Thanks to everyone who joined us yesterday on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter for the virtual launch of the 2021-2022 United Way of Northern Arizona Annual Campaign.
A big thank you as well to all the people who participated in our video, sharing their stories about how programs funded by UWNA have impacted their lives.
In case you missed it, you can view the video here:
There are many companies and organizations that enable United Way of Northern Arizona to do the work it does to Step Up for Our Community. From large entities like W.L. Gore & Associates and local governments to businesses with much smaller staffs, each is essential to our mission and we are grateful to all of them.
In the history of the Summit Society, and the creation of UWNA as a whole, Lowell Observatory holds a special place, however. In fact, it was the wife of a Lowell astronomer who helped found the United Way in Flagstaff more than 50 years ago.
We are excited to announce that long-time United Way supporters Andy Bertelsen and Susan Hilgart will be leading this year’s United Way of Northern Arizona Annual Campaign, which officially kicks off with a virtual event later this month.
Both Andy and Susan are long-time civil servants with impressive resumes in the public sector.
Andy, who recently became the Interim Water Services Director for the City of Flagstaff after five years as Public Works Director, will be the campaign’s spokesman for Coconino County. Andy is a Summit Society member has been involved with UWNA for 15 years, including several years as Treasurer on the Board of Directors before becoming Vice Chair and eventually Chairman of the Board.
Meanwhile, Susan, the Deputy Director of Human Services and Public Health Improvement for Navajo County, will represent Apache and Navajo counties. Although she only came to northern Arizona from Minnesota a few years ago, she has been involved with United Way organizations for more than three decades.
Monsoon season returned with a vengeance this year, pounding the Museum Fire burn scar and resulted in extensive damage to our community. Just look at the headlines from the past few weeks:
Historic Arizona flooding damages homes, leaves trail of debris
Flagstaff school closed due to flash flood damage
Ducey issues 2nd emergency declaration for Coconino County
In addition to the estimated $1 million in public infrastructure damage (not to mention the Killip Elementary School building being shuttered), much of the burden of this season has been shouldered by residential areas. Many homes were hard hit by flood waters – not once but multiple times – and now have extensive interior damage.
Please consider helping these neighbors by donating to the Crisis Response Fund.
As recent history has shown us, we often don’t know when a crisis will happen. Although we can anticipate certain emergencies, they usually strike without warning.
What we do know is that because of your support of the United Way of Northern Arizona Crisis Response Fund, UWNA and its community and partner agencies will be ready to assist.
In the past three years, your generosity has helped your neighbors as we faced at least five crises:
The Tinder wildfire
A month-long government shutdown
The Museum fire
The lingering crisis (both health and economic) from the pandemic
The recent flooding in Flagstaff.
The weather outside is frightful – or at least the predictions for rain are. While today should be mostly sunny, it looks like the monsoons will be returning later this week and sticking around throughout the weekend.
That’s why we are working with the City of Flagstaff and Coconino County to arrange multiple volunteer opportunities to help fill sandbags this week. Each day there are two shifts – from 8 am to Noon and then from 1 to 5 pm. Please note, however, that you don’t have to work all four hours of a shift; any amount of time you can help will be appreciated.
Please consider volunteering with your neighbors in the Museum Flood Area! They need help restocking sandbags that keep their homes and families safe from post- wildfire flooding caused by the Museum Fire. Volunteers must be at least 16 years old.
A pair of recently released reports illustrate how far our region and state have to go to provide better outcomes for our children and youth – and how the pandemic has complicated those efforts.
According to the 2021 Kids Count Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Arizona was slowly making improvements in multiple areas for children. The state is consistently in the bottom 25% for overall rankings, but had shown gains in 2019 in both the economic well-being of children and with more elementary and middle school students meeting math and reading proficiency levels.
And then COVID hit.
The classes were a little smaller, the program was a little shorter, and smoke from wildfires sometimes made getting outside for recess difficult. Despite those challenges, the return of KinderCamp™ last month was a great success.
More than 130 students from Flagstaff, Williams and Pinetop-Lakeside took part in this year’s collaborative project, which prepares pre-school age children academically, socially and emotionally for kindergarten.
