United Way of Roanoke Valley: Spring Newsletter 2023

Spring Newsletter 2023

IMPACT SNAPSHOT 2022-2023

Early Learners Successful Youth

Healthy Adults & Community Resource Hub

1,127

Childcare Providers

participated in quality improvement efforts (VQB5) potentially generating $2.8M in supplemental income for these teachers

702 Hours

of on-site support provided to teachers within 516 classrooms at 179 childcare partner sites

572 Children

received preventative health screenings supporting their growth and development

were served through outreach and engagement initiatives by CHWs and partners, addressing family stability while building stronger relationships

1,765 Contacts

made by Community Health Workers (CHWs) connecting families to community resources

325 Youth

1,200 Parents and Youth accessed after-school programs

1,010 Adults

connected to various community resources to remove health and self-sufficiency barriers

151 Youth

accessed on-site mental health services

340 Adults

received services towards gaining employment and furthering their education

United Way of Roanoke Valley

MLK DAY OF SERVICE & CANVASING

Addressing racial disparities and injustices is an ongoing process that requires sustained effort and commitment. This past Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, United Way of Roanoke Valley seized the holiday as an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to justice and equality for all by organizing and leading a community service project that educated marginalized communities.

Members of Beta Chi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc and their families; Roanoke Valley Chapter of Jack and Jill; and students from Community High School assisted in canvassing 976 homes in NW and SE Roanoke with Covid-19 educational information and vaccination and booster shot resources.

Although the UWRV offices were closed on Martin Luther King, Jr Day, it was our honor to offer the community an opportunity to have a “Day On” and not a “Day Off.” UWRV staff and 71 volunteers worked together to equip our neighbors with useful health information to help them protect themselves and their loved ones.

MAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT

This past holiday season, United Way of Roanoke Valley elves were busy making spirits bright! After weeks of preparing and plotting, Q99 partnered with UWRV to surprise one hard working family who participates in the Black Father Family Intiative.

While the family was away at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center for a surprise breakfast with Santa, Q99 and UWRV staff were busy unloading gifts donated by loyal listeners. These busy elves also decorated their home with a new Christmas tree with all the trimmings. Once breakfast was over, Santa's sleigh transported them back to their home where they were shocked to find their living room overflowing with presents and holiday cheer. The reveal was simply magical!

This sweet family was further surprised after the reveal when a Grand Home Furnishings truck pulled up to the house with a brand new furniture suite for Mom and Dad!

Thanks to the loyal listeners of Q99, Hotel Roanoke, and Grand Home Furnishings for your generosity and making this one Christmas this family will never forget!

In an effort to bring some holiday joy to this NW neighborhood we joined forces with 5 neighbors. Each household received a care package of food, poinsettia, and children’s books (donated by Hollins University). A team of busy elves also adorned the outside of their home with wreaths, battery operated lights, garland and more.

Thanks to a local grant, Christmas decorations were purchased at no expense to the neighbors. Let's keep on making spirits bright every day in 2023!

What better way to Live United!

The holiday magic didn't end there. UWRV and the City of Roanoke staff helped decorate 2 blocks of Hanover Ave as part of our Neighbors United initiative.

UW LIVE AFTER 5

On March 27, UWRV hosted an in-person fundraising event for the first time in over 3 years - UW LIVE AFTER 5! Nearly 100 donors and supporters of UWRV gathered at Downtown Roanoke’s TXTUR – a showroom with incredible furniture all locally-made in Roanoke, plus a boutique hotel. We are grateful for their generosity in hosting us and donating beautiful custom made furniture for our raffle.

WHEN NEIGHBORS GET TOGETHER

Recently UWRV collaborated with Alleghany Partners Property Management in efforts to connect with more young business professionals who reside in downtown Roanoke.

Alleghany Partners manages several apartment complexes downtown; they welcomed our request to connect with their residents in hopes of engaging and providing a sense of community for our downtown neighbors. This collaboration will offer future opportunities for them to volunteer and support UWRV.

