FUNDED PROGRAMS April 2009– March 31, 2010

Funding awarded from your generosity of the 2009 campaign.

Have you ever wondered “What The Money Does?” The programs that receive funding from CAUW are held to measurable objectives, ensuring the every donor’s dollar is utilized efficiently and effectively.

Our Vision 2010 strategic plan established three community priority areas on which to focus community resources. These three areas serve as the framework for United Way grant allocations, as well as directing the use of our human resources.

Priority Areas
Healthy, Caring Communities
Safe, Stable Households
Learning from Birth to Young Adult

This year’s grant-making process called on over 50 community volunteers to read, discuss, and evaluate program proposals. Thanks to the amazing generosity of community members, over $700,000 was granted to 31 programs. Due to the economic downturn and the level of escalating need in the tri-county, within the framework of the three community Priority Areas, grant allocations this year have been focused on emergency needs, funding shelter, healthcare for the uninsured, and the protection and security of our children. Programs that receive grants from CAUW commit to measurable outcomes, ensuring that donor dollars are used efficiently and effectively. Visit each Community Priority Area above to see the 2009-2010 grant awards.

United Way Funding Supports Youngsters, Birth to 5 Years Old
A partnership that the Capital Area United Way and the Capital Region Community Foundation began work on in 2007 to make meaningful and measureable changes on the lives of the youth in our community came to fruition in the fall of 2008. In addition to CAUW and CRCF, the R.E. Olds Foundation and the Consumers Energy Foundation joined together to establish a collaborative partnership to support the Birth to Five Initiative that was to be carried out by the Ingham Great Start Collaborative. The Collaborative was required to respond to a formal Request for Proposal and the six areas identified by the Foundation and United Way needed to achieve an overarching goal of enabling every child in the tri-county area to enter school healthy and eager to learn. Following extensive work with the Collaborative, a full proposal and budget were accepted including services targeted at high-risk families, i.e. teen parents, refugees, and homeless families. In September 2008 a press event and news release announced the initial grant for $625,000 over a three-year period enabled work to begin in specific areas designed to help families give their children the kind of start that readies them for success in school and in life. Initiative components that the Great Start Collaborative will is using this community funding for include:
• Parent education and family support through Play and Learn
• sessions and home visits;
• Literacy events and expansion of the Dolly Parton Imagination
• Library in Eaton and Clinton counties;
• Coaching and cross- agency training for caregivers to expand their professional development;
• Increasing the number of families with children able to access • early education and care through scholarship availability;
• Dental health training and activities for families;
• Social-emotional screening assessment and services for children and their families; and
• Promotional materials to create awareness about the importance of the early years on future development, learning and success.
Representatives from the United Way and the Capital Region Community Foundation have been working with Great Start key staff and individuals from MSU's Outreach and Engagement Partnerships Office developing meaningful and measurable evaluation strategies to establish short- and long-term success within each of the Birth to Five Initiative components. In addition, more community funders are being sought with a goal of raising $1.2 million for the initiative or services. The Consumers Energy Foundation is the most recent funder to come on board.