October 2024
Metro United Way Impact Tracker
This impact tracker is updated on a monthly basis to share highlights of the work that we do every day to help make our community better for everyone!
There’s nothing more important than making sure our community’s children have what they need to thrive. LEARN MORE
- Metro United Way and the Ready for K Alliance kicked off year two of the Center for Disease Control’s Lead-Free Communities grant. Our work focuses on childhood lead poisoning prevention in Louisville.
- The ASQ Developmental Screening Hub assembled and distributed 1,400 developmental play kits to local pediatric partners. These kits are aimed at promoting the importance of play for healthy development and will be given to families at their well-child checkup appointments. We also brought on a new pediatric partner who serves many Spanish speaking families, allowing us to increase our outreach to families whose first language is not English.
- Due to the hard work of Play Cousins Collective, September had the highest number of returned Ages & Stages Questionnaires in five years!
- The ASQ Developmental Screening Hub attended The Louisville Free Public Library’s event, For Hanks Sake, where over 90 books and information on the Hub were distributed.
- The ASQ Developmental Screening Hub’s community partner, HANDS, serves multiple families whose first language is not English. This month, HANDS hosted both a baby shower and a graduation celebration for their clients. To increase the Hubs reach into the ESL population, the Hub attended both events, providing developmental kits, ASQ information and books to their clients. We also attended the Bullitt County Baby Shower where over 75 books were distributed to expecting and new parents.
- Funding from the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood was used to create 425 developmental kits. These kits contained information on the ASQ Hub, educational manipulatives and two books. These kits will be provided to families at community events.
- youthink/Mental Health Projects: We are making significant progress with our youthink/Mental Health Projects! Through a series of insightful interviews, we are gathering critical information that will inform and enhance our efforts to address mental health challenges among young people.
- Youth Social Action Project (YSAP) Grants: This year, we received an impressive 44 applications for our YSAP Grants, reflecting a 33% increase from last year. This surge shows the growing enthusiasm of organizations and young people to drive meaningful change in their communities. We are currently in the first stage of our two-step review process, where both staff and young people collaborate to score the applications.
- Lights on Afterschool Event is taking place at Metro United Way on Tuesday, October 22. Our remarkable panel of leaders will tackle key issues faced by youth-serving organizations, share strategies for advocacy, and discuss the barriers that need to be overcome. This event is a powerful platform for strengthening youth services in our community, and we look forward to seeing you there!
When we have strong households, we are creating pathways out of poverty to prosperity, which is a win for us all. LEARN MORE
- Metro United Way is delighted to have secured additional funding from the Siemer Institute as well as the Indiana Association of United Ways to expand our Siemer Institute efforts. This initiative provides long-term coaching and holistic services to financially vulnerable families to stabilize their income and housing and thereby provide a more stable environment for children to focus on their educational achievement. We look forward to sharing our plans for growing the impact of this exciting initiative.
- Our workforce financial coaching initiative is continuing to demonstrate positive impact. Through August,
- 253 individuals were served, of whom 188 had more than one coaching session.
- Among these individuals, 130 (69%) have shown gains in one or more areas, listed as follows:
- 35 have increased income by a median of $7,932 annually;
- 88 have increased savings by a median of $750;
- 58 have increased credit by a median of 27 points;
- 75 have decreased debt by a median of $1,981.
- Please join us for the United Community Social Needs Think Tank on Thursday, November 14 and United Community Lunch & Learn on Thursday, November 21. To learn more about these events and to register, please visit https://staging.metrounitedway.org/united-community-events
- In the month of September 2024, United Community:
- Served 375 total clients
- Sent/Received 223 referrals
- 73% of those cases closed/resolved
We envision the Greater Louisville region as a place where zip code doesn’t determine destiny and everyone has the opportunity to live up to their full potential. LEARN MORE
- Our Metro United Way staff participated in an updated version of the Racial Wealth Gap Simulation, an impactful community engagement tool. This session also included first-time participants and guests from Tandem, a marketing and branding partner.
- Our Beyond Buzzwords Speaker Series series continued on Tuesday, October 8th with Alejandra Campoverdi, author of First Gen, sharing her insights during Hispanic Heritage Month.
- Elliott Kelly, Senior Manager, Equitable Community, supported a college tour of HBCUs organized by Black LOVE cohort member Sowing Seeds with Faith. Several students from the Young Men United program participated and visited Morris Brown College (Atlanta, GA), Clark Atlanta University (Atlanta, GA), Morehouse College (Atlanta, GA), and Fort Valley State University (Fort Valley, GA). 35 young males of color in total, age range 14-18, were directly supported and impacted by this incredible experience.
- Our Black L.O.V.E. (Live, Own, Vote, Excel) Philanthropic Partnership cohort attended a virtual education session on allyship, facilitated by guest speaker Kimara Snipe.