March 18, 2010 by Maria Stokes | 0 comments
3-year-old Doug is one of more than 2,500 children who have received low-cost or no-cost dental surgery at PDI
Three-year-old Doug was recently referred to the PDI Surgery Center, a United Way grantee, after Baby Bottle Tooth Decay badly corroded his teeth. This kind of tooth decay is most often associated with young children who fall asleep with a bottles in their mouths, allowing sugary liquids (juice and milk) to pool around their teeth.
All told, Doug needed 11 teeth capped and two incisors removed — treatment that required anesthesia because of his young age.
“I didn’t realize tooth decay could begin so early,” said Doug’ mother, Elly, as she prepared for Doug’s oral surgery. PDI coordinated and paid for Doug’s transportation to the surgery center, and a PDI case manager accompanied him through the surgical process.
Doug emerged from the surgery just fine, and was back to his chipper self in no time. His mom says she learned a lot from the experience and recognizes the importance of cleaning teeth at a young age. She is now very aware of the potential trouble that Sam, her one and-a-half-year-old son, may face without proper dental hygiene during the early stages of his teeth’s development. She vows not to make the same mistake twice.
PDI Results
United Way’s Bay Area Community Fund supports the PDI Surgery Center, which provides dental surgery to low-income families from Marin, Napa and other North Bay counties. Many of these families have neither health nor dental insurance. PDI’s work aligns with United Way’s efforts to ensure young children enter school healthy and ready to learn.
Since January 2008, PDI has treated over 2,200 children, provided transportation assistance through its Patient Sponsorship Program (PSP), and dental education and outreach to over 10,000 children and their parents.
March 17, 2010 by Olu Johnson | 0 comments
MatchBridge Intern Priscilla Abaurrea
United Way’s Matchridge encourages businesses to open their doors and work with young people to enjoy the benefits they can bring to a workplace and to invest in the workforce of tomorrow. Since its inception, MatchBridge has taken every opportunity possible to offer paid internship opportunities to youth in the community including within their own organization.
By working with the Mayor’s Youth Employment and Education Program (MYEEP), MatchBridge got a qualified and motivated candidate at no cost to the program. A life-long local, Priscilla Abaurrea was born and raised in the heart of San Francisco. When her counselor referred her to MYEEP, she figured it would be an excellent chance to get some entry-level, job experience.
“I really felt like I needed more office experience. Not only that, but I wanted to better understand what it was like to build relationships with people on a professional level,” said Priscilla. Priscilla plans on continuing her education to ultimately become an ultrasound technician someday.
“Several members of my family are in the medical field, so I’ve gotten a lot of exposure and inspiration from them. But I’m not very good with the sight of blood and other things like that, that I might encounter on the job. Then one time, I was examined for a pain in my side and was told I needed an ultra-sound to diagnose the problem. I spoke with the technician who was working on me and it sounded like a perfect fit.”
This is just another example of how United works with partners from across all sectors to help prepare the next generation for success. As an intern Priscilla’s duties will include general office duties, and assisting Mayela Gutknecht who runs Youth Services.
March 16, 2010 by Maria Stokes | 0 comments
You have to learn to stand up for yourself. You have to learn to care for yourself. You learn to have a lot of strength for yourself. I knew I had to prepare myself for emancipation. I had to stop being a child.”
– Aisha Cooper, 18, an emancipated foster youth who is participating in “Money Matters,” a new program supported by United Way of the Bay Area that teaches foster youth how to better manage their finances.
From the Times-Herald article, “Learning self-reliance: Emancipated foster youth share success stories in Fairfield.”
March 15, 2010 by Olu Johnson | 0 comments
View Earn It Keep It Save Sites San Francisco! in a larger map
Using Google’s My Map feature we wrote about in Disaster Prep 2.0, we made a neat map of all the free Earn It! Keep It! Save It! tax sites in San Francisco. Of course, if you or someone you know wants to find a tax site in any the seven counties we serve you can find that here.
Stacy Towles with Eloy Villafranca, Director of Bank on California
Last week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger gathered the partners and leaders of Bank On California and announced that the statewide goal of opening 100,000 bank accounts had been reached in half the time. The Bank On program is a partnership between banks, community organizations, and local governments to bring people into the financial mainstream. By connecting people with bank services and critical financial education, the program gives ‘unbanked’ households access to mainstream financial products and services, where they can begin saving, build a credit history, gain access to lower-cost sources of credit, and invest for their future.
