August 17, 2010 Stuff the Bus Collects 300 Backpacks
On August 14th, the United Way of Santa Cruz County and the Santa Cruz County Office of Education collected enough school supplies and backpacks to stuff a bus with 300 backpacks filled with school supplies. Organizations and individuals from around the county came together to donate supplies and fill the backpacks. Additional supplies were collected to re-supply the backpacks during the school year. Overall, over $15,000 worth of school supplies were collected. The backpacks and supplies will be distributed through the County Office of Education's Write Start program to the county's neediest students. Our thanks go to our partners Palace Art and Office Supply, Michael's Transportation - as well as donation sites at Bay Federal Credit Union, O'Neill's, Wells Fargo.
August 2, 2010 New 211 Service Comes To Santa Cruz County
United Way of Santa Cruz County launched a new program Friday to make sure those in need are getting help. Click here to visit KSBW to see the full story with reporter Phil Gomez.
August 2, 2010 Social services hotline kicks off in Santa Cruz County
APTOS - Operators at the county's newest social services hotline answered their first official call on Friday as supporters celebrated a round-the-clock way to connect residents in need with programs to help them.
County Supervisor John Leopold called himself "the Santa Cruz version of Alexander Graham Bell" as he placed the county's first call to a regional 211 answering center in San Francisco during a celebration at Cabrillo College. But instead of uttering "Mr. Watson - come here," Leopold said, "I have an elderly neighbor who's become quite frail."
The 211 service, which gained widespread attention for expediting aid to victims of San Diego's 2007 wildfires, connects residents with health and human service assistance through a phone call, much like 911 links callers with emergency aid and 411 provides people with information.
In communities where it has worked well, county Health Officer Poki Namkung compared the hotline to "having your own concierge for information and emergencies."
Supporters of the local 211 program say the hotline could streamline the county's maze of nonprofits and public services, and is in especially high demand given the current economic downturn. The call center would connect those recently out of work with food banks and job centers; the depressed with a counseling referral; and the newly homeless with housing assistance programs and shelter options, among other services.
The centers also will take pressureoff 911 dispatchers, supporters say, who now handle emergencies but also tell evacuated residents where to take livestock, wildfire victims where to find shelter and provide other critical information during natural disasters - similar to what happened in San Diego three years ago.
Calls go to a San Francisco dispatch center that already handles 211 service for other counties in Northern California. Trained dispatchers pull up Santa Cruz County databases to match callers with the agency they need.If an earthquake or other disaster traumatizes the state, 211 calls can be routed to centers in Las Vegas, Boston or elsewhere, thus helping victims and allowing the service to continue uninterrupted.
In recent years, United Way of Santa Cruz County has spearheaded the effort to bring 211 to the Central Coast. Santa Cruz County, local cities, businesses and individuals all helped raise the $143,000 needed to fund the service for a year. Most large donors promised to continue their donations for the next three years, said United Way of Santa Cruz County Executive Director Mary Lou Goeke, guaranteeing the service will continue at least that long.
County Health Services Agency Director Rama Khalsa said she plans to send cards to all county social service clients letting them know of 2-1-1."Every single client for the health department gets one in the mail," she said.More than 20 counties in California, including most of the more populated ones, already have 211 service. Monterey County, for example, launched its program in 2009 and within the first year fielded more than 13,000 calls.Earlier this month Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, who represents part of Santa Cruz County, authored a bill that would extend the service across the nation.
Each year, the United Way of Santa Cruz County seeks nominations from community members of people who have made Santa Cruz County a better place to live. We want to thank and honor residents who, in their own way, have worked to achieve one of our Community Goals. The Goals are set every five years by community members and each year, we chart our progress in achieving the Goals in the Community Assessment Project report.
Feel free to nominate the person or group you think deserves to be recognized for their good work.
On August 14th, 2010 the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and United Way of Santa Cruz County will be partnering to collect school supplies and backpacks for homeless and in need children. Last year, this event raised over $2,000 worth of supplies for these children.
April 5, 2010 Women in Philanthropy Wins Award
March 29, 2010. Women in Philanthropy - an affinity giving group associated with United Way of Santa Cruz County - has been selected as the recipient of a Celebrate Literacy Award. This award is presented by the Santa Cruz County Reading Association and the County Office of Education in recognition of those individuals and organizations in Santa Cruz County that support literacy programs in our schools. This award honors Women in Philnathropy's major sponsorship two programs: Reading Recovery -an individual intervention program for 1st graders that dramatically improves reading ability and English Language Literacy.
Reading Recovery is sponsored at several schools throughout Santa Cruz County. English Language Literacy is a program of Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary School and is a small group learning program for3rd-5th graders to improve their ability in English.
Women in Philanthropy will receive the award at an awards ceremony on April 19th.
March 22, 2010 United Way's Response to the Earthquakes in Chile
March 11, 2010 United Way's Response to the Earthquakes in Chile
Chile was hit by three strong earthquakes today, with significant damage in Rancagua. The epicenter of the first quake was 95 miles south of the capital, Santiago. The quakes were magnitudes 6.9 (at 11:30 a.m. local time), 6.7 just 16 minutes later, and 6.0 nearly 30 minutes later. No fatalities have been confirmed yet.
Since the first earthquake on February 27, United Way in Chile, Corporacion Sociedad Activa, has been working with its partners to collect donations to support long-term recovery and rebuilding, with a special emphasis on reconstructing nurseries and kindergartens for children under the age of 5.
United Way's role is to support long-term recovery efforts to rebuild lives and communities devastated by the disaster and to address educational, financial and health-related challenges.
United Way Worldwide has created the United Way Worldwide Disaster Fund and is coordinating the integration of efforts from United Ways around the world, in cooperation with our corporate partners and other NGOS. Donations to the Fund will go toward long-term recovery and rebuilding in Chile, as well as meet the needs of Chileans affected by the disaster.
To donate to the United Way Worldwide Disaster Fund for Chile or Haiti click here.
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.
For further information, call 479-5466.
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.
By Jondi Gumz, Santa Cruz Sentinel - 12/8/2009
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.
