| Learn how your contribution through the United Way Community Campaign gets positive results for the people of the Greater Hartford region. The Community Campaign supports several targeted areas of care (ensuring children are successful, providing basic human needs, etc.) to help people with a specific area of need.
Ensuring Children are Successful
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| FACT: |
In Connecticut, 62% of children under the age of 6 live in families in which both parents work. More than 615,000 Connecticut children receive childcare services while their parents are at work. |
| RESULT: |
The Women's League Child Development Center in Hartford serves nearly 200 children annually with day care services that foster cognitive learning, language development and motor skills. |
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| FACT: |
Many children who have been abused and neglected continue to suffer even after the abuse has ended. Some of the long-term effects of abuse and neglect include impaired cognitive, emotional and social development, which results in a high risk of academic failure, violent and criminal behavior, substance abuse, suicide, sexual risk taking and mental illness. |
| RESULT: |
The Better Horizons program of Y-US (Youth-United for Survival) provides long-term support to more than 60 victims of child abuse each year. This support helps children to improve their coping and social skills, decreases the chances of risky behavior such as drug and alcohol abuse, and lessens the chances of the perpetuation of abuse. |
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Strengthening Families
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FACT: |
Grandparents who raise their grandchildren are more likely to live in poverty than other grandparents and less likely to receive government services than other foster families. The 2000 Census reported more than 2,000 grandparents in Hartford were living in households with one or more grandchild under the age of 18. |
| RESULT: |
Parents A Second Time Around, a program of the Salvation Army of Greater Hartford, provides comprehensive services to grandparents who are raising their children. These services include referrals and information about available governmental services, peer support groups, case management and counseling for more than 50 families each year. |
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FACT: |
Teenage mothers are more likely to drop out of high school than their peers and tend to be less sensitive to their children than older mothers. |
| RESULT: |
The Hartford Young Parents program, run by Wheeler Clinic, provides intensive care management and parenting education as well as an educational nursery school that greatly improves the chances of successful parenting and school completion for 60 teenage mothers annually. |
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Providing Basic Human Needs
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| FACT: |
Over the last 20 years, Connecticut’s low-wage workers have received pay raises that are 25% lower than their high-wage counterparts. |
| RESULT: |
Windham Area Interfaith Ministries helps more than 7,000 low-income Connecticut families per year by providing clothing, furnishings and household necessities. |
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FACT: |
In 2001, nearly 17,000 individuals used homeless shelters in Connecticut. Of this number, nearly 20% were children. An additional 11,000 people were turned away from shelters due to lack of bed space. |
| RESULT: |
The South Park Inn shelters more than 1,700 people annually. In addition to sheltering these individuals, the South Park Inn provides food, basic hygiene supplies and, through case management, assists them in their effort to become self-sufficient. |
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FACT: |
Seniors who are home-bound are at risk for depression due to limited social contact. Research has demonstrated that depression not only adversely impacts quality of life, but also increases the risk of diseases such as cancer and severe infections. |
| RESULT: |
The Services for the Elderly of Farmington’s Friendly Visiting program matches volunteers with more than 80 seniors each year. The volunteers establish a relationship with the senior through in-home visits. |
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FACT: |
According to one local survey, 55% of seniors report that they require assistance getting around outside; another 48% report that they need assistance with grocery shopping. |
| RESULT: |
The Windham Region Community Council's Dial-A-Ride program provides transportation for nearly 2,000 individual elderly citizens each year. By transporting seniors to doctor's appointments, grocery stores and other places, the Dial-a-Ride program enables seniors to maintain their health and sense of well-being. |
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| FACT: |
Hartford has the highest illiteracy rate in the state. |
| RESULT: |
In Literacy Volunteers of Greater Hartford's Family Literacy program, participants improve their English literacy skills and gain confidence in using those skills to help their children in school as well as become better workers and participants in their community. |
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| FACT: |
Unemployment rates are significantly higher among young people, blacks and Hispanics, as compared to the general population. |
| RESULT: |
In 2001, the Urban League of Greater Hartford provided job skills training for more than 350 clients through their job bank. The Skills Bank placed 200 clients in employment and 60 clients in post-secondary education. |
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Fostering Healthy and Safe Neighborhoods
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FACT: |
The home ownership rate indicates the stability of a community. Hartford's rate of home ownership is the lowest in Connecticut at just 24.6%. |
| RESULT: |
Last year, Hartford Areas Rally Together (HART) provided education about homeownership to more than 350 individuals. |
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FACT: |
Community-based organizations have limited resources with which to help change and improve our communities. |
| RESULT: |
In 2002, the Citizens' Research Education Network (CREN) compiled Neighborhood Census Profiles of Hartford and distributed them to more than 25 local community-based organizations. In addition, CREN taught these community organizations how to use the data to direct local public policy and decision-making and collaborated with other community organizations. |
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FACT: |
One in 10 persons over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s disease. Nearly half of those over the age of 85 have the disease. |
| RESULT: |
To date, more than 1,500 Connecticut law enforcement officers have received training through the Alzheimer’s Association’s Safe Return program so they can identify Alzheimer’s patients who may be lost or disoriented and return them safely to their caregivers. |
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| FACT: |
Heart disease is the number one killer among Connecticut residents. |
| RESULT: |
The American Heart Association trained more than 10,000 Capital Region residents in basic life support (CPR) in 2002. |
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