February 12, 2010 Santa Cruz Sentinel Writes: As We See It - 211 system vital for county
Santa Cruz County has a well-deserved reputation for caring about people.
That's just one reason the drive to establish a 211 phone referral service, spearheaded by the United Way of Santa Cruz County, is both overdue and essential.
The service already is available for about 90 percent of California residents. The free service operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and connects local people with health and human service assistance through a phone call -- much like a 911 call provides emergency assistance.
A local call center could provide people in need with information about food and shelter, elderly people with medical services, people experiencing mental health problems with counseling.
It also could prove a lifesaver in natural disasters. In 2007, San Diego residents displaced by a huge wildfire were able to find coordinated assistance by dialing 211, which received 130,000 calls seeking information.
The system has been around for a decade, since the Federal Communications Commission designated the three-digit code for health and human services information. No money was provided, however, to help set up the service.
Monterey County's 211 system just celebrated its first anniversary. Organizers, led by United Way of Monterey County, say the service has logged 13,000 calls about housing, shelter and legal services plus information about food assistance, mental health counseling and family supportive programs.
Santa Cruz County, however, is still seeking the money to get 211 under way. The cost is negligible, considering the services offered -- $142,000 annually.
To raise the money, the local United Way is asking 14 local government and foundation sponsors to make small grants, along with corporations and individuals. The goal is to get the service operating by July 1.
Unfortunately, the Scotts Valley City Council, which considered a request for $5,000 as its share of funding the service, questioned if the city has the money at this time. We hope that before making a final decision, council members consider the cost of providing referral information if a natural disaster strikes.
United Way of Santa Cruz County has done an admirable job of carefully planning how to bring 211 to help local people. And, in a year where many budgets are tight, it has put together a proposal using a call center in San Francisco that is both frugal and feasible. In a county with as many nonprofits and human-service agencies as ours, 211 is a natural.
It's time for local sponsors to step forward and make 211 happen.
February 9, 2010 Funds Available for County's Emergency Food and Shelter Programs
Federal Emergency Food & Shelter (EFSP) money is available for local emergency food and shelter programs in Santa Cruz County. The county’s local Emergency Food & Shelter Board will determine how $247,789.00 in Phase 28 funds will be distributed after evaluating proposals submitted during a Request for Proposals application process.
Local government or private nonprofit organizations eligible to apply for funds must have an accounting system and conduct an annual audit, practice nondiscrimination, have demonstrated the capability of providing emergency food and/or shelter programs and, if they are a private nonprofit organization, have a voluntary board of directors.
Applications can be obtained through the United Way of Santa Cruz County beginning January 25th, 2010 or downloaded from our website by clicking here. The deadline for submitting fully completed applications is 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 25, 2010. Late applications will not be considered.
January 14, 2010 United Way Mobilizes Support for Haiti
The recent 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti has left hundreds of thousands without homes, and many thousands in need of assistance. “This terrible tragedy only makes worse the desperate living conditions of the people in Haiti” says Mary Lou Goeke, Executive Director United Way of Santa Cruz County United Way “They need our help more than ever”.
United Way Worldwide's Core Crisis Team has been mobilized and in contact with their Caribbean Regional Team to gather more information about the needs on the ground. If members of our community want to donate money to help people affected by the earthquake, go to the United Way Worldwide Disaster Fund: https://volunteer.united-e-way.org/uwwwdisaster/donate/ .
Checks can also be sent to the following with the Fund reference in either memo line or enclosed correspondence:
United Way Worldwide P.O. Box 630568 Baltimore, MD 21263-0568
As United Way Worldwide continues to evaluate the situation in Haiti, they will work with the existing United Way Caribbean Regional Council and members for insight on how to most effectively assist in long-term recovery efforts. Samuel Gonzales, CEO of United Way Puerto Rico, has said that his team is able to handle corporate in-kind donations. United Way Worldwide will coordinate with him and other United Way organizations in the region. In-kind donations from the general public are referred to Aidmatrix. Donations from Global Corporate Leadership companies, however, are given special consideration and will be personally reviewed by United Way Worldwide's Interim Crisis Director, Linda Daily.
January 13, 2010 United Way of Santa Cruz County’s Go For Health! Collaborative Receives Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Major Grant to Increase Opportunities for Physical Activity and Availability of Healthy Foods
Capitola, CA, January 12, 2010 – The United Way of Santa Cruz County’s Go For Health! Collaborative has been awarded a $360,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to improve opportunities for physical activity and access to affordable healthy foods for children and families in Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley. Based on a rigorous selection process that drew more than 500 proposals from across the country, Watsonville/Pajaro Valley is one of 41 sites selected for the RWJF Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities initiative.
