UNITE Central Ohio by United Way of Central Ohio

2016, ISSUE II

UNITE Cent r al Oh io

MAKE YOUR

MOMENT

A New

UNITED WAY Emerges

Q&A with

JANET E. JACKSON

PRIORITY NEIGHBORHOODS Kila is a mentor and member of United Wayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s LINC

DOLLARS to MISSION

(Lead. Impact. Network. Change.) young professional group. She and fellow LINC members recently teamed together to paint an inspirational mural at her old high school, Walnut Ridge.

Time to

MAKE YOUR MOMENT

Pick up a paper, turn on the news or check your social media feeds on any given day and it’s clear that Columbus is experiencing a renaissance. There’s an unmistakable energy that is driving wellfounded optimism about our future. Thanks to hard work and collaboration, we are touted as one of the smartest and most desirable places to be whether you are young or old (take that, Sunbelt). But even though there is ample opportunity to partake of the latest developments (move downtown, visit a brewpub, go to a festival…) you may be feeling a little left out. You may be asking yourself, “Self, how can I contribute to making our community successful for everyone?” Glad you asked. And you may not be surprised to know that United Way has the answer. We call it “Make Your Moment” and it is the most personalized way you can get involved and pay forward.

You won’t just see mention of Make Your Moment in your inbox, either. On your phone, social feeds, video—it’s a much bigger call to get involved. Starting this fall, you will see more examples of central Ohioans making their moment. This, most certainly, includes you. When you’re out and about this fall, we’d love to see how you’re making your moment—take a second to snap a pic and post it to your feeds with #CBusmoments. When we all get involved and make our collective moments by volunteering or donating, we work toward our larger mission: reducing poverty in central Ohio. The moment to help do that is now. We hope you’ll join us.

As a member of the United Way family, you probably already received an email or have seen a social post with the call to Make Your Moment. The approach is a decidedly different tack for United Way, one that places individuals in our community in two-way conversation with us. No more us talking just about us. It’s community and United Way talking together. Tell us your story about what’s important to you. We’ll help with volunteer opportunities, events, and more. The bottom line is: you want to be involved, we want you to be involved and when you make your moment you do the things you want to do, and share your time and talents on your schedule. The result is that we move the needle on reducing poverty and more of our friends and neighbors get to enjoy all the great things Columbus has to offer. You win. United Way wins. Our community wins. What’s not to like?

This wallscape in downtown Columbus is one of the (big) ways United Way is encouraging people to “make your moment.”

KEN COHEN board member, Marketing Committee chair, Vice President - Client Services, Resource/Ammirati “United Way is about bringing people together to help others, and Make Your Moment is really going to help people see themselves as an important part of this work.” 2

Open Your Eyes, Heart, and Head A Q&A with Janet E. Jackson On the morning Thursday, April 21, United Way of Central Ohio President and CEO Janet E. Jackson announced her intention to retire to the UWCO Board of Trustees. Upon acceptance by the board, a search committee, chaired by board member and L Brands Senior Advisor, Martyn Redgrave, was formed. The search committee is charged with the task of identifying and hiring Jackson’s successor. We took the opportunity to talk with our leader about her time at United Way, challenges our city faces, and some advice for her successor. Q: In your view, how has the city changed over the last 13 years? Several things have changed; we use to jokingly refer to Columbus sort of as the “cow town.” Certainly, Columbus has grown up. One of the other things that I just love is that we have become more diverse. I remember more than 15 years ago when we were essentially a community of African Americans and Caucasians. The tapestry of who we are has greatly changed with individuals from around the world, with people coming in and playing an important role in our community.

On the other hand, I’ve also seen some negatives. The city has become poorer, people have become poorer. For some individuals opportunities have sky rocketed but for others they can’t seem to break through and I’m hoping that everyone in our community will begin to see that until the least of us can truly benefit from all of the wonderful things in Columbus then the rest of us can.

Q: What issues should we as a city keep front of mind? I will start with, we are a city of have and have nots. The middle has been shrinking and I would say that most shrinkage results in folks slipping into poverty not going in to that top tier of income. In our community it’s reflected throughout Franklin County, but really concentrated in six to eight

neighborhoods where all of the indicators are all wrong whether the issue is infant immortality, children not being successful in schools, number of abandoned properties.

