As region rallies, borders fall away

The following editorial by Michael J. Brennan, president and CEO of United Way for Southeastern Michigan, appeared in the January 21, 2007, edition of the Detroit Free Press.

When 4-year-old Sarah enters kindergarten next year, she will not be prepared to succeed in school. She won't be ready academically, socially or emotionally.

As a result, Sarah -- and nearly 8,000 other students like her across the tri-county area -- will fail to read at grade level by third grade. If she manages to make it through high school, there's only a 2% chance that Sarah will ever earn a four-year college degree. But odds are, Sarah will drop out before earning a high school diploma, as two in 10 young people who struggle to read at grade level do each year.

We all share the cost of their collective failure, and it's enormous.

For every dollar that we don't spend getting children ready for school by age 6, we spend $17 caring for them later in life -- in support programs, incarceration, lost productivity, etc.

Whether it's education, transportation or safety, metro Detroiters worry about the same things. And we should, because social issues are seldom contained by geography. Today, so many Americans are struggling that -- for the first time in our nation's history -- the number of suburbanites living in poverty is greater than the number of poor living in urban cores. The same is true for our region.

Over the past five years, the number of individuals living in poverty in tri-county suburbs rose by 35% to more than 270,000, and 35% of them are children.

During that same time period, the number of Macomb County residents living in poverty grew by 60% and in Oakland County, poverty rose 20%. Wayne County saw poverty climb 35% in outlying areas, and 7% in Detroit.

We must reverse the tide, and I am confident the region is prepared to do just that.

During the course of our research at United Way for Southeastern Michigan, we collected more than 20,000 comments from 7,000 residents, and one theme reverberated consistently: This region aspires to be a place where all people have the educational and economic opportunities needed to succeed and to thrive.

Put simply, tri-county residents want the necessary tools and resources to help themselves.

We used the results of our outreach work to develop a blueprint we call our Agenda for Change, which targets three key areas -- educational preparedness, economic stability and basic needs.

Metro Detroiters told us they want to see children enter school prepared to learn and graduate ready for success. They want to be able to acquire assets, like a home or education, which will allow them to build a life. They also want to make sure that their basic needs are met and help is available in times of crisis.

At United Way, we recognize that the historic racial divide, turf issues, and other barriers have stalled regional initiatives in the past. But our outreach revealed a strong desire to see regional leaders come together in a collective, focused and collaborative way, and a belief that it can and will happen.

We have already taken steps toward that end, through recently formed partnerships like ONE D: Transforming Regional Detroit. United Way teamed up with five leading area organizations to explore synergies and share resources needed to tackle regional problems.

Internally, we are making progress with services like United Way 2-1-1, the 24-hour helpline that over 100,000 callers used last year to get help or give help. Rather than navigating a maze of 800 numbers, people who dialed 2-1-1 were able to easily connect to more than 6,000 health and human service resources and volunteer opportunities.

In coming months, we'll share additional details on our Agenda for Change and new direction, and we welcome your input and involvement.

As famed anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small band of committed people can change the world. Indeed, nothing else ever has."

I hope that you will join us in improving the condition of our community.

MICHAEL J. BRENNAN is president and CEO of United Way for Southeastern Michigan. Contact him by e-mail at ceo@uwsem.org. Find out how you can get involved in helping your community, or get more information on the United Way Agenda for Change process, at www.uwsem.org.