United Way
United Way of the Columbia-Willamette Success Stories
United Way of the Columbia-Willamette has been bringing our community together to do good for nearly 100 years. We connect the people, nonprofits, businesses and government agencies addressing poverty in our region.
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. Free to reach their potential.
With your support, we continue to accomplish a lot for kids, families and communities:
- More kindergarteners show up prepared for school.
- We distributed over 14,000 early literacy kits in six different languages to families across Multnomah County. By increasing teacher visits and expanding outreach to communities of color, we helped over 7,700 children register for kindergarten on time.
- Kids who need help the most stay in school and graduate on-time.
- We’re working with two school districts serving more than 800 kids to identify the types of support that make the biggest impact, then building a blueprint for future success.
- Families’ basic needs met so their kids can focus in school.
- Through short-term rent and utilities assistance, we helped over 2,000 households and 6,000 individuals stay in their homes last year.
- We connect thousands of volunteers to things that matter in our region.
- Through our Hands On Greater Portland program, volunteers are out in the community contributing $1.5 million in service value to the Portland metro region.
These strategies work when our community is united behind them. Thank you for investing in our region’s kids. Together, we are united for impact.
We’re helping kids show up prepared for school
Through Bienestar’s Ready! for Kindergarten Program families are recruited, registered to attend three parent workshops and receive regular home visits by program staff. Parents learn about child development and learn and practice teaching techniques with their young children.
One family, with children ages 2 and 4, saw the Bienestar program staff demonstrate reading to the young children during home visits. The staff reported when she entered the home for a repeat visit, the older child picked up a book and began “reading” to her younger sister, essentially telling the story and using the pictures in the book to do so. The younger sister was engrossed. The mother was beaming. The girl was actively telling the story. This took place in an apartment that, without Bienestar services, would not have books for the children in the home.
We’re helping the kids who need it most stay in school and graduate
Inequities continue to exist in our region. Kids of color are more likely to live in poverty, face harsher discipline in school than their white peers and get less help preparing for college.
Just last year our nonprofit partner, Self Enhancement Inc. (SEI) helped Jefferson High, a school with a majority African-American student body – most of whom are low-income – boost their graduation rate by 14%. The result: 80% of students graduated on time last year.
SEI’s achievement at Jefferson helped shape the model for United Way’s high school graduation initiative. With additional funding from Multnomah County, this initiative is reaching 800 kids in two school districts. By identifying the supports that make the biggest impact for kids, we’re building a blueprint for success for schools throughout our region.
We’re helping with basic needs
A woman who had been living in backyard sheds and on friends’ couches spoke to a reporter from a newspaper for a story. The woman worked at a minimum-wage job and couldn’t find housing in Vancouver’s tight rental market.
The woman called 211info to ask about housing resources and received a referral to the Housing Solutions Center in Vancouver. During her conversation with the 211info Community Information Specialist, she discussed other needs that she was experiencing, and she received a referral to the Project Homeless Connect, which provided meals and a range of services. At the event, she received a free eye exam and tried on frames for new eyeglasses.
We’re helping in specific communities
Not having a place to call home can feel like an insurmountable obstacle for an immigrant or refugee family living in poverty. Recently one single father came to Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) after a series of hardships. He had no safe home for his children. He told staff he was staying over 50 miles away from Portland in an unstable living situation that was too far away from public transportation to reach local resources and potential jobs. With no home and no steady income, he was unable to care for his daughters and was desperate to reunite his family.
Bilingual/bicultural staff met with the client every week. They linked him with resources, food, and clothes. They connected him with employment services – and he got a full time job at a hardware company. Staff talked with local landlords and rental agencies to find housing. They helped him with budget planning and he set financial goals. The father also took parenting classes and he learned new communication skills. Finally within three months of working with IRCO staff – this single dad saved enough money to move into a three bedroom townhouse and he was reunited with his daughters.