LIVING UNITED
2011, ISSUE III
Champion of children
Means Education at United Way of Central Ohio Champion of Children has long been a respected resource in our community, and now that powerful name has grown to encompass all of United Way of Central Ohio’s work in the area of Education. Helping children succeed in school and go on to lead productive lives helps all of us. Everyone who works to make that happen is a Champion of Children. So when you see the name “Champion of Children” in the future, think of everything that United Way does to improve education in central Ohio. And United Way is doing more than ever in the area of education. In September, we launched our Champion of Children Education Journal — an interactive electronic journal that informs readers about important developments and explores ideas that can help all of our students succeed. The journal will be emailed ten times a year, and will include interviews with important thought
leaders, profiles of volunteers who are changing young lives, and opportunities to get involved. This thought-provoking journal is one more way people who are passionate about education can come together through United Way and create change. Although Champion of Children has expanded its meaning, it will remain true to its roots by continuing to host the annual Champion of Children Signature Event that brings together a panel of education experts for an enlightening discussion that is taped for broadcast on WOSU Public Media. The event will continue to honor an individual “Champion of Children,” and for the first time will also recognize a local nonprofit organization and present a $5,000 prize to support the winning organization’s mission. The 19th Annual Champion of Children Signature Event will be held on February 7, 2012 at COSI.
United Way’s new Champion of Children Education Journal will be emailed ten times a year. Everyone is encouraged to subscribe at liveunitedcentralohio.org
Columbus Kids Expands Its Groundbreaking Work Columbus Kids: Ready, Set, Learn is focused on reaching every 2 ½ to 4 year old child in the Columbus City Schools district to make sure they are ready for kindergarten. The initiative has already provided assessments to nearly 3,000 children in the central Columbus, Weinland Park and South Linden neighborhoods, and has recently expanded into the south side. Each child is assessed to determine their level of development in areas which most impact school readiness. Parents are also given
materials to help address the needs that are identified. For more serious issues, Columbus Kids connect parents with the services to help their child. So far, the assessments have found 55% of children were on target in school readiness skills, 28.5% needed services or more assessment and another 16% warranted monitoring. Social and emotional development was the primary reason children needed more assessment. Lack of fine motor skills, like properly using crayons and pencils, was the number one reason children needed monitoring. Every six months, the initiative
seek to reconnect with each child to monitor their progress and provide assistance when needed. Research shows Columbus Kids’ approach is working. Results from a sample of 59 children who completed the initial and the third screening found that 30% of the children improved in the developmental areas assessed by the screening tool. Columbus Kids is helping to ensure young children across Columbus are getting the help they need to succeed in kindergarten, and begin their school careers on track to graduate from high school and lead productive lives.
prESIDENT’S UpDaTE One of the things that makes central Ohio such a dynamic community is our willingness to innovate and take risks to get things done. We don’t sit around and complain, we act. With this in mind, United Way joined some of the most engaged and thoughtful local leaders in our community to consider what it would take to move the needle on education — and we came to a bold conclusion. We saw that there are many great organizations doing important work in education, but we knew this was not enough. We knew that we must have a shared vision of what we want to achieve, and work together to make it happen. We understood that we have to share important data and best practices across our community to ensure that everyone is focused on the most effective ways to help our students learn and succeed. Together, we acted by forming Learn4Life, a unique collaboration among local companies, governments, and nonprofit organizations. This landmark effort will concentrate on addressing the non-academic barriers that stand in the way of school success. It is a great example of collective impact, where we create broad social change by uniting people and organizations to work toward common goals, while learning from each other through open and active communications. Learn4Life fits perfectly with the work of United Way, and I am honored to serve as Vice-Chair of the organization’s board. It is led by longtime United Way partner and former Executive Director of Directions for