According to the California Healthy Kids Survey, 36% of Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s 5th, 7th and 9th graders were overweight or obese. And while the Pajaro Valley is home to an abundance of fields which grow strawberries, lettuce, artichokes and other fruits and vegetables, these fruits and vegetables rarely end up on the farm worker’s tables or in their children’s school cafeterias. The United Way of Santa Cruz County’s Go For Health! Collaborative will work to change the surrounding environment to increase children’s access to fresh fruits and vegetables and increase their opportunities to participate in physical activity. Specifically Go For Health! will refine and share community data with area leaders, policy-makers and advocates; address city and regional policies regulating food outlets and built environment features such as sidewalks and bike lanes; and, help corner stores offer more product from local farms.
“Addressing the issue of childhood obesity through an environmental change strategy is perhaps the most effective way of helping our children maintain a healthy weight,” states Mary Lou Goeke, Executive Director of the United Way of Santa Cruz County. “That is, we must change the environment where our children grow up so that it is easy to make a healthy choice and difficult to make the unhealthy one. This grant will help the Go For Health! Collaborative in its efforts to bring health-minded, lasting changes to Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley.”
“To reverse this epidemic, communities are going to have to rally around their kids and provide the opportunities they need to be healthy,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Through this project, The United Way of Santa Cruz County and its partners are doing what it takes to make sure children lead better lives.”
Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities is a $33 million national program and RWJF’s largest investment to date in community-based solutions to childhood obesity. With nine Leading Sites chosen in late 2008, the program now spans 50 communities from Seattle to Puerto Rico. All are targeting improvements in local policies and their community environment—changes that research indicates could have the greatest impact on healthier eating, more active living and obesity prevention. Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities is a cornerstone of RWJF’s $500 million commitment to reverse the country’s childhood obesity epidemic by 2015.
The 40 other cities and regions just announced as Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities sites are:
The new program grants will continue through June 2013.
Visit www.healthykidshealthycommunities.org to learn more about these communities’ work and plans.
December 16, 2009 United Way helps bring Project Homeless Connect to Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz plans to
use a strategy pioneered in San Francisco to reach out to people who
are homeless and ensure they are included in next year's federal census.
A
more accurate count could mean more government funding, according to
Samantha Green of the United Way of Santa Cruz County, citing estimates
that the city of Santa Cruz missed out on $11 million due to an
undercount in the previous census.
Homeless people traditionally have been difficult to count.
In
January, a survey of all 52 census tracts in Santa Cruz County found
1,536 homeless persons plus another 729 homeless individuals in
shelters, motels or transitional housing. Meanwhile, a federally
recommended formula put the number at 4,624.
The county's
Complete Count Committee, a group dedicating to census accuracy, has
been meeting for months talking about how to reach difficult-to-count
populations.
Peter Connery of Applied Survey Research, which
coordinated the January count, explained how Project Homeless Connect,
a 5-year-old effort to end homelessness in San Francisco, has connected
thousands of homeless people with services provided at a one-day event.
More than 220 cities have since adopted the same strategy, offering
medical and dental screenings, meals, job counseling and child care in
a single location rather than expecting people to visit multiple
agencies in different places.
Connery suggested a one-day event in Santa Cruz to create the largest possible gathering of local homeless individuals on a date during the census count.City
Councilman Don Lane is enthusiastic about the idea. He had been on the
staff of the Homeless Services Center in Santa Cruz and now serves on
the board as well as on the Complete Count Committee.
"We can
provide some special services on this one day that can make a real
difference in the lives of homeless people in our community," he said. He envisions dozens, if not hundreds, of people providing services on March 30.
The plan is to schedule the event at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium if the City Council approves.
What makes such an event possible is the support of United Way, which has tapped Green to be volunteer coordinator.
Green,
27, originally from Gilroy, is eager to make it happen. A graduate of
the London School of Economics with a master's degree in anthropology,
she is one of five AmeriCorps members funded by the federal stimulus
and assigned by the Volunteer Center to nonprofits in Santa Cruz County
through June 30.
She will go to San Francisco on Wednesday to
see Project Homeless Connect in action at the Bill Graham Civic
Auditorium along with Kymberly Lacrosse, a United Way community
organizer, and two AmeriCorps members working at the Homeless Services
Center.
The success of the March 30 event depends on whether
people who are homeless take advantage of it. Green is looking at ways
to get bus passes to them. She also looked at what worked in Salinas: Rehab services, needle exchange, clothes and haircuts." We want to do that," she said, encouraging interested agencies and volunteers to contact her.