UW LIVE 5 AFTER

Our guests that evening enjoyed socializing with others while learning a little more about our community impact, touring the showroom and hotel rooms, catering by Hamm’s Fine Foods, the musical talents of Jordan Harman, and helped us raise close to $6,000!

Thanks to everyone who joined us that evening. We also appreciate meeting so many new supporters of UWRV. We are thankful to every organization and business that donated prizes for this inaugural event: TXTUR, Pure Barre, Chocolate Paper, Mill Mountain Theater, Harrison Museum of African American Culture, Kids Square, Pinball Museum, Starcade, Buddy’s BBQ, Tink’s Boutique, Harvester Performance Center, and Harbortown Golf.

This past March we hosted a meet and greet at Golden Cactus Brewing where residents learned more about UWRV. UWRV staff not only shared about their work in the community but enjoyed networking with neighbors who live near the office.

Our first meet and greet was enjoyed by all and we look forward to hosting future networking events with additional downtown apartment complexes this summer.

FAMILY COUNCIL

Our UWRV/Ready Region West Family Engagement Team has been hard at work establishing Family Councils. Councils were established based upon the idea that if we truly want to help the community we need to speak directly to community members about their experiences. Councils are focused specifically on parents, families, and caregivers of children ages 0-5 with the hopes of providing a safe space to be heard. Each council has a leadership position. These leaders have a seat on the Family Engagement Action Team and Early Childhood Steering Council as part of the Early Learning Strategies department of United Way of Roanoke Valley. Leaders also have the responsibility of ensuring that communication remains open between the councils and the governing bodies so that council members have opinions, experiences, and stories heard across all levels.

The first round of Family Councils was completed in January 2023. Our team was able to provide information about Mixed Delivery as well as Coordinated Enrollment and the efforts with Smart2Start to all council members. Council members reviewed materials and provided input on ways to engage the community in learning about our Smart2Start program. Members were provided with welcome kits for their children—activity books and boards specifically designed for infants, toddlers, and preschool aged children.

Councils will be occurring on a quarterly basis, with the next in-person sessions happening this summer. In between sessions, virtual check-ins will occur to keep communication flowing and to make sure discussion does not become stagnant.

Interested in taking part in the next Family Council? Contact Alexandria Strickler, Family Engagement Manager at (540) 283-2776 or alexandria@uwrv.org Friday,

Hanging Rock Golf Course

CHILDCARE ACCESS COLLABORATION

In 2021, the Virginia Chamber’s strategic plan Blueprint Virginia 2030 outlined 11 industry-focused areas to position the state as a leader in the global economy with the goal of being the best state in the nation for business. Like many states, Virginia is seeing challenges with access to quality, affordable child care, particularly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost two-thirds of Virginia parents reported that they or someone in their household took time off, reduced their hours, or quit their job because of the lack of access to early childhood education. This leaves employers struggling to fill open positions to meet current market demands.

The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF) and its network of partners in the Commonwealth (Ready Regions) are focused on ensuring equitable opportunities for all families with young children to thrive. United Way of Roanoke Valley (UWRV) serves as the hub serving a 16-county area called Ready Region West and has been working with VECF for more than 15 years to strengthen the regional infrastructure and to implement collaborative strategies to increase access to quality childcare.

In partnership with the City of Roanoke, UWRV Ready Region West presented to the leadership of several regional Chambers of Commerce and Economic Development departments on a discussion about childcare access in the context of our local/regional economic development strategies. This served as an opportunity to identify any shared interests in addressing this issue, share best practices from across the country, provide information about assets that our community can collectively utilize, and to discuss the most viable options to explore across localities as part of the next steps.

Cheryl Mosley, UWRV, VP for Community Impact and Denise Ellis, UWRV, Director of Early Learning Strategies facilitated the discussion. Economic Development leaders were able to engage in conversation with our facilitators outlining steps towards regional, collaborative action to address this need.

Struggling to find childcare that suits your family's needs AND is affordable?

Our Family Navigators are here to help you out with that! They work with families through the Smart2Start program to make the process easier.