Share your childhood memories of reading

As UWSEM focuses its fundraising, public relations, volunteer and programming energies on early learning, it's triggered all sorts of memories and feelings about my early reading days. The one that sticks out the most is when I was in grade school. I think I was in 5th or 6th grade. In my school's library, there were a series of biographies on our early American leaders. I couldn't get enough of them. From Abigail Adams to George Washington, I read them all. The biography of Abigail Adams I remember most. She was an inspirational leader, with such strength and intelligence. She didn't have a traditional leadership role, but was influential nonetheless (maybe even more so than her husband? Talk amongst yourselves.).

The problem with my reading passion was that I wasn't very good at returning the books to the library. One day, Mrs. Solomon (one of our teachers) walked me to my locker and, lo and behold, I had about 12 of those biographies stacked high! She was not pleased. But that didn't stop me from continuing to read them. To this day, I wish I knew the publishing company of that series. I would buy them all and share them with my daughter (who just happens to be named Abigail). Then again, I might just keep them for myself and read them all again!

What are your memories of reading?

A Better Future ... Together

Our Regional Aspiration:

All People Across Southeastern Michigan have the Educational and Economic Opportunities Needed to Succeed and Thrive.

Think about those words.

What do you see? Do you see yourself gearing up some Saturday morning to go volunteer to make your community better? Do you see your children having fresh opportunities to meet their goals? Do you see yourself in that aspiration?

Can you see all of us working together to do something great as a region?

We can.

The true consensus that emerged from everyone that shared their voice was overwhelming. We are moving forward by focusing in on the vital few issues we can make progress on across Southeast Michigan.

We know it will not be easy. We know it will take time. But now we know that we have the region behind us, ready to make it work.

Please, join us & get involved today.

A Community Voice

African American woman
Living on the east side of Detroit
Ten children
Have you reached your conclusions yet? I did.
7 of her children are in or have graduated from college.
Doctor, lawyer, police officer
Thinking differently? I am.
She hopes for all of her children to go to college.
She'd like her community to get rid the prostitutes off the street.
Think we can make this happen?

What are the hopes for your children?
What role should our community play in realizing your goals?

I was in the presence of greatness

OK, maybe that's a stretch. It wasn't like I was talking to the Pope or the President of the United States. But if you're involved in early childhood development work, then you might describe it just that way. Dr. Lawrence Schweinhart, President and CEO of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, has a lot to say about the role of high-quality early childhood education in our society, and I, for one, wanted to hear it. Do you? Don't get me wrong, for awhile, I thought he was talking German, or maybe Japanese. He's a researcher by nature. But what impresses me about the man is that he can think about research and how it applies to public policy, quality programming, etc. That makes him approachable, in my view. And an important part of the team.

But he's not the only member. We're all experts in some way. We've been children, are raising children, or know families/friends that are trying to do so successfully. And we need your input. If you listen to the podcast, you'll hear that I asked Dr. Schweinhardt the question: what role does literacy play in our broader early childhood agenda?

What do you think of his answer? Do you agree?

Safe and Vibrant Neighborhoods

Jacqueline Jones, Vice President for Public Policy at United Way had this comment on the Safe and Vibrant Neighborhoods posting:

"The reduction of crime is key to safe and vibrant neighborhoods. UWSEM plays a key leadership and partnership role with the Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative working towards the outcomes of safe communities and the successful reintegration of ex-offenders into our communities. Both of these outcomes require a collective coordinated community approach.

Vibrant and safe neighborhoods also impact our community's overall economic growth and development and support educational attainment, asset building, access to services, and advancement of literacy. Thus, reduction of crime becomes a critical strategy in our community's quest for a stronger region that is competitive in today's global world."

Jacqueline R. Jones, MSW
Vice President, Public Policy
United Way for Southeastern Michigan

Telling the Regional Story

Our goal with the "What Matters Most to You" blog is to serve as a forum for the key results from our spring 2006 regional outreach and visioning process. Also we hope to share some of the meaningful stories we continue to receive from thousands across the region. Most importantly, we want a candid community conversation. As United Way continues its transformation process, this is one tool to help achieve that objective and tell the story along the way.

Over the next two weeks, we will be sharing some final results of the community outreach effort, including the regional aspiration and the broad categories universally identified as necessary for success.

So, please, come back and read more about what you and so many others shared when we asked that simple and powerful question: What matters most to you?

To share your voice further, email us at impact.strategy@LiveUnitedSEM.org

Safe and Vibrant Neighborhoods

One of the keys to any community of progress is a sense of security and safety in our homes and neighborhoods. From Downtown Detroit to the outer districts of Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties, our goals are the same -- we want healthy, vibrant, safe and nurturing places in which to raise our families and to develop our communities.