December 7, 2009 10-COUNTY REPORT REVEALS THREE FULL-TIME, MINIMUM-WAGE JOBS NEEDED FOR BAY AREA FAMILIES TO BE SELF-SUFFICIENT High School Dropouts Four-Times More Likely to Have Inadequate Income, Compared to Those With College Education
December 8, 2009 – United Way's report,
"Struggling to Make Ends Meet," released today, reinforces the plight
of the Bay Area's working poor by revealing that local families require three
full-time, minimum wage jobs to pay for basic necessities, when measured by the
California Self-Sufficiency Standard.
The report indicates higher education continues to be a key indicator to
achieving self-sufficiency. Nearly 60%
of 168,556 Bay Area households headed by someone who did not complete high
school have incomes below the Standard, compared to 15% of householders with a
Bachelor’s degree or at least some college.
Based on the most recently available
U.S. Census data from 2007, United Way's report, “Struggling to Make Ends
Meet,” shows that hard times preceded the recession for a significant number of
Bay Area families. Even before the
global economic crisis, having a job was not a guarantee of adequate income:
86% of Bay Area households with incomes below the Standard had at least one
worker. In more than half (56%) of Bay
Area households with incomes below the Self-Sufficiency Standard, the adult
head of that household was employed full time, either part of the year or year
round, and still did not earn enough income to make ends meet.
“This report raises important
questions about how we can better serve the thousands of low-wage workers and
families who were already struggling before the recession, whose situations are
undoubtedly more precarious now,” said Anne Wilson, CEO of United Way of the
Bay Area. “While United Way continues to
support programs that provide emergency food, rent and utility assistance, we
are also working hard to build pathways out of poverty for hardworking
families, to ensure they are not left behind in the economic recovery. Low-wage workers must have access to
education and training opportunities that will enable them to earn higher
wages, advance up career ladders, support their families, and contribute to our
region’s success over the long term.”
Other key findings from the report:
· Families headed by single women are almost two times more likely than
two-parent households to have incomes below the Standard.
· Latino and African American households are
disproportionately likely to have incomes below the Standard – 43% of Latino
households and 38% of African American households in the Bay Area have insufficient
incomes to meet their essential needs compared to 14% of White households.
· The largest groups of struggling householders
are Latino (149,943) and White (146,608); however, Latinos are more than three
times as likely as Whites to fall below the Standard, due to more limited access to
high-paying jobs and career ladders.
“We know that
traditional safety net approaches no longer even come close to addressing the
challenges faced by low-wage families,” said Carole Leigh Hutton, president and
CEO, United Way Silicon Valley. “Through programs like 2-1-1, Bank on
California and Earn It! Keep It! Save It!, United Way is bringing together
resources that empower low-wage workers and their families to become
financially stable and independent.”
The Self-Sufficiency Standard, part
of a state and national movement to reform the way poverty is measured and
understood, calculates the
actual cost of living on a county-by-county basis, using the costs of housing,
food and shelter, as well as the work-related costs of transportation, child
care and taxes. The Standard represents a basic-needs budget that excludes
common expenditures, such as credit-card and loan payments, retirement savings
and emergency expenses. It also assumes that all adults in the household work
to support their families. In contrast
to the Standard, the 40-year-old Federal Poverty Level, which identifies only
7% of Bay Area residents as “poor,” is based on the cost of food and does not take
into account wide variations in the cost of living in different counties.
For the full United Way report, “Struggling to Make Ends
Meet," which contains detailed information for Alameda, Contra Costa,
Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and
Sonoma counties, click here . The
Bay Area report is based on a statewide report, “Overlooked and Undercounted
2009,” produced by the Center for Women’s Welfare of the University of
Washington’s School of Social Work, under the direction of Diana Pearce, on
behalf of United Way and Insight Center for Community Economic
Development.
Please click here for a Santa Cruz County Specific Fact Sheet.
November 2, 2009 Go For Health! Collaborative Featured in International Publication
We are pleased to share that the Go for Health! collaborative is featured in the ‘Bringing Health to the Planning Table: A Profile of Practices in Canada and Abroad’. This report was produced by the Healthy Living Issue Group of the Pan-Canadian Public Health Network.
This report profiles case studies of 13 Canadian communities where collaborative approaches to improve health outcomes have been a key consideration in planning decisions related to the built environment. This focus was chosen so that the successes (and lessons learned of a variety of different projects could be share with other communities. With one case study from each province and territory it provides a pan-Canadian perspective. Two international examples, one of which is Go for Health!, highlighting similar work happening abroad are also featured.