Families and Youth, Steve Votaw, who shares his thoughts with us in this issue. I know that this collaboration will speed the progress we have made in education and help us achieve our community’s Bold Goals. One of the important things United Way brings to the table at Learn4Life are the insights we have gained from the community conversations we have held over the past year. You can read more about what we learned from the conversations and presented at the Columbus Metropolitan Club in the article below. It was an exciting opportunity to share the voices of our community with a large group of caring, committed community leaders, who were deeply interested in our findings. Our conversation participants believe we are at a tipping point when it comes to education, and that we must engage our entire community in order to make things better. I, too, believe we are at a tipping point, and I believe that efforts like Learn4Life will tip us in a positive direction. But one thing is very clear to me: all of us who understand how important education is, must act to make it better and get others to act, too. After all, this is central Ohio. We don’t sit around and complain, we act! Sincerely,
Janet E. Jackson President and CEO United Way of Central Ohio
“VoICES of ThE CommUNITy” prESENTED To ThE CoLUmbUS mETropoLITaN CLUb On October 5, more than 250 community leaders gathered at the Columbus Metropolitan Club for the “Voices of the Community: What Central Ohio is Saying about Education” presentation and discussion. Janet Jackson began the forum by sharing the results of Community Conversations held by United Way with 51 small, diverse groups of people across Franklin County. In all, approximately 450 participated and shared more than 3,700 observations. Key themes in the conversations included: Participants are concerned about all children in the community, not just their own; they want to see less emphasis on testing and more on learning that develops artistic and creative abilities; people feel that our community and schools are at a tipping point, and that change is urgently needed; they recognize that a lack of parental involvement and the absence of strong connections between schools and the community are holding us back. Following the presentation, panelists Dr. Gene Harris, Superintendent of Columbus City Schools; Steve Votaw, Executive Director of Learn4Life; and Mark Real, President of KidsOhio.org shared their thoughts on the findings and offered their informative and inspirational perspectives. To view an archived `video of the forum, visit columbusmetroclub.org, select “Streaming Video and Podcast Archives,” then click on the Blip.tv icon.
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LIVING UNITED
Interview with Steve Votaw, Executive Director of Learn4Life Learn4Life is a new effort to bring partners together to create a birth-to-career community-wide support system that personalizes learning, improves students’ academic achievement, and gives every child the opportunity to succeed. It aims to ensure that through educational success our community prospers in a global economy where competition for business investment, jobs and talent is intense. Steve Votaw is the Executive Director of Learn4Life. Prior to taking on this role he led the nonprofit organization Directions for Family and Youth for 18 years. He shared his thoughts on the role and promise of Learn4Life.
How did Learn4Life get started? Initial planning was driven by our community leaders from Nationwide, United Way, The Columbus Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, The Ohio State University and many others. The goal is to increase the number of students who graduate from high school, enter and graduate from a post-secondary education, and enter the workforce ready to begin a career. In the formative stages we looked at a model in Cincinnati called STRIVE. It was a very new approach that was bringing nonprofits, funders, the corporate community, schools and higher education together. United Way of Greater Cincinnati was deeply involved. As the STRIVE effort grew they started seeing folks work together in a whole new way. They identified outcomes and indicators they wanted to change; they formed action teams or networks around those issues and got people working together to improve outcomes for students.
What are the benefits of the birth-to-career model? It is the best hope we have right now because it brings people together in a way that focuses on key indicators and tries to really move the dial. When you have the nonprofit sector, the corporate community, the funders and the schools all working together, you can have a greater impact. We are trying to create a pathway that benefits all children, focusing on key transition points and factors driven by data throughout their birth-to-education-to-career journey. We know that children are falling through the cracks at all levels of education and to make a difference, we need all sectors of the community focusing on children. We plan to implement a continuous improvement process that utilizes data and research to enhance outcomes and lift up best practices.
What has Learn4Life achieved so far and what is next? We have identified several key indicators we are going to monitor. They are kindergarten readiness, eighth-grade math, high school graduation, post-secondary remediation, post-secondary education
enrollment and career attainment. What we want to do is bring community leaders together around each of those indicators. For example in the area of kindergarten readiness, we want to have United Way’s Start Smart and Columbus. Kids, Franklin County’s Help Me Grow, Early Learning Centers, nonprofits, and higher education analyze data, identify gaps, develop action plans, implement the change and evaluate the results. We hope to have a collective impact conference here in Columbus and share the birth-to-career framework that we are using.
