WE'RE GETTING TO THE POINTPAGE 3

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WE BELIEVE PLACE MATTERSand here's whyPAGE 2

IN THIS ISSUE

FA L L 2 0 1 5OUR VISION for a better Forsyth County

United Way and Forsyth County have made great progress over the years. Focusing on the root causes of the issues facing our community, we navigate major societal changes and economic ups and downs, always building upon our assets, addressing our weaknesses and seeking new avenues for development. But to sustain true change, there is always more to discover, more to give, more to accomplish. Our community continues to face increasingly complex challenges. And community-wide challenges require community-wide solutions.

In other words, effectively responding to our community’s issues requires that we work together to develop comprehensive and interconnected solutions. That’s why we focus on facilitating these types of collaborations across our focus areas of Education, Financial Stability, Health and Basic Needs. While we recognize that these are separate and distinct areas, their roots and deeply interconnected. When we commit to addressing these challenges collectively, all Forsyth County residents benefit from the progress our community is making.

They have been meeting at “Neighbor Nights” to discuss common interests and issues and strengthening personalrelationships. In the coming months, we will be hosting “Network Nights” where anyone, not just CiVIC residents, is invited to meet and share their gifts, skills and talents to help address neighborhood issues. We will also host “Community Conversations” that will provide opportunities to foster relationships amongst local residents, grassroots or faith-based organizations, businesses, and nonprofits with the goal of deepening conversations around community challenges and creative solutions.

Please be on the lookout for invitations to some of these exciting opportunities. We encourage you to get involved and look forward to seeing you there. In the meantime, if you would like more information or have any questions about Place Matters and CiVIC, please contact Alana James at alana.james@uwforsyth.org or Bret Marchant at bret.marchant@uwforsyth.org.

Written by: Alana James Director, Community Based Collaborations

UPCOMING EVENTS: join us and see why we believe place matters

The opportunity for a good life starts with our families, schools, and jobs; and it begins in our neighborhoods. We believe that place, or where we live, matters. Whatever country, state, city, or neighborhood we live in, each area presents us with a set of unique opportunities and challenges in our lives.

Over the years, United Way’s strategic partnerships and investments in solutions that address our community’s most pressing issues, have positively influenced the areas of Education, Financial Stability, Health and Basic Needs. However, not every neighborhood in Winston-Salem has always benefited from this success. In fact, from 2000 through 2010 poverty grew by more than 70% in Winston-Salem.

Furthermore, poverty is becoming increasingly concentrated within certain neighborhoods creating even more complex challenges. This negatively affects the whole community. The truth is that our entire community can only be successful when each of its neighborhoods is healthy and thriving. Through a new initiative called Place Matters, United Way of Forsyth County is working collaboratively with a local grassroots community organizing agency, Neighbors for Better Neighborhoods, and residents in thirteen neighborhoods in the northeast part of Winston-Salem to strengthen these areas. The work that is taking place in the area is called CiVIC, which stands for Community Voices Impacting Community, and is based on the principle of resident ownership of the process and outcomes.

The thirteen neighborhoods consist of a mix of priority areas (Ladera Crest, Bowen Park and Dreamland), along with more stable and established areas.

In all cases, the neighborhoods have significant assets upon which to build. We are using an Asset-Based Community Development model (ABCD) which identifies all of a community’s existing assets – residents and their gifts, skills, and talents; formal and informal associations; the area’s history; and physical or natural spaces – and leverages them to build a stronger and healthier community. We are doing this “with” rather than“for” residents.

CiVIC is a fitting name for this area and for this work because resident leadership and ownership is the lifeblood of the Place Matters initiative. We understand that no one knows a neighborhood better than the residents who live there. That is why we are engaging with residents in order to better understand all of the existing assets, presenting challenges, and most importantly, the residents’ vision for their neighborhoods.

United Way will be working in new ways by creating relationships with new collaborative partners, while also maintaining opportunities for Partner Agencies to collaborate in this work. We believe that our Partners’ expertise and capacity in conjunction with the knowledge and experience of residents and grassroots organizations will allow for greater creativity and, consequently, longer lasting and more impactful results. We are committed to supporting work that makes a positive impact in these neighborhoods.

We are excited by the prospects that Place Matters offers, and there will be a number of activities and opportunities to support this work in the coming months. Residents of CiVIC neighborhoods have already begun participating on an Impact Council and have been hard at work shaping the priorities and desired outcomes of this work.

10.22

10.24

Neighborhood NetworkThursday, October 22 at 5:30pmUnited Metropolitan Baptist Church450 Metropolitan Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27101

Cross-Systems Equity SummitSaturday, October 24 from 10:00am to 2:30pmLocation: To be determined

FOR QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT ALANA JAMES AT 336.721.9317

Northwoods Estate Monticello Park

Ebony Hills

WildwoodPark

ProspectPark

Cardinal Acres

Castle Heights

SpauldingDrive

Lakeside

EastgateVillage

Dreamland

Bowen Park

Ladeara Crest

New Walkertown R

oad

REFERENCE MAP

Smith ReynoldsAirport

Carver High School

Carl RussellCommunity

Center

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GET TO KNOW CINDYshe's our CEO...Cindy came to us as President and CEO in August 2011. She brought with her more than 12 years of executive management and leadership experience. Prior to her arrival, one of her major accomplishments was being named 2011 Executive of the Year in central New York State by the Business Journal of Central New York.

GET TO KNOW MARKMark Johnson is the Young Leaders United (YLU) Chair for 2015. By day, he works as the Corporate Counsel at Inmar.