“It was great,” said Sara Owen, the coordinator for the project. “The families were excited to be back in person, the kids were happy to be in school, and the teachers were appreciative for a chance to help them grow.”
If there is anything good that we can take from the pandemic, it is that it reinforced some things that we can all agree on: the importance of taking care of each other and the power of caring communities to step up in times of crisis and create positive change.
Supporters like you raised tens of thousands of dollars to help those impacted this past year. Your United Way of Northern Arizona (UWNA) funneled those funds to where they would do the most good. Because of you, families were able to stay in their homes, feed their families and keep the lights on.
But our work is not over.
For most of the past year, Kaibab Learning Center has been able to remain open, an amazing feat for the child care provider as it celebrates 20 years of serving the Grand Canyon area.
There was an initial closure when the pandemic first began, but on June 29, 2020, KLC reopened its doors, providing child care, preschool, after-school and summer school programs for dozens of families.
“With the exception of our six holiday days, our center prides itself on being there every single weekday, Monday through Friday,” said KLC Assistant Director Andrea Ramsey.
At the heart of the United Way of Northern Arizona’s grant process is the Community Investment Fund, a volunteer-driven process that invests your donations into the proven programs, partnerships and initiatives that are changing lives in Coconino, Navajo and Apache counties every day.
Volunteers with the committee make a year-long commitment to review grant applications, evaluate programs and perform site visits.
“As a member of the Community Investment Team, I get to see first-hand how UWNA brings together community partners and leverages resources to support our local non-profit agencies,” said Tami Suchowiejko, who is with Coconino County and one of the three newest CI team members.
Also joining our force of almost 40 volunteers are Eve Ford of Eve Ford Consulting and Sue Hilgart of Navajo County. The volunteers are broken up into seven teams, five in Flagstaff and one each in Page and northeast Arizona.
In school, in work and in life, teens don’t reach their goals all on their own; in order to move ahead, they need to know there’s a path to get to where they want to go.
C.U.D.D.L.E. Outreach has partnered with United Way of Northern Arizona to help adolescents in Page find that path. Through a program that identifies at-risk teens and provides them with essential life skills, they help ensure that this next generation is prepared for the realities of adulthood and ready to live up to their potential.
C.U.D.D.L.E. – the acronym stands for Children Under Duress Divinely Loved Everywhere – does this through a mix of programs and lessons that cover everything from how to open a savings account to making a grocery list to changing a tire on a car.
The city of Flagstaff, in partnership with United Way of Northern Arizona (UWNA), announces the opening of the 2021-2023 grant application cycle on April 1, 2021. Grant applications will be due on April 15, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. This is a two-year application cycle (based on availability of funds).
If we were to say “4-H” to you, you’d immediately think pigs and goats on display at the County Fair, right? Animal husbandry has always been a core part of the 4-H experience.
In recent years, however, the Coconino County Cooperative Extension, which runs our local 4-H clubs, has expanded their youth education programs to include robotics, cake decorating and, now, blacksmithing.
In spite of the closures brought by Covid-19, interest in the practical metallurgy class being offered by the group, called “Evolution of the Tool,” has exceeded all expectation.
What a difference a day makes.
For our state’s nonprofits, including United Way of Northern Arizona, 24 hours can have a huge impact on the programs we provide and the partners we support.
That’s why we are so proud to be participating in this year’s Arizona Gives Day on Tuesday, April 6. During the past nine years, this event has raised more than $23 million for Arizona nonprofits, including a record $6.1 million last year.
It’s a special day that unites supporters of big and small nonprofits to celebrate and increase philanthropy in Arizona through online giving.
You don’t have to wait until April 6 to participate, however.
Seniors in Springerville, Eagar and surrounding towns have missed visiting the Round Valley Community Services and Adult Center since it stopped hosting lunchtime meals and in-person programs last year due to the pandemic.
In fact, Community Services Director Robin Aguero says she gets calls every week from seniors asking when they can come back.
That long wait might be over soon, as the center – a partner agency of UWNA – works to slowly reopen in-person programs.