One that has been emerging for me over the last year or two — and we are making a mistake if we think Columbus is immune from it — is what is happening in this country and what is happening in our community. I could say it’s a lack of civility - I’m going to say it, it’s racism, less tolerance. So again in this community, many times we thought in black and white and we’re less tolerant of our newer Americans who are moving here.

Q: What advice would you give to your successor? I’m leaving my successor with the strongest, most talented team that I’ve had and the most cohesive team. I walked into a building almost 14 years ago that was siloed and all of that is gone. I would maybe leave this…don’t come in with the idea that I will change this or that. Listening to staff, listening and working with the board, listening to individual investors, our corporate partners and getting out in the community – really, really open your eyes, open your heart, open your head and embrace this community for what it is and then figure out how you the individual and you the leader of the organization can get us to that next level.

-----------This is only a portion of our conversation. You can hear it in its entirety by downloading, -----------listening, and subscribing to our new podcast Three Six Zero, on iTunes or SoundCloud. -----------

A NEW

UNITED WAY

EMERGES

As an avid reader of UNITE Central Ohio, you know that your United Way is currently in the midst of an unprecedented transformation in the ways we reduce poverty. A big part of this transformation centers on how we invest our donorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; gifts in creating lasting change. In a nutshell, to comprehensively address the root causes of poverty we are taking a brand new approach that is more innovative, agile and integrated. We are creating a new system of pathways where care coordinators work directly with low-income families to identify needs and connect them to high-quality services. This pathway system will identify where gaps in service exist, then United Way will work to fill those gaps by spearheading system and policy changes, through direct investment. We will also work intensively in priority neighborhoods of concentrated poverty, serving as chief catalyst and organizer for neighborhood-wide revitalization efforts. We believe this new approach will create significant benefits for our entire community like improving public and system policies, engaging more partners and expanding the resources we need to reduce poverty. But perhaps the best way to understand how we will change lives for the better is to look at the benefits to one family in poverty.

THE WILSON FAMILY There are many families like the Wilsons in central Ohio. They work hard to build a good life but face many challenges, like the fact that they live in a neighborhood of concentrated poverty where properties are not maintained, and they struggle to get enough nutritious food to eat.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

CHALLENGES

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

The Wilsons

Mary,

John,

Brian,

David,

often have to make difficult choices between paying the rent and bills, or buying groceries and medicine.

works part-time, has diabetes but has no regular source of healthcare

works a minimum wage job with little opportunity for advancement

age 7, acts out in class, struggles with learning to read

age 4, has a developmental delay but no access to highquality preschool

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

PATHWAYS

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

The Wilsons

Mary is

John is

Brian joins a

David is

are linked to a food pantry and free tax preparation services

connected to health services and nutrition classes

connected to a job training program where he builds his skills

local after school program where he receives tutoring, a hot meal and adult support

assessed for kindergarten readiness and enrolled in a high-quality early childhood education program

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • The Wilsons supplement their food budget with fresh produce from the food pantry and save their tax refund for family emergencies like car repairs

Mary is able to successfully manage her diabetes

OUTCOMES John finds a new job with a higher income and paid leave

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Brian improves in school thanks to tutoring and adult guidance

David enters kindergarten ready to learn and succeed

United Way leads a comprehensive effort to revitalize the Wilsons’ impoverished neighborhood. As a result, the family and many other families receive renovation grants that help them improve the appearance and safety of their homes. A neighborhood block watch is also launched that helps bring neighbors together and reduce crime.

----------- View a video of how our pathways system ----------- helps reduce poverty one family at a time. ----------- liveunitedcentralohio.org/proven-pathways