1. Why did you join YLU? YLU not only provided an opportunity for me to give back tothe community, but also a means for me, as a newcomer to Forsyth County, to meet other motivated young professionals and network with leaders in our community.

2. How has membership in YLU helped advance your personal goals?YLU has helped me meet a whole new network of individuals focused on making our community a better place, and at the same time, it has also expanded my social and professional network.

3. As chair of YLU, what do you believe is the most important priority for this upcoming year?For this upcoming year, YLU will be focused on actively engaging its members while spreading our message as much as possible to expand our membership numbers.

4. How do you balance your career, family, and engagement through YLU?YLU is made of members balancing career, family and community service. YLU is designed for young leaders by young leaders. We schedule events with all members' other obligations in mind.

5. Tell us something we haven’t asked...I have a two year old daughter, and was recently elected to the school board.

In addition to being a proud mother of four, Cindy is an avid quilter and sports enthusiast. We have benefited from her leadership in countless ways and look forward to the years to come! Thanks for all that you do, Cindy.

WE’RE GETTING TO THE POINT

The grant is part of the Financial Capability Network (FCN), a partnership between United Way and Wells Fargo. Established in 2012 with a five-year, $5 million Wells Fargo grant, the network aims to strengthen the financial stability of individuals and families in Forsyth County and seven other communities across the country. Piloting strategies like coaching, financial wellness classes and budget workshops, the Financial Capability Network’s goal is to better equip individuals and families to make financial decisions that will improve short-term cash flow and long-term financial stability. In Forsyth County, the FCN program is called The Point, a mobile financial stability unit that brings services directly to residents, schools, neighborhoods, community events and places of worship.

In addition to the national grant, our local Wells Fargo donated $25,000 to The Point. The Point is operated by Financial Pathways of the Piedmont and managed in conjunction with Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina and Experiment in Self Reliance, all long-time partners of the United Way. The vehicle is outfitted with computers, internet access and the software needed to provide clients with an array of services, including: credit and debt counselling, financial education, free tax preparation, job training and preparation, information about banking services, assistance with financial aid applications for students applying to college, and asset building services.

A $200,000 grant to the United Way of Forsyth County will help low- and moderate-income residents receive financial coaching and enhance their financial skills.

At companies and organizations throughout Forsyth County there are a group of people to whom the start of the United Way campaign is an annual happening that is anticipated much like the “Coming of Spring”. These people are absolutely critical to making United Way’s campaign a success each year. They are the United Way Champions at each company/organization, the men and women who tirelessly coordinate the campaign each year. Most take on the additional responsibility of being a United Way Champion over and above the regular duties of their everyday workloads. And from chasing down pledge forms, to putting up signs and posters, to arranging for employee meetings, these strong supporters of United Way are steadfast in their efforts to maximize campaign dollars each and every year.

These United Way Champions will be fully engaged during the months of September and October when the 2015 Campaign is in full swing. The initial efforts on the campaign have actually been underway for the last few months as United Way staff and Campaign Cabinet volunteers have been conducting meetings with the management teams of companies and organizations to share updates about United Way’s work in the community and to begin to discuss campaign goals for 2015.

The official public kickoff for the 2015 campaign was announced on September 18th at the 5th Annual Moonlight Madness 5k, a fundraising event put on by the City of Winston-Salem. Since then, United Way of Forsyth County CEO Cindy Gordineer and Campaign Chairman Tommy Payne (President of Niconovum USA at Reynolds American) have taken to the airwaves, print and online in a media blitz to get the campaign rolling and get the word out to the public about this year’s objectives.

It will be a challenge in 2015 to match or exceed last year’s outstanding community campaign which generated pledges of $16.9M, surpassing the original goal. The 2014 campaign reflected pledges from nearly 30,000 residents in Forsyth County who made the decision to “Live United.” Tommy Payne is chairing the 2015 overall community campaign on the heels of being a Co-Chair for the 2014 Reynolds American campaign which totalled $2.4M. We are confident that Tommy’s leadership efforts this year on the Community Campaign will achieve similar excellent results. Ultimately, the success of the campaign determines the level of investment that United Way strategically reinvests in the community through our partners and the positive impact on our community.

During the campaign, usually via company meetings, employees are updated on United Way’s work in the community and the importance of their investment through United Way is stressed. The United Way Champions and their committees also come up with many inventive and clever ideas to maximize employee interest and participation.

For example, several companies conduct Days of Caring during which employees take time from their workday schedules to volunteer for several hours at Partner Agencies, other non-profits and city schools.

During these Days of Caring, teams of employees take on a myriad of projects to help out the agencies/schools including landscaping, painting, cleaning, cooking, and carpentry.

The Days of Caring allow participants to make a connection with the Agencies that United Way partners with and gain an appreciation of the work that is done in the community as well as obviously being a big help to the agencies/schools themselves!

The organizational skills and creativity of the United Way Champions and their committees are invaluable to achieving the campaign goals. These folks are truly the backbone of the campaign each year and a heartfelt thank you goes out to all of them from United Way of Forsyth County!

Written by: Don Wasowski Campaign Division Director

Everything you need to know...ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN LAUNCH

A FEW LOYAL UW CHAMPIONS

1. What was the high school graduation rate in Forsyth County in 2015 ?

2. What was the high school graduation rate in Forsyth County in 2007? 3. What percent of children in North Carolina are overweight or obese ? 4. What percent of Forsyth County households live below the federal poverty line ($23,850 per year for a family of four) ? Answers: 1. 85.4% 2. 70% 3. 34% 4.17.6%

FORSYTH COUNTY TRIVIA: Did You Know?