Learn4Life wants to bring partners together to create collective impact. How do you do that? Collective impact is built on these key pillars : • shared community vision – Every group has its own goals and vision, but we need a communitywide vision that everybody agrees to. • decisions based on data – We must look at what research and data tell us are best for kids, not what feels right. • continuous improvement – We will always look at how we can improve year-to-year by evaluating the data we are getting and figuring out how we can continue to push towards better outcomes. • collaboration – We will facilitate collaboration by bringing key stakeholders together to develop action plans as an independent organization that is not competing as a service provider. • investment and sustainability – We have to be in this for the long run. These issues are complex and improving student outcomes does not happen overnight.
What is unique about Learn4Life? What’s really unique about Learn4Life is that this is the first time that the corporate community, schools, higher education, United Way, foundations, and the nonprofit community have come together and said we want something better for kids and we are going to achieve it through a coordinated effort. That’s really exciting. Nobody can do this alone!
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UNITED Way of CENTraL ohIo CELEbraTES
20 yEarS of CommUNITy CarE Day VoLUNTEErING oVEr 20 yEarS morE ThaN 75,000 VoLUNTEErS haVE parTICIpaTED United Way of Central Ohio celebrated an important milestone with the 20th Anniversary Community Care Day, the largest single volunteering effort in central Ohio. Over the past 20 years, Community Care Day has mobilized more than 75,000 volunteers and provided an estimated half a million dollars in equivalent labor costs to United Way member agencies, other nonprofit organizations, neighborhood groups and local schools.
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Community Care Day is a powerful example of how people come together through United Way to help strengthen our community. The thousands of hours of volunteer service given each year allows participating schools and nonprofit organizations to further their missions of moving central Ohio forward in the interconnected areas of education, income, health and home. This year, 3,000 volunteers from 150 companies participated in almost 200
projects throughout central Ohio. Projects ranged from stocking food pantries and organizing clothing donations, to repairing and refurbishing school facilities in the Columbus City, Southwestern City, and Groveport Madison Local school districts. Community Care Day is sponsored by Bob Evans Farms and the Kroger Company. Their generosity supports the efforts of the thousands of volunteers who are working to advance the common good in central Ohio.
LIVING UNITED
20Th aNNIVErSary KICK-off aT CrEW STaDIUm
To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Community Care Day, United Way partnered with the Columbus Crew to hold a special kick-off event at Crew Stadium. Several volunteers who have given their time on Community Care Day for many years joined Janet Jackson, and a group of young United Way supporters on the field to honor all of the volunteers who have served over the past 20 years.
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LEaDErShIp
COMMUNITY
BUILDER
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United Way of Central Ohio’s Leadership Giving groups offer the opportunity for donors to learn more about how their contributions are helping improve lives in central Ohio, develop meaningful service projects and network with fellow donors.
affINITy GroUpS ComE ToGEThEr aT TaILGaTE parTy For the first time ever, United Way affinity groups got together at a unique indoor tailgate party to cheer on the Ohio State Buckeyes, and collect food items for the Salvation Army and Lutheran Social Services food pantries. Affinity group members and their guests were treated to a live half-time show by the Ohio State Athletics Dance Team and the OSU Men’s Glee Club Alumni. The event collected 600 pounds of food. Generous support for the event was provided by presenting sponsor Giant Eagle and supporting sponsors
Johnsonville, Hill Distributing, Oxy Water and Landmark Aviation, where the tailgate party was held. The Buckeyes provided the perfect ending to the party by defeating Illinois in an upset victory.
Leadership Giving members and family
Dennis Duchene and his son with their food donations.
Collecting food for the food pantries Macie and Lori Mercer
OSU’s Lambda Chi Fraternity LIVES UNITED
E3 parTICIpaNT aWarDED SChoLarShIp
ThE WLC NamED “oUTSTaNDING VoLUNTEEr parTNEr”
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New Directions Career Center, one of three partners in the E3 program, recently announced the recipient of the Bostwick Scholarship. Marcella (Marci) Nugent, participant in the E3 program, will receive the $1,000 educational scholarship, which is awarded in memory of former staff member Anne Bostwick.
to be in the cardiovascular arena in order to help other women combat this disease.” In her acceptance speech, Nugent said, “E3 has empowered me to believe in myself, and that no matter what obstacles or challenges have stopped me before, I will be successful in obtaining my education this time.”