Dollars to Mission Quick, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of United Way of Central Ohio? If you said “reducing poverty” you are spot on! However, for a lot of people the first thing that comes to mind is the big number associated with our annual campaign. For decades, people heard about United Way setting an ambitious goal at the launch of a new annual campaign and they heard about the results at the end of the campaign. Sometimes, all of the important messages about what happened in between got lost. Messages about why we were conducting a large fundraising campaign in the first place. People weren’t clear on United Way’s mission and goal. So, in September 2015, our Campaign Co-Chairs Steve and Patti Steinour and Labor Co-Chair Dorsey Hager made the momentous decision to change all of that. They charted a bold new course by not setting an overall fundraising goal at

all. Instead they put the emphasis not on a dollar goal but on our true goal — reducing poverty. Fast forward to May 2016, and United Way’s annual Celebration of Excellence event. In years past, this is where the campaign results were released but this year a new number was unveiled – Dollars to Mission. In keeping with the singular emphasis on reducing poverty, the Dollars to Mission results number clearly shows the portion of our fundraising efforts that goes directly to that goal. The creation of the Dollars to Mission results is part of the re-imagining of United Way that encompasses all of our operations and focuses on developing innovative ways to engage more people in our work. (You can read more about other transformative changes on pages 4 and 5).

REDUCE POVERTY INITIATIVE

United Way has a new way to Increase the Dollars to Mission that fund our core work – it’s called the Reduce Poverty Initiative. Donations to the Initiative will be invested in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty in central Ohio. Intensive work in these neighborhoods will bring key community partners together, focusing on the most promising strategies to effectively reduce poverty. The initiative is the brainchild of 2016 Campaign Co-Chairs Robert H. Schottenstein and Jeri Block and is targeted at donors who give $1,000 or more (but everyone is welcome to participate).

ROBERT H. SCHOTTENSTEIN 2016-2017 Campaign Co-Chair

“There is nothing more important than reducing poverty in our community and the Reduce Poverty Initiative has the potential to significantly increase the funds we raise to accomplish that goal.”

Catalyzing Change in

Neighborhoods

One important approach to reducing poverty for United Way is supporting intensive work in priority neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. In September, our board took a big step in advancing that work when it designated South Linden and the South Side as our two priority neighborhoods. This means while United Way will continue to help reduce poverty throughout Franklin County, we will also make additional efforts in these highneed neighborhoods.

South Linden

Both South Linden and the South Side are proud, wellestablished neighborhoods that once thrived. In the past few decades their fortunes have diminished and a high percentage of their residents now find themselves in or near poverty. In fact, more than 40% of families with children in both areas live below the poverty line. Momentum is building for positive change in both neighborhoods. The South Side is farther along in its journey toward revitalization and United Way has been an active partner in helping make that happen. South Linden is in the early stages of a turnaround and United Way has the opportunity to take the lessons learned in the South Side and other neighborhoods and apply them to South Linden.

South Side

United Way’s neighborhood work has always focused on resident engagement and empowerment. This will remain true as we move forward with our expanded efforts in the two priority neighborhoods. The Neighborhood Leadership Academy and South Side Leadership Academy, which United Way launched to provide training for existing and emerging neighborhood leaders, are great examples of the ways we will work with residents to help them develop the skills they need to revitalize the places where they live. We will work to clearly understand community needs by listening to residents, then co-creating meaningful solutions with them that address the factors that contribute to poverty. Where community transformation efforts already exist, we will align and integrate our work to ensure that everyone is moving in the same direction. And we will measure results and maintain the flexibility to pursue what works and stop doing what doesn’t.

RYAN EDWARDS Senior Impact Director, Neighborhoods “Our work in neighborhoods has always gone beyond investments. We have learned over decades of experience that the strongest and most lasting solutions come when neighbors are partners in creating solutions and leading change.”

The Feeds

SHAYNE DOWNTON Senior Assistant Vice President for Accelerators

“A quarterly magazine just can’t keep up with all of the ways the members of our United Way of Central Ohio family are coming together the way social media can. So, instead of trying to pick out a few pictures of a few events, we want to give you a taste of the great things we have been up to and encourage you to see much, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . much more by joining us on Facebook, Twitter and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Instagram. See you online! ............................................ .................................................... ............................................ .................................................... ............................................ .................................................... ............................................ .................................................... ............................................ .................................................... ............................................ .................................................... ............................................ .................................................... ............................................ .................................................... ............................................ .................................................... ............................................ .................................................... .................................................. ................................................. ................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ..................................................

UNITE Central Ohio

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2016, ISSUE II

United Way of Central Ohio 360 South Third Street. Columbus, OH 43215 614.227.2700 liveunitedcentralohio.org Editor: KERMIT WHITFIELD

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Design: ANDY RUBEY

United Way of Central Ohio @UWCO UWCO United Way of Central Ohio