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Because of the needs of people in our community, like Lawrence, we at United Way set a high bar for ourselves, our partners and the Valley. We work hard every day to achieve our community objectives, including to End Homelessness. Although some might scoff and say it isn’t possible, we believe it is. We believe that by changing systems away from a focus on managing homelessness to one of ending homelessness, we will, as a community, make homelessness a vestige of the past.
Funded by United Way‘s Destination Graduation program, the festival was part of Arizona SciTech Festival’s statewide celebration of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and helps students spark interest in industries that are essential to today’s workforce. See how these students are creating a brighter future for us all through STEaM.
We all have dreams, but for some youth in our community, the road to realizing those dreams is especially challenging. Some teens have to work to support their family, while others don’t always have a roof over their heads or food on the table. For these students, the dream of graduating from high school—let alone going to college and having a successful career—often seems impossible.
This year Valley of the Sun United Way is expanding our Read Across America celebration from one day to a week from Feb. 29 – Mar. 4 with volunteers reading to children at 13 Valley elementary schools. United Way provides the books through our bonus book program with Scholastic, Inc., a partner in inspiring the lifelong love of literacy and learning that research shows is so critical to a student’s success.
Students have countless options for activities during upcoming spring breaks across the Valley, but one in particular can bring huge benefits – immediate and well into their future. See how the choice to volunteer can change a student’s life.
Across our nation today, one-in-six people struggle to get enough to eat. Perhaps you’ve seen the 2013 documentary “A Place At the Table” that examines hunger around the nation. But do you know what hunger looks like for children in our community? From your own child’s classmates, to a teammate in their youth sports league, you may be surprised who comprises the face of hunger right here in Maricopa County.
It can be difficult to keep children from spending their holiday break from school in front of a TV or video game. At Free Arts for Abused Children in Arizona, a United Way partner organization where I serve as Development Director, our program staff is constantly creating fun and innovative projects for children of all ages to experience. At home and throughout our community, there are a host of fun and innovative projects to delight and inspire kids.
I rediscovered the joy of first-time volunteering at Project Connect, a monthly event that provides resources people in our community –experiencing or on the brink of homelessness–to start their journey back to health, financial stability and housing.
With our partners, United Way is working to develop 1,000 permanent supportive housing units. Additionally, we are building a $15 million endowment to ensure the ongoing funding needed to end all chronic homelessness our community.
