United Way of Northern Arizona — Community Impact Luncheon Celebrates Power of Youth Literacy

Community Impact Luncheon Celebrates Power of Youth Literacy

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the United Way of Northern Arizona’s (UWNA) Community Impact Luncheon last week! Your presence, enthusiasm, and generosity were truly inspiring.

At this special gathering, we celebrated the life-changing power of literacy and the many ways your support is helping young readers thrive throughout Northern Arizona.

We also welcomed two new members to our Board of Directors and gave an update on our Annual Campaign.

From the desk of:

Liz Archuleta

President & CEO

The theme of literacy was powerfully illustrated by two guest speakers at the luncheon.

Dr. Rima Brusi, a professor at Northern Arizona University who co-chaired this year’s annual campaign with her husband, NAU President José Luis Cruz Rivera, shared her story of how reading sustained her during an often-chaotic childhood.

“For children like I once was – facing instability, poverty, or challenges at home – reading can be more than educational,” she said. “It can be transformative. It can be salvation.”

It was an honor to share the stage with (from left) Northern Arizona University President (and annual campaign co-chair) José Luis Cruz Rivera, UWNA Board Chair Armando Ruiz, and Dr. Rima Brusi, who joined her husband as campaign co-chair and spoke powerfully about how reading as a child transformed her life.

After she dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade, she said she tried various jobs but ultimately felt lost about her future. It was reading, she said, that gave her a way back to education.

She passed her GED, graduated from the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez, and earned master’s and PhD. degrees in cultural anthropology from Cornell. She also became a writer, scholar, and advocate for improving policy and practices in K-12 and higher education systems in the United States.

“As we consider the state of literacy in Arizona today, I ask you to remember that behind every statistic is a child whose future hangs in the balance,” Brusi concluded. “A child who might find in books what I found: not just knowledge, but sanctuary. Not just skills, but selfhood. Not just a path to success, but a way home.”

Meanwhile, Vince Yanez of the Helios Education Foundation (right), reminded us about the pressing need to improve literacy rates in our region, where fewer than 33% of third graders currently pass the statewide English Language Arts assessment.

The lingering effects of the pandemic, a lack of access to trained literacy coaches, and high chronic absenteeism are among the barriers to greater literacy, he said.

The impacts go well past elementary school, Yanez noted: students not proficient in reading by the third grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school.

Together, we’ve made great strides in the past year to give our youth more opportunities to hone their literacy skills:

We doubled enrollment in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, ensuring more children receive free books monthly.
We expanded our Literacy Fair and grew our KinderCamp™ preschool program to reach even more families in Holbrook and Joseph City.
You have donated books for literacy fairs and during our luncheon wrote heartfelt messages of encouragement for this year’s KinderCamp™ students. Your words — “Dream BIG Dreams,” “Keep Reading,” “We Believe in You” — will inspire a new generation of learners.

Most of the work that we’ve been able to do together is funded through the annual campaign, which has almost reached its $1.2 million goal for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. We are about $70,000 from our goal and you can help us bridge the gap with your gift. To donate, please visit our website.

During the Annual Meeting portion of the event, we welcomed new board members Trey Hudson of Findlay Toyota and Liberty Urias of Foothills Bank (pictured left), and gave heartfelt thanks were given to retiring board members Bruce Blankenship, Greg Clifton, Chris Reed, and Eric Scott.

We also presented several awards during the luncheon, including: The Community Builder Award to Northern Arizona University and Coconino Community College; the Helping Hands Award to Nathan Schott; Volunteer Awards to Viviana Reyes and Bruce Blankenship; the Leading the Way Award to Arizona Public Service; the Stepping Up for Youth Award to Coconino County Juvenile Court Hope Receiving Center, and the Campaign Growth Award to Joy Baking Group.

Additionally, UWNA honored the workplace campaign coordinators who volunteer to share UWNA’s message where they are employed and are responsible for generating a significant amount of the funds raised during the annual campaign.

Finally we’d like to give a special thanks to the sponsors of our Community Impact Luncheon: