly’s vocabulary!”
Terry agrees. Molly wasn’t talking at all at age two, but she has come a long way in a short period of time. It’s provided for some insightful conversation. When her Grandpa asked who was coming over that day, Molly said, “Miss Terry – she’s the teacher who gives children voices.” Molly’s tantrums are gone. Sandy says, “She’s such a happy child now. She tells me exactly what she needs, or if something is too hot or too cold.”
Molly is now in preschool. She likes to stand in front of the TV and pretend she has a microphone and sing. According to her grandmother: “She’s really bright and outgoing. Whatever she does, I think she’ll do well.” Sandy advises parents to listen to their instincts. “The biggest thing I would say to others is get help right away if you’re worried. Don’t give up; those warning signs are serious, but it doesn’t mean the worst will happen to your child.”
Since 1958, United Way has invested over $12.4 million to help Noble of Indiana provide a variety of therapies, services and supports for children and adults with developmental delays and disabilities. More information on Noble of Indiana can be found here.
-- Cindy Jones, United Way Agency Services
Jan/100
Yes we can! Final $3 million is in reach!
Happy New Year!
I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays with family and friends. In addition, I hope you took a moment to reflect on the good work you have done by participating in the 2009 United Way Campaign. I have sincerely appreciated the efforts of so many volunteers and United Way staff members.
The good news is that even though many companies have overcome significant challenges such as layoffs, salary cuts, and a myriad of business setbacks, their employees still rallied to raise more money than they did last year.
We still have some work to do to close the 2009 campaign. The leadership team is projecting a gap of $300,000 to $700,000 to close. I have worked with the United Way board, and we have a plan in place to help us close that gap.
We need your assistance. Please take a moment to forward our LiveUnitedGiveUnited link to your respective community. Our communities are counting on us. They need each and every one of us to step up to meet the goal that we set for ourselves.
It is worth the extra effort. Why? Because together, we can help the most people, change the most lives and meet the toughest challenges!
Again, thank you for all you have done and continue to do for Central Indiana!
-Gino Santini, Eli Lilly and Company
Dec/090
Playing hockey – just another way to LIVE UNITED!
On Saturday November 28, my friends and I decided to have a birthday party at the Pepsi Coliseum's ice rink. We rented out the venue for 2 hours from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m for an open skate and amateur hockey party. Instead of birthday gifts we decided to raise money for this year's United Way of Central Indiana campaign. There were over 30 people in attendance and together we raised $400 to donate. We decided that instead of worrying about gifts for a birthday, with the struggles our community is feeling this year, we needed to "think outside the box." The money raised was not given by wealthy people. Many only have modest incomes. The point is that in masses we found that together we can do anything...even without wealth. There are so many people that can give $5 but rarely are those people called upon to give. So, this year, we asked all of our friends to become involved as a donor to United Way of Central Indiana.
It was a wonderful event and everyone had a blast falling on the ice, chasing the puck, and laughing with each other. It really kicked off our holiday season of giving, family, and friends. This is how we LIVE UNITED.
--Ashley Klein, United Way, and Angela Thompson, Eli Lilly and Company
