United Way of Greater New Haven

The United Way of Greater New Haven (UWGNH)’s mission is to change the odds so that every child and family has the opportunity for a good life. UWGNH is focused on innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges in the Greater New Haven community around the following areas: education, income, and health/basic needs. 

United Way’s efforts in education target children at all levels, from birth to the age of 18. In New Haven, only 1 in 3 children arrive at school ready for kindergarten. Through its program, Success by 6, UWGNH works to ensure that children enter school developmentally on track. Last year, more than 800 young children benefited from high-quality early care and education opportunities, and more than 450 parents benefited from learning more about child development and how they can best support their childrens’ learning. Focused on older children, UWGNH’s School-Age Youth program and its signature initiative, Boost!, provides opportunities that help to make sure that students graduate from high school and are ready for college and career. Utilizing mentoring and counseling services as well as community-based programs, Boost! in partnership between UWGNH, the City of New Haven, and New Haven Public Schools, helps to address the whole student and creates a foundation of non-academic support. Last year, 7,234 Boost! students took advantage of the many programs offered.

The second area of UWGNH’s focus is on income and increasing financial stability for the residents of the New Haven community. For a growing number of people in Greater New Haven, poverty has taken hold of their lives as the community struggles with a high rate of unemployment and lack of economic stability. Nearly 1 in 5 adults in New Haven does not have a high school diploma. UWNH invests in programs that help people find and keep stable employment through job training, skill development, job referral and placement services, and support for solutions to transportation needs through strategic multi-year grants. In addition, UWNH’s programs on budget coaching, tax assistance, and access to benefits such as food stamps and health insurance ensure financial literacy and family economic stability. These efforts are helping New Haven residents find jobs, maintain employment, and build assets to be on the pathway to productivity and independence.

Furthermore, United Way works to make sure that the children and families in Greater New Haven are leading healthy lives. Its goals are to ensure that families have access to nutritious food and that their basic needs for food and shelter are met. In 2013, UWGNH served 270,000 meals at soup kitchens and shelters. A food truck dedicated to meals to children and youth in the summer, when access to free school meals is limited, served more than 24,000 meals during its first two summers. UWGNH also offers healthy cooking classes and runs a 24-hour support hotline to answer questions ranging from housing and utilities to information on public assistance programs.

FLY’s partnership with UWGNH will be a great boost to its efforts. Joshua Mamis, Vice President of Community Engagement at UWGNH, states “to have an impact, we, as a community, need to come together… by volunteering, by helping to spread the word, [and] by engaging the Yale community, we can make a real difference.” 

Source: www.uwgnh.org

To learn more or get involved please contact the FLY coordinator for United Way of Greater New Haven, Melissa Pucci