Key to the success of the United Way of Northern Arizona is our Board of Directors. We are fortunate that in our 50+ years, this organization has always been led by volunteer leaders who keenly understand the needs of the communities we serve.
Recently, we held our organizational meeting where we named a new Board Chair, installed the 2021 officers, and welcomed a new member.
Happy New Year’s Eve!
I wanted to first and foremost send you well wishes for the New Year. It’s my hope that 2021 brings you and yours much happiness and good health.
I also wanted to take a moment to provide you with an update on the United Way of Northern Arizona’s annual campaign and our plans for the coming year.
For most of 2020, we focused on mitigating the economic impact of Covid-19. That work will continue because even with the vaccine rollouts, we are still facing the often devastating consequences of the pandemic in our communities.
When things feel like they are falling apart, we pull together. We forge partnerships and put aside the bureaucracies and red tape so we can make an impact fast.
Nowhere has this need for collaboration been more evident than during our COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve told you a lot about how we’ve forwarded your gifts to the agencies through our COVID-19 Fund, but today we wanted to talk about some partnerships that are making it easier to get PPE to groups here in northern Arizona.
The Coconino County Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) and the United Way of Northern Arizona have been working with our state VOAD organization and Phoenix-based partners like the Valley of the Sun United Way and Phoenix ToolBank to secure masks, gowns, hand sanitizer and other supplies for northern Arizona organizations.
We are looking forward to this evening’s premier of The Library That Dolly Built, a documentary about how the Dolly Parton Imagination Library started as an effort to honor her father and grew into one of the largest non-governmental literacy programs in the world.
The film, being streamed on Facebook, will be followed by a live Q&A session with Dolly Parton. (We hear she might even sing a song.)
Dolly Parton, simply put, is a legend. An icon. A cultural touchstone. She’s had phenomenal commercial and critical success. She’s earned an “EGOT,” winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. Her career spans a half century and she’s still going strong. Not bad for a kid born in a one-room cabin in the mountains of east Tennessee.
But before he passed away, her father told her that probably the most important thing she’s ever done was to start her “Imagination Library.”
Nationally, only 3 in 10 students entering the 4th grade are proficient readers.(1) That’s disheartening enough, but here’s the really scary statistic: children who aren’t reading proficiently by the 4th grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school.(2)
Instilling a love of reading is the key to success for our children. It’s the foundation upon which their education is built.
That’s why United Way of Northern Arizona (UWNA) is proud to partner with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL) to make sure children in Coconino, Navajo and Apache counties discover the world of books in those critical years before they enter school.
According to the Association for Supportive Child Care, almost 1 in 3 young children in Arizona live in poverty. More than half of low-income children are not prepared for kindergarten. That is not only a tragedy for the present; it means their, and our, future is at risk too.
Because the majority of children who start behind, stay behind. They are less likely to be ready for kindergarten or to read at grade level during elementary school; they have more behavioral issues; they have higher high school dropout rates; and without their diploma, their economic prospects are dimmed.
Sometimes as adults, we make things too complicated when they really are quite simple. Like why it’s so important to Live United.
That’s why we asked our friend (and United Way “spokes-kid”) Priah to break it all down and show how your donation to our Annual Campaign changes lives and makes our community stronger.
She has props. She has costumes. She thinks she needs a latte, but we’re not so sure we agree.
Take a break and enjoy this video!
What do W. L. Gore & Associates, Wells Fargo, Northern Arizona University, Kinney Construction, Nestle Purina, the City of Flagstaff and Navajo County all have in common?
They are a handful of the companies and organizations that have lent their best and brightest to serve on the United Way of Northern Arizona Board of Directors.
This year we are proud to say that we have 100% participation by our 22-member board in this year’s Annual Campaign.
Why give to the United Way of Northern Arizona (UWNA) during the annual campaign? Because in this extraordinarily challenging year, your help is needed more than ever.
“United Way stepped up for our community as we’ve all dealt with the consequences of COVID-19,” says UWNA Board Chair Janet Dean in the video below. “Now we ‘re asking you to step up and help United Way during our annual campaign.”