Currently, millions of families lack basic financial services such as a checking account – in fact one in five do not have one - and nearly half of California households do not have a savings account. Having a bank account provides access to money-saving financial services such as ATMs, online bill pay and better access to credit – tools that will allow Californians to keep more of their paychecks.
The governor went on to say, “California was the first state in the nation to implement a program like this, and already we’ve reached our goal of opening 100,000 accounts in half the time – saving unbanked Californians millions of dollars. As the program continues to expand, I encourage all Californians who are unbanked to use this program to save money and build their financial security.”
Locally, United Way’s Stacy Towles is Program Coordinator for Bank on Oakland. She was recognized for her work and given a Leadership Award for “opening access to mainstream banking products and services to low- and moderate-income households.” United Way of the Bay Area was one of the first organizations to support the Bank On effort and is recognized as a key partner in the coalition.
Some of what she’s helped to accomplish with Bank on Oakland include:
- opening 6,545 new accounts since April 2009
- training 1,100 people at financial education workshops since February 2009
- working with 12 participating financial institutions in Oakland, with 55 branch locations throughout the city
Congratulations to Stacy and to all the partners across the state helping move low- and moderate-income households towards greater financial stability.
March 10, 2010 by Olu Johnson | 0 comments
If you have a smart phone, getting prepared for disaster has never been easier. Over on Mashable, they have a great list of resources that either use Web 2.0 tools like Facebook , or can be integrated with any current generation smart phone.
Though it sounds rather fancy and complicated, it is really just another way of organizing the same principles and information we’ve recommended: Things like creating a plan, establishing meeting places for your family, and making sure you have your emergency contact information updated and available.
If you have a smart phone, it may be also be good idea to install social media apps like Facebook and Twitter because the 3G network could still be functioning after a disaster, even as phone lines may be busy or unavailable. A quick status update could be a useful way to let a lot of people know you’re okay, or your location, or anything else worth communicating.
Use these tools in combination with other, low-tech, steps and you’ll be quite prepared.
Some favorites that were mentioned include:
My Maps which lets you plan a route using landmarks, lines, and shapes, and lets you easily share that route or access it on your mobile browser.You can also print out a copy of the map you’ve created and add to your “Go Bag” or your child’s backpack.
For iPhone users (I’m sure there will soon be an Android equivalent) they also mentioned the ICE App (99 cents in App Store). The app creates one central location to conveniently store information about your medical conditions and allergies as well as emergency contacts. You can even enter insurance information and contact details for your specific doctors. Mashable also links to other iPhone apps that can help you out in case of emergency.
But my favorite is the Emergency Radio app, which turns your iPhone into a supercharged scanner for police, fire, NOAA and other emergency radio frequencies.
March 9, 2010 by Maria Stokes | 0 comments
New research finds California will miss out on more than one billion because an estimated 800,000 eligible Californians will neglect to claim over $1.2 billion in federal Earn Income Tax Credit (EITC) dollars this tax season, according to the new report Left on the Table, published through a collaboration between the New America Foundation and economists at California State University at Fresno.
During the 2009 tax season, United Way’s Earn It! Keep It! Save It! helped taxpayers in seven Bay Area counties claim $4.5 million in EITC, but we’ve apparently got a long way to go to reach more eligible taxpayers.
Help us spread the word! Download flyers and paycheck stuffers to distribute at your workplace. Earn It! Keep It! Save It! is providing free tax filing assistance to any household that earned less than $49,000 in 2009. Our tax preparers are trained to help taxpayers claim the maximum EITC for which they are eligible, as well as other important tax credits.
NICOS Enrollment Specialist Corina Liew helped Serena Chen obtain Healthy Families coverage for her 15-year-old son. As a massage therapist, Chen earns too much to qualify for Medi-Cal, but does not receive insurance through her employer.
Jenny Li of San Francisco lost her health insurance and her job as a line supervisor at a Bay Area electronics manufacturer because the company relocated to Mexico in 2007. The loss of insurance would have had devastating effects. Jenny’s teenage son is challenged by mental-health issues that require two types of medication and regular psychiatric visits. Thankfully, a friend referred Jenny to the NICOS Chinese Health Coalition, a United Way grantee that helps community members access and enroll in California’s Healthy Families program, which helps children access no- and low-cost health insurance.
