Category: Impact

(Greensboro, NC – January 28, 2015) — The City of Greensboro has proudly accepted the My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) Community Challenge launched by President Obama in 2014. The MBK initiative aims to improve life outcomes for all young people, including boys and young men of color, and to ensure that all youth can achieve their full potential, regardless of the circumstances into which they are born.

“This program provides a foundation to use to make a positive difference in the lives of young people in our community,” says Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan. “We need to ensure that young people in Greensboro are cared for, loved, and encouraged so that they can grow up to live successful lives and continue to make our city special, diverse, and vibrant.”

The initiative aims to bring together government, law enforcement, business, non-profit, philanthropic, faith, and community leaders around shared goals for young people in this country. Mayors, Tribal leaders, town and county executives are encouraged to build and execute comprehensive strategies that ensure:

All children enter school cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally prepared;
All children read at grade level by third grade;
All young people graduate from high school;
All young people complete post-secondary education or training;
All youth out of school are employed; and
All young people are safe from violent crime.

The City of Greensboro will partner with United Way of Greater Greensboro to build and execute a plan to implement coherent cradle-to-college-and-career strategies aimed at improving life outcomes for all young people, consistent with the goals and recommendations of the White House’s MBK Task Force’s May, 2014 report.

“Too many young people right here in Greensboro lack sufficient support to succeed in school and in life,” says Michelle Gethers-Clark, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Greensboro. “As a result, we see increased high school drop-out rates and increased rates of poverty in these young people. Each of us has the power to truly impact the future for these kids by simply being a caring adult in their life.”

Individuals interested in getting involved with My Brother’s Keeper are encouraged to sign up as mentors in their communities. Individuals can find mentoring opportunities through United Way of Greater Greensboro’s Mentoring Matters Initiative at www.UnitedWayGSO.org/mentor. Mentoring opportunities throughout the country can be found at WH.gov/mybrotherskeeper.

United Way of Greater Greensboro currently supports and operates programs and initiatives that work to improve educational success outcomes for children and families in our community including Thriving at 3 and Mentoring Matters.

Greensboro joins nearly 140 other MBK communities and tribal nations across the country including Durham, N.C.

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About the City of Greensboro

The City works with the community to improve the quality of life for residents through inclusion, diversity, and trust. As the seventh largest employer in Greensboro, the City has a professional staff of 3,000 employees who maintain the values of honesty, integrity, stewardship, and respect. The City is governed by a council-manager form of government with a mayor and eight council members. For more information on the City, visit www.greensboro-nc.gov or call 336-373-CITY (2489).

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT
Dana Carter
United Way of Greater Greensboro
Dana.carter@unitedwaygso.org
Phone: 336-378-6617

Greensboro, NC – November 21, 2014 – United Way of Greater Greensboro is focused on supporting solutions that improve the quality of life for all in Greater Greensboro. It does this, in part, by investing in new, innovative community programs. Investments for up to three years are available to support programs that have proven successful and have created positive change in the community.

United Way of Greater Greensboro is proud to continue its mission with a recent investment of $275,000 into the community through two grants, managed by United Way of Greater Greensboro. The Kathleen & Joseph Bryan Community Enrichment and Venture Grant (CEVG) invests in new and innovative programs; whereas, the Joseph M. Bryan Human Services Grant provides stabilization and expansion grants for programs already demonstrating success. Applicants that met the respective grant eligibility requirements participated in an open RFP process in April 2014.

“Our community is overflowing with talent to make positive change in the lives of those in need,” says Michelle Gethers-Clark, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Greensboro. “These grants highlight great, new partnerships that deepen United Way’s work in meaningful ways.”

Grantees are working to ensure every child enters school healthy, safe and ready to succeed in school and in life. They are supporting families through opportunities to increase income, build savings, and access resources to prevent and minimize crisis. Grantees are also helping residents live healthy lives by providing information and resources, removing barriers to healthcare and connecting them to local available resources.

Community volunteers evaluate and review applications to make investment recommendation for approval by the United Way of Greater Greensboro Board of Directors.

For information about our annual grants and future RFPs, visit www.unitedwaygso.org/nonprofits/.
Grantees supporting children and youth through education include:

Black Child Development: Freedom School – $10,000
Reading Connections: Family Literacy Academy – $30,000
YWCA of Greensboro: C.R.E.W. – $15,000

Grantees supporting individuals and families to become financially stable and independent include:

Children’s Home Society: Kinship Navigator Assistance Program – $10,600
Community Housing Solutions: Aging in Place – $30,000
Greensboro Housing Coalition: Housing Hotline – $10,000
Greensboro Urban Ministry: Beyond GUM Project – $15,000
People & Paws 4 Hope: Second Chance – $30,000
Reading Connections: Detention Center Literacy – $15,000
Women’s Resource Center: Women’s Financial Fitness Project – $25,000

Grantees supporting all individuals to lead a healthy life include:

Adult Center for Enrichment: Res Fit Club – $12,254
Family Service of the Piedmont: Electronic Health Records Implementation – $15,000
Guilford Adult Health: Feed the 485 – $9,746
Mary’s House: Integrated Health Care for Homeless Children – $11,000
Mental Health Association of Greensboro: Suicide Awareness and Prevention Training – $15,000
North Carolina A&T State University: Aggie Outreach Teen Pregnancy Prevention – $6,400
Women’s Resource Center: Change Maker Recharge – $15,000

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LIVE UNITED
United Way of Greater Greensboro pools resources, time and talent to support programs, initiatives, and partner agencies meeting the critical needs of our community and help every individual and family succeed. United Way is a worldwide network in 41 countries and territories, including more than 1,200 local organizations in the U.S. United Way recruits people and organizations who bring the passion, expertise and resources needed to get things done. To give, advocate and volunteer, visit www.UnitedWayGSO.org.

Health literacy is defined as “the degree to which an individual has the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.”

Health literacy is essential for successful access to care and use of services, self-care of chronic conditions, and maintenance of health and wellness because people with low health literacy:

Are less able to care for their chronic conditions
Use more healthcare services
Have higher mortality rates
More likely to engage in unsafe or inappropriate use of prescription or over the counter medications
Are less likely to use preventative care
Have difficulty navigating the health care system

We challenge you to become “Health Literacy Heroes”
Being a “Health Literacy Hero” is about taking action and finding ways to improve health communication. In October, be a Health Hero:

Spread the word about this emerging public health issue that affects all age, race and income levels
Raise awareness about why health literacy matters
Empower individuals to take control of their health care
Partner with others to connect people to resources and communicate clear health messages in ways that EVERYONE can understand

Health information should be:

Accurate- should be accurate but presented in ways everyone can understand
Accessible- is this info where people can see it, easy to read, have a main message
Actionable-give some background but make sure recommendations are made so people know what to do with the information they have been given

DID YOU KNOW?
Poor health literacy is a stronger predictor of a person’s health than age, income, employment status, education level and race
90 million people (nearly half of the adult population) lack health literacy skills needed to understand and act on health information and health system demands
One out of five American adults read at a 5th grade level or below, and the average adult reads at an 8th or 9th grade level, yet most health care materials are written above the 10th grade level
Limited health literacy increases the disparity in health care access among exceptionally vulnerable populations (such as racial/ethnic minorities and elderly)
Adults living below the poverty level have lower average health literacy than those living above the poverty threshold (In adults who receive Medicaid, 30% have below basic health literacy)
Research suggests that people with low literacy make more medication errors, are less able to comply with treatments, lack the skills needed to successfully negotiate the health care system and are at higher risk for hospitalization than people with adequate literacy skills