Shortly after it became clear this spring that coronavirus was going to change life as we know it, the United Way of Northern Arizona created the COVID-19 Fund to help nonprofits as they addressed the pandemic.
Thanks to your generosity, UWNA has distributed more than $379,866 to local groups addressing the economic fallout from COVID-19. Typically these grants are for large, round numbers that help these groups as they deal with increased demand for basic needs.
But today we wanted to talk about a smaller, and very specific, grant that is changing lives in the Grand Canyon area: a check for $4,717.29 to the Grand Canyon Food Pantry.
A recent report from Save the Children further proves how location can profoundly affect a child’s prospects in this country, and why it is vital that we continue to Step Up for Our Youth in northern Arizona.
The report, called “The Land of Inopportunity,” is a part of the nonprofit’s annual evaluation of how children are faring around the globe. This year, however, Save the Children added a powerful tool that allows regions to see how they measure up – an online interactive map ranking U.S. counties by how well they prioritized and protect children.
The ranking is determined by four factors that “end” childhood: poor education, malnutrition, teenage pregnancy and early death due to ill health, accident, murder or suicide.
At the United Way of Northern Arizona, we Step Up for Our Youth because we believe in the power and potential they have. Recent events, however, have shown how far we need to go to create a world in which everyone is treated with dignity and respect, enjoys a level playing field, and receives equal justice under the law.
A mix of racism, prejudice and privilege threatens future generations unless it is dealt with now. In this, as in so many things, children will learn from what we choose to do – or the actions we fail to take. To Live United, we need to act on the values we hold dear by helping our youth understand what racism is and how to combat it. In this way, we ensure a better and more equal future for our community and our children.
Coconino County has suffered greatly from the coronavirus pandemic. Our residents only make up about 2% of the state, but we have 6% of the COVID-19 cases and 10% of the fatalities attributed to the disease – the highest death rate in Arizona.
Add to that the economic impact of the disease. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the four industries that have been hardest hit in terms of unemployment during this time are hospitality, retail, education/health care services, and government. Those also are the sectors that make up the bulk of our jobs in northern Arizona.
The demands on our nonprofits are unprecedented. Which is why United Way of Northern Arizona established the COVID-19 Fund two months ago, and why we are teaming up with Coconino County to lead the COVID-19 Social Safety-Net Services Coalition.
The United Way of Northern Arizona and Coconino County have developed a COVID-19 Social Safety-Net Services Coalition Resource Guide.
The Social Safety-Net Services Coalition is a county-wide coalition of safety-net service providers who are working together to lead, support and coordinate Housing, Food and Emergency Cash Assistance in response to Covid-19.
The guide includes information on organizations providing Spanish-language assistance including the Circle of Page, the Page Domestic Violence Center, St. Vincent de Paul’s food boxes, utility and other services; and Williams Food Pantry and More.
Catholic Charities Helping Families, Vets, Homeless & Children During COVID-19 In case you missed it, Catholic Charities, the nonprofit recently named Flagstaff’s “Organization of the Year,” wanted to share a message with those of you who have given to the…
Threaded Together Using UWNA COVID-19 Grant to Create Protective Masks One of the first grant applications the United Way of Northern Arizona received after starting the COVID-19 Fund last month was a modest request from Threaded Together. This nonprofit was…
During this pandemic, we have been advised to stay at home to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But what does that mean for people who are homeless or worry that they could lose their shelter during this uncertain time.
The United Way of Northern Arizona (UWNA) recently awarded a total of $45,000 to Flagstaff Shelter Services and The Salvation Army, front line local responders dealing with the issue of providing shelter or keeping people in their homes.
It is with regret that we must announce that the United Way of Northern Arizona and our partners have decided to close our VITA sites for the remainder of the 2019 tax season
United Way of Northern Arizona has recently awarded a $50,000 grant from its COVID-19 Fund to the Flagstaff Family Food Center (FFFC), a nonprofit meeting the challenges of COVID-19 by adapting how it provides services while dramatically expanding its services to those in need.
