Who's deciding our elections? Voter turnout by the numbers

According to a report recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 96 million people voted in the 2006 congressional elections, an increase of 7 million from 2002. About 48 percent of voting-age citizens cast a ballot in 2006, the highest since 1994 when the Census Bureau first began collecting this data. The voting rate in the Midwest was higher at 53 percent than any other region.

Click here to read more.

Lend your voice, cast your vote

The unemployment rate is at a high, foreclosures are on the rise, and more and more people are struggling to meet their basic needs. You may feel like you don't have the power to change conditions this region faces. But you do.

Advocacy is an important element to provoking change in your community. By using your voice and speaking out about issues that are important to you, you can influence others to share a stake in what you believe. One form of advocacy is to simply cast your vote.

Continue reading.

Census Bureau Releases Population Estimates

Detroit Estimate Shows Minimal Loss After 2006 Adjustment and Easily Holds National Ranking of 11th Largest City
Many Tri-County Communities Experience Population Loss

The Census Bureau released its 2007 annual estimate of population for cities, townships and villages across the country. This document details the data for Southeast Michigan and the remainder of the state.

Click here to continue reading the summary prepared by Kurt Metzger, Director of Research, United Way for Southeastern Michigan. [PDF]

Birth and death trends serve as a mirror of state and region’s migration and aging trends

The provisional birth and death numbers recently released by Michigan’s Department of Community Health show the effects of the demographic shifts taking place across the state and in Southeast Michigan.

While there are individual exceptions to each trend, the overall pattern that leads to a decrease in births is made up of three factors: out-migration of younger residents, contributing to decreasing numbers of women in their child-bearing years (15-44 years); aging of the population in general, contributing to both the loss of women and increasing numbers of deaths; and finally a move toward delaying marriage and childbirth, resulting in smaller families and often a choice of not having children at all.

Continue reading.

Agenda for Change volunteer reflections

United Way for Southeastern Michigan recently completed selection of new agency partners for the funding cycle 2008-2011. These partnerships represent the best of the best programs we could have selected to help us fulfill our mission of creating lasting, measurable results through our Agenda for Change and focus on education, income and basic needs.

Last year, we issued a request for proposals (RFPs) and subsequently received more than 360 responses, from 199 agencies and 91 collaboratives across southeast Michigan who were interested in working with us. The process of evaluating proposals and considering future partners for our Agenda work took a tremendous amount of effort on the part of United Way staff and over 130 volunteers representing the nonprofit, business, labor, faith-based, education and government sectors, among others, who served on 23 review committees.

Continue reading.

2-1-1 is on the go for homeless

United Way’s 2-1-1 call center is continually evolving to meet the needs of its callers. By looking at call trends and following up with past callers, the staff is able to identify gaps in services and develop solutions to combat the community issues that plague Metro Detroiters.

One of the more innovative solutions 2-1-1 has developed is in response to homelessness. 2-1-1 On the Go! was developed to help the homeless overcome barriers they face in trying to get back on their feet. Some of these include the lack of a permanent address or phone number to use when job searching, as well as lack of knowledge about how to navigate the complicated web of resources available.

Read more.

United Way moves Agenda forward

Over the past three years, United Way for Southeastern Michigan has been changing the way it does business to meet the changing needs of this region. As the economy has changed, issues facing families have become greater in number and more acute. To tackle these issues, we developed the Agenda for Change, which is based on community input and research and focuses on making lasting progress in three areas: education, income and basic needs.

On June 5, 2008, the board of directors reached a critical milestone on the road to the Agenda for Change by approving the selection of United Way’s new nonprofit partners and affiliates for the 2008-2011 funding cycle.

Read more.

Work for United Way

2008 United Way AMBASSADOR
The United Way Ambassador Program is a perfect opportunity for someone who wishes to enhance their professional development or extend their working careers after retirement. Public speaking, confidence, time/account management and leadership skills are the assets we are looking for. You’ll be providing an essential element to the success of the annual Torch Drive Campaign.

2008 United Way Impact Speaker
The United Way Ambassador Program is an excellent opportunity for someone interested in enhancing their professional development or extending their working careers after retirement. The Ambassador program is comprised of two basic elements, campaign and impact speaker ambassadors, with one common message, The Agenda for Change.

Basic Needs Associate
The Basic Needs Associate will assist with key resource investment strategies explicitly designed to improve lives by mobilizing resources. The position will also be responsible for assisting the Manager with grant reviews for programs.

Manager-Basic Needs
The Manager manages the design and implementation of resource investment strategies explicitly designed to improve lives by mobilizing resources. This position will build relationships with a variety of community stakeholders to assess the issues and analyze results of programs to determine the best practices for achieving highest impact results. The position will also be responsible for managing grant reviews for programs as assigned by Director.

Information and Referral Associate- Bilingual: Spanish
Working in a fast-paced call center environment, the I & R Associate is responsible for answering incoming telephone calls, assess the individual’s human service needs, and refer the caller to one or more service agencies. (First priority is to receive Spanish-speaking callers). Fluency in Spanish is a must.

Learn more at www.uwsem.org/insideuw/jobs.html.