Nugent, who survived open heart surgery as a child, is pursuing a major in medical diagnostic technology focusing on the cardiovascular area. “Heart disease is the number one killer of women in the United States,” explained Nugent. “Because of my experience, I wanted
New Directions Career Center also named the WLC as its “Outstanding Volunteer Partner” for the work the volunteer-led group accomplished through the E3 program.
From left to right: WLC Chair Tanny Crane, WLC Director Betsy McCabe, Bostwick Scholarship winner Marcella Nugent, WLC Member and United Way Sr. VP of Institutional Advancement Deanna Stewart and WLC Steering Committee Member Liza Kessler.
LIVING UNITED
United Way News Siemer Institute for Family Stability Brings United Ways Together to Create Community Impact
When the Columbus Foundation, United Way of Central Ohio, and local philanthropists Al and Barbara Siemer announced the launch of The Siemer Institute for Family Stability in June, it was clear this innovative effort would be built on strong collaboration. At the time of the launch, the Institute began leading the work of initiatives in ten communities in Ohio and Florida that help families at risk of homelessness stay in their homes and keep their kids in their current schools. Since then, United Way of Central Indiana has joined the group, and the Institute’s National Director, Rob Podlogar has been connecting with United Ways across the country to educate
them on this highly effective program. An example of its cost-effectiveness is the program has an average intervention cost per family that is approximately one-third of the average total cost per family in Franklin County’s emergency shelter system. The vision of Al and Barbara Siemer is that eventually fifty United Ways will join together with the Institute to promote family stability. On October 19 and 20, representatives from United Ways working with the Institute gathered at United Way of Central Ohio to compare and share best practices. The group discussed broad topics like how the current economic situation is affecting their programs, and heard from fundraising experts about the best ways to inspire donors to give matching funds that will help ensure sustainability.
Barbara Siemer addresses the gathering of United Ways that work with the Siemer Institute for Family Stability at a recent meeting.
The goal of the Institute is to build on the impact created in each community by sharing experiences and effective practices in order to create collective impact on a national level.
New Collaboration Offers Promise for Neighborhoods A new collaboration of community partners has come together and created a plan to support the children and youth in the neighborhoods of the Near East Side and Linden. The goal of the collaboration is to ensure today’s children grow to be productive citizens. United Way of Central Ohio joined with the Human Services Chamber of Franklin County and The Ohio State University to bring together these key organizations and leaders in the community. The new collaborative is an effort to align and focus efforts on the more than 17,400 children, youth and young adults who reside in these neighborhoods in northeast Columbus. The partners will work together to design specific strategies for supporting 12 schools,
both public and charter, in the area and for helping to provide appropriate educational and developmental interventions for the youth who live there.
• Building a support system for individuals and families from cradle-through-collegethrough career, with great schools at the center
As a first step, the collaborative applied for a U.S. Department of Education Promise Neighborhood Planning Grant. The Promise Neighborhood initiative focuses on creating effective schools and academic programs, as well as family and community supports.
• Integrating programs and building collaboration among agencies so that solutions are implemented effectively and efficiently
Recipients of the grant receive resources to provide broad supports to ensure that youth in our nation’s most challenged neighborhoods are safe, healthy and successful. Objectives for transforming communities include: • Identifying and increasing the capacity of organizations in the neighborhood
In addition to the development of a holistic plan for neighborhoods, the Promise Neighborhood effort is a unique opportunity for United Way of Central Ohio and partner organizations to work together to achieve common goals for our community. The U.S. Department of Education will announce its Promise Neighborhood grantees in late fall 2011.
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LIVING UNITED ThE bILLboarD SayS IT aLL: STaTE aUTo LIVES UNITED! State Auto Insurance Companies is showing its support of United Way in a big way. Billboard big. As a creative way to display the company’s commitment to the work of United Way, and recognize employees who have given at a leadership level, State Auto has sponsored a billboard near its headquarters on Broad Street. The employees included on the billboard are all in the President’s Club, whose members donate a generous percentage of their salaries to United Way. United Way of Central Ohio encourages every company with a United Way campaign to consider recognizing your giving employees with a custom billboard. We can help! Contact us at liveunitedcentralohio.org.