Click here for the entire e-newsletter UWNA Launches COVID-19 Fund Hello, We at the United Way of Northern Arizona (UWNA) hope that this message finds you well during these turbulent times. Today we launched the UWNA COVID-19 Fund, an…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter VITA Services Suspended Through April 4 Due to COVID-19 Concerns The United Way of Northern Arizona (UWNA) announced today that Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) services in Flagstaff, Williams, Tuba City, Page, Fredonia, Whiteriver,…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter VITA Helping Residents on Taxes United Way of Northern Arizona and its community partners are once again helping our friends and neighbors save significantly on their taxes through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter NAU Students Step Up for Youth Northern Arizona University (NAU) is hosting the next generation of volunteers and philanthropists who are stepping up for our youththrough their work with the United Way. The…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter Flagstaff answered the call. Because of hundreds of volunteers throughout our community, we now have thousands of sandbags ready to go in case of flooding as a result of the Museum Fire. We…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter Ways to Help During the Museum Fire Good morning. Just a week ago this Sunday, the Museum Fire began. The blaze has scorched close to 2,000 acres just north of Flagstaff in the…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter KinderCamp™ Supply Drive This year’s KinderCamp™ classes have just wrapped up, and the program got a terrific graduation present – a $20,000 donation from Wells Fargo. “We understand the importance of investing in…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter KinderCamp™ – the one-month “boot camp” that ensures that every child is academically, emotionally and socially ready for kindergarten – begins next week in Flagstaff. These classrooms of eager young learners at Thomas,…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter FLAGSTAFF — In about a month, hundreds of Pre-K children will be participating in one of United Way of Northern Arizona’s signature initiatives, a program that ensures that youngsters entering kindergarten this fall are academically,…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter Q&A with Carol Dykes Carol Dykes is a 20-year veteran of United Way of Northern Arizona and has served as Vice President of the organization for several years. Last month, with the departure…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter VITA Volunteer Spotlight: Cynthia Mackin The story that sticks out for VITA volunteer Cynthia Mackin this year happened a couple of weeks ago, when a brother and sister in their early 20s came in…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter Thanks to all of you who came out to be part of our 2019 Recognition Eventat Little America last week. It was wonderful seeing you there, and we were grateful for the opportunity…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter Our annual Recognition Event is just one week from today. We hope to see you on March 6 when we honor our workplace campaign coordinators, volunteers, partners and outgoing President & CEO Steve…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter Leadership Transition Dear Friends, Change is never easy. I have served as the President and CEO of the United Way of Northern Arizona for the past four years and it has been one…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter You are cordially invited to the United Way of Northern Arizona Recognition Event. We’ll be gathering at the Little America Hotel on Wednesday, March 6 at 11:30 am to celebrate YOU, our wonderful…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter VITA Dates Announced United Way of Northern Arizona is again offering the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program in several communities to provide FREE help with filing 2018 income tax returns. IRS-certified volunteers…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter UWNA Establishes Fund to Benefit Workers Impacted by Government Shutdown United Way of Northern Arizona has established a special fund to benefit federal workers, contractors and others being impacted by the ongoing partial shutdown…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter Greetings! I hope you and your nearest and dearest are enjoying a wonderful holiday season. I wanted to reach out to you personally to ask for your support to sustain the Dolly Parton…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter Happy Thanksgiving We couldn’t do it without you. Together, we are uniting for an educated and thriving community. Together we are promoting early childhood education, feeding the hungry and helping create financial stability for…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter We cordially invite you to join us as we kick off the holiday season with two events next week that will light up your night, give you a head start on your holiday…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter The United Way of Northern Arizona is looking for some fun-loving volunteers to help us with two events this month: the Little America Holiday of Lights on Wednesday, November 14, and the Mountain Campus Holiday Arts &…
Click here for the entire e-newsletter DONATE HERE At the heart of the United Way of Northern Arizona’s annual campaign is the Community Impact Fund, a volunteer-driven process that invests your donations into the proven programs, partnerships and initiatives that are…