September 28, 2009 Health Coverage of 700,000 Children Saved!
On Tuesday, September 22, Governor Schwarzenegger signed legislation (AB1422) that prevents nearly 700,000 children from losing their Healthy Families health insurance coverage this year. Healthy Families provides low-cost medial, dental and vision coverage to children from low-income families who do not qualify for Medi-Cal.
The July 2009 budget cuts left the widely popular Healthy Families program $194 million short in the largest single cut to kids' coverage in the history of the United States. As a result of the cut, a waitlist was established in July and over 70,000 new children seeking insurance were put on hold. Additionally, the Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB), which regulates Healthy Families, was to dis-enroll over 600,000 children (including 32,000 children from Santa Clara County) beginning November 1st, unless a solution was found.
With the looming threat of H1N1flu hitting schools this fall, the stakes were even higher. With a coordinated advocacy approach from United Ways of California, combined with the voices of concerned residents, pediatricians, local children's health initiatives and children's advocates statewide, the legislature and governor listened.
In a bi-partisan win for California children and tax-payers, AB1422(Bass) passed through the Assembly and Senate in early September and was signed into law on September 22nd by the Governor.
September 18, 2009 Binational Health Week 2009 - October 3rd-17th!!
Binational Health Week (BHW) is an annual week-long series of health-promotion and health-education activities geared toward the most vulnerable and difficult to reach migrants and immigrants from Mexico and Central America, but benefits underserved Latinos regardless of their national origin and their communities of origin. Outside of Santa Cruz County, this year, BHW will take place October 3-17, 2009 in 40 states in the U.S. and 3 provinces in Canada, with the participation of the consular networks of the seven participating countries.
Also, the Mexican states with high rates of migration will be implementing activities. During Binational Health Week, a national campaign will take place to promote awareness among the Latino community on the topics of prevention of addictions, nutrition, prevention of strokes, and living green.
For a complete list of events, click here to view the full brochure.
August 6, 2009 County Homeless Population Drops Nearly 20%
Homelessness has declined substantially in Santa Cruz County since 2007 according to a report released Tuesday August 4 by the United Way of Santa Cruz County. The exception is Watsonville, where the homeless population is rising. The one-day survey of the county's homeless people, taken on January 22, counted those living on the streets as well as those residing in shelters. The biennial count showed that an estimated 2,265 homeless people live in Santa Cruz County compared to 2,789 in 2007.
The report also showed a 50 percent increase in people seeking services in the county's shelters. "The expanded services of the Salvation Army of Watsonville, Families in Transition and Pajaro Valley Shelter Services has really helped to increase the number of people who are sheltered and on their way to a more stable life" says Mary Lou Goeke, Executive Director of the United Way of Santa Cruz County.
The 2009 Santa Cruz County Homeless Census and Survey was conducted by several two-person teams consisting of a volunteer and a homeless person, who acted as a "guide". There were followup in-depth interviews with 401 homeless people in an attempt to better understand why they are homeless. Click here for a detailed copy of the Census and Survey.
June 15, 2009 GFH! 2009 School Wellness Recognition Award Winners
The School Wellness Recognition Award is an
appreciation program for those schools, districts, and individuals who
have made a concerted effort to adopt into both principle and practice
the goals of the 2006 School Wellness Policies.
Shama Ball at Vine Hill Elementary PTA for Creative Physical Education Program
Maureen Beddow at Vine Hill Elementary for Creative Physical Education Program
San Lorenzo Valley Elementary for Creative Physical Education Program
Mary Simon at San Lorenzo Valley Elementary for School Gardens
Shahe Moutafian at Pajaro Valley Unified School District for Passion of Wellness Coordinator
Greg Muck at Freedom Elementary for Healthy Nutrition Program
Tim Hyland at Live Oak Elementary for School Gardens
Georgette Callaway at YMCA, Boulder Creek Elementary for School Gardens
Jessica Curcio & Susan Dahlgren at Gault Elementary Life Lab for School Gardens/Healthy Nutrition Program
Tara Redwoods School for Healthy Nutrition Program
Amy Hedrick at Scotts Valley Unified School District for Healthy Nutrition Program
Jennifer Bruno at Cesar Chavez Middle School for Healthy Nutrition Program/School Gardens/ Creative Physical Education Program
Patrick Littleton at Cesar Chavez Middle School for Healthy Nutrition Program
Tierra Pacifica Charter School for School Gardens, Healthy Nutrition Program, and Creative Physical Education Program
To learn more visit the Go for Health! mainpage, click here .