“I am so thankful for NICOS and Healthy Families,” Jenny said. “Without them, I don’t know what I would do. Until I find work again, I can’t afford to pay for my son’s medical costs on my own.”
Unfortunately, more than 874,000 children,including Jenny’s son, could lose their health coverage if Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2010/11 passes. We have seen this threat before. In 2008, United Ways across California called on legislators and the governor’s office to ensure no children lost their health coverage.
United Way is gearing up to fight once again. Under the governor’s current proposal, the Healthy Families program would be eliminated unless California is able to obtain federal funding, which is highly risky and uncertain. Even if funding is appropriated, the proposal would still eliminate coverage for at least 200,000 children with new eligibility and cost-sharing requirements, as well as significant benefit reductions.
We are on the front lines of the fight for California’s children. We know that health insurance for all children is one of the most cost-effective ways to support their long-term success. “Children who are healthy are more likely to do well in school and in life,” said Anne Wilson, CEO, United Way of the Bay Area. “We urge the governor and the legislature
to stop these short-sighted cuts, which will force children into more costly types of care.”
Take Action Today!
We need your help to save the Healthy Families program. Please urge your legislators to reject Schwarzenegger’s proposal. We’ve made it easy—visit www.uwba.org/healthychildren. With just a few clicks you can send an email your legislators about Healthy Families. Learn more by contacting United Way’s Susan Jeong at 415.808.4359 or sjeong@uwba.org.
March 8, 2010 by Ed Oh | 0 comments
Last year more than $47,000 million was returned to Bay Area tax payers
When Earn It! Keep It! Save It! said they needed translators fluent in Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese, United Way Community Project MatchBridge was more than happy to respond.
Earn It! Keep It! Save It!, a community project of United Way of the Bay Area, is a free, tax-preparing service offered to qualifying individuals and families. Earn It! Keep It! Save It! (EKS) operates more than 180 free tax sites across the Bay Area, where volunteer tax preparers help individuals and families claim their maximum tax refund.
With so many sites across the ethnically dense Bay Area, the need for translators was high. With all the talented young adults at MatchBridge looking for part-time work, the partnership made perfect sense.
Twenty-seven of MatchBridge’s youth members came into the orientation to potentially offer their services as translators. EKS, United Way, and MatchBridge staff held interviews and fluency tests that many of the members passed with ease. Earn It! Keep It! Save It! partners with hundreds of community organizations and free tax preparation providers, such as Tax-Aid, to process almost 50,000 tax returns each year. They also provide low- to moderate-income households with access to public benefits, low- or no-cost bank accounts and financial education. Most importantly they make sure that eligible taxpayers claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) which can amount to as much as $5,600 per family.
Due to the complex nature of the free financial services that Earn It! Keep It! Save It! offers, translators play an essential role in serving the families and individuals who have limited English fluency.
If you are a Spanish speaker and you’re interested in being a translator, MatchBridge and Earn It! Keep It! Save It! are still recruiting. Leave a comment with your email.
March 5, 2010 by Olu Johnson | 0 comments
Here is a roundup of news items you may not have seen this week compiled by Maria Stokes, our Public Relations Director.
New Foster Youth Employment Statistics from Honoring Emancipated Youth
HEY has released 4 new HEY Statistics focusing on foster youth and unemployment. The 4 HEY Statistics paint a picture of the barriers foster youth face while searching for and keeping employment.
http://heysf.org/new-foster-youth-employment-statistics-from-hey-3035.html
Wealthy Americans Trimmed Giving in 2009, Survey Finds
Philanthropy News Digest
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=286300006
States, Cities Consider Revoking Charities’ Tax Exemptions
NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/us/28charity.html?scp=2&sq=strom&st=cse
Workers put furloughs to good use
USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/sharing/2010-02-28-furlough-volunteers_N.htm
New formula to give fresh look at U.S. poverty
Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/02/AR2010030202316.html?referrer=emailarticle
Teenage job hunter’s guide
SF Chronicle’s “Get to Work” Blog
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/gettowork/detail?entry_id=58295