There are some great examples of work in this area already, especially with the Local Initiatives Support Coalition, known as LISC and their Neighborhoods Now program connecting inner-ring suburbs and Detroit neighborhoods for common purpose.

The Skillman Foundation's Good Neighborhoods program vision is to "transform Detroit's neighborhoods into healthy, safe and supportive environments for children, youth, and their families by working directly with concerned citizens and organizations in specific neighborhoods."

As United Way works on safety and youth violence issues through its Taking Action Against Violence (TAAV) initiative, we are beginning to reach out across city and county boundaries to replicate this very successful collaborative.

Combining with community leaders like LISC and Skillman with United Way strategies will be critical to our ability to make long term change in the region. Partnerships with groups like these and others will be a true benchmark for regional progress. Most importantly, it will honor the regional imperative that over 85% of our survey respondents told us that they expect Southeastern Michigan to collaborate to make progress together.

Indeed, as we all know, we can accomplish so much more together than we ever could alone.

Have any ideas on how to enhance your neighborhood? Are there great programs going on in your community? What are the keys to a safe and vibrant neighborhood?

Email us at impact.strategy@LiveUnitedSEM.org to share your voice.

Economic Security

"The problem is not jobs, but rather the Grand Canyon between jobs and the skills sets required to complete them"

"Michigan's number one export isn't cars, it's people"

The need for economic opportunities is pronounced in Southeast Michigan; we heard it from every sector and through the seams of every voice in our interviews, focus groups and the community action survey.

People understood that the pathways towards economic success are universal to improving lives and communities. At United Way, we're working on these today through our IDAs and even our Women's Initiative work on early childhood literacy, which in the long run, will dramatically improve their chances towards self-sufficiency and economic success. We believe those are great efforts and just the start of partnerships and long term strategies which will go towards lasting change.

With such a large scope, we need to dig deeper into the research across the region to know the full scale of how United Way can leverage the community voice to make a difference in the area of economic security. We're currently engaged in that process.

What do you think? Are there great programs or services out there addressing these areas that United Way should know about?

Basic Needs

Information and referral Systems are Critical

More resources -- people's time, talent and treasure -- are needed

Demonstrate Success by Working Together Regionally

When discussing basic needs, those were three things people cared most about. From food and shelter to utility assistance and disaster relief, people overwhelmingly supported the action item on maintaining the social safety net.
One survey comment was adamant:
"Community surveys often place emphasis on issues that are getting the most attention at the moment; however, basic human needs are always a concern ... Dollars should be allocated in a way that recognize these before letting marketing and opinion trump what professionals in the nonprofit sector know about basic needs through experience and research-based data collection."

As United Way gets focused on key community issues, we know we must sustain support for the basic needs of the region. Will there be realignment of resources and changes in our approach to funding? Likely. But as a foundation to our work, critical to our mission, and in line with the region's aspirations, we know basic needs and the safety net are crucial to our long term success.

What do you think basic needs should include? How wide is the scope of services?

Getting Help

What did the community have to say in the survey about getting help?

"Often people in need are in such a position that they don't have the wherewithal, the strength or the support group to search for the organization/people/resources they need," said one respondent who indicated getting help should be a priority for our community. What is the need? Overwhelmingly, the response came: a need for an accessible, central information and referral resource.

"There should be a common, well-known place in the tri-county area that people can call or visit to find out what services are available and where to get them." Those who needed assistance could access a central source to find out how to:

• Maintain or reclaim self-sufficiency for themselves, their children and families
• Maintain or make possible cleaner, safer and more diverse communities
• Access services for specific target groups, including youth, seniors, low-income individuals and families, developmentally disabled individuals, etc.
• Receive financial and tax assistance

"Knowledge, knowledge, knowledge...above all, the availability of help and how to find it."

Are you aware of 211? It's a call center providing access to information and referral for metropolitan Detroit's health and human service needs. Check it out and tell us what you think. How can it be further leveraged in our community?

Staying Focused on Youth

"What we need is a culture of achievement."

"Youth should be involved with organizations that keep them off the streets and into meaningful life habits and learning....Don't spread funding so thin that it does little good."

Those are just a couple of the 1,400 plus comments people shared about "Youth complete school prepared to succeed in the workforce and higher education" from United Way's Community Action Survey.

It's no surprise really; children are our future. For them, we want greater opportunities, safer communities, solid role models ... the list goes on and on.

Much of the question is how?

At United Way, we're focusing in on the issues that the people in the region care most about. We're confident that process will include discussions on what strategies will help youth be better prepared for life in today's world. One current example is the Virgil H. Carr Society's work on truancy.

What strategies would you use?

Email us at impact.strategy@LiveUnitedSEM.org