Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016
On October 17th we're joining millions of people across the world in recognizing International Day for the Eradication of Poverty and our shared commitment to eliminating poverty for kids and families.
Here at United Way, we're working hard to create a future where kids in our region are free from instability and worry so they can be free to play and discover, free to learn and grow.
Free from poverty so they are free to reach their potential.
Poverty is complicated. There's no single solution, and we know we can't fix it on our own. That's why we're working with the best organizations in our region to provide solutions to the challenges created by poverty.
Here are four ways we're making schools, families and stronger for kids in our region.
1. Kindergartners are showing up prepared.
- We're co-leading a big effort in the metro-region to help every kid get ready for school.
- We distributed over 28,000 early literacy kits in six languages and books to families across Multnomah County.
- We helped more than 7,700 kids in Multnomah County register on time for kindergarten.
2. We're helping the kids who need it most stay in school and graduate.
- We're working with two school districts, serving more than 2,200 kids, and culturally-specific nonprofits to identify the types of support that make the biggest impact in helping kids graduate on time, then building a scalable blueprint for success for our entire region.
3. We're helping families meet basic needs so kids can focus in school.
- Through short-term rent and utilities assistance we helped over 2,500 households and 6,000 people stay in their homes.
- Nearly 22,000 families received $24 million in tax credits. That's cash in their pockets spent in our local economy for food, rent and other basic needs.
- After one year of getting the help they needed, 94% of families remained in permanent housing.
4. We're activating the village.
- Our Hands On Greater Portland program has connected over 23,000 volunteers to projects supporting kids in our region - a whopping 64,000 hours and $1.89 million in service value to the metro region.
When we invest in our region's kids, we free the future.
Join us - click here to learn how.