UNITED WAY INC
550 Forest Avenue No 100, Portland, ME 04101 www.unitedwaygp.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: For 90 years, United Way of Greater Portland has served and strengthened Greater Portland by mobilizing the caring power of our community. Today, we, as a backbone organization, are uniting individuals and organizations around our community's shared vision, Thrive2027, three 10-year goals to improve education, financial stability, and health for every person in Greater Portland. With community partners, we build on strategies that are known to achieve the best results, and we rigorously evaluate our progress. And because we believe everyone has a role to play in building a thriving community, we actively seek to engage donors, advocates, and volunteers to create measurable, long-lasting community change.

Improving lives by focusing on the building blocks of a strong community: education, financial stability, and health.

Goal 1: Give kids a strong start. Children will lead our communities tomorrow and we need them healthy, educated, and resilient. It takes all of us working to ensure that even the youngest children in Greater Portland have a strong start so they read at grade level in third grade. We know that until third grade, children are learning to read. After third grade, they are reading to learn. It is critical to their lifelong success. Success Measurement: By 2027, 70% of children read proficiently at the end of third grade. UWGP funding that supports Goal 1 enabled, among other things:1. 510 children in early childhood programs to meet their developmental milestones and 334 children to be better prepared to enter kindergarten. 2. 66 elementary school children from Portland's East Bayside neighborhood to strengthen their language and reading skills.3. 47 early childhood educators to receive professional development and coaching around supporting children's social-emotional learning and managing challenging behaviors.Additionally, United Way of Greater Portland invests in or supports the following collaborative efforts toward this goal such as: Brick & Beam Society, an Individual Giving Group of United Way of Greater Portland, is a collaboration of young adult professionals investing their time, skills, and finances to impact the Thrive2027 goal around early childhood education. They focus their funding around STEM and literacy programming for under-served kids in Cumberland County. Funding supports Palaver Strings' Palaver Music Center to collaborate with local partner organizations in providing easily accessible, early childhood education for students ages birth-5, introductory string classes for pre-kindergarten students, and well-rounded instrumental music instruction to students age 6-18. They also fund the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Maine in developing their comprehensive menu of after-school and summer STEM offerings to reduce the achievement gap for the low-income and ethnically diverse 175 youth they serve.Count ME In is an innovative partnership of schools, parents, youth, and community organizations working to improve elementary school attendance. They work with 12 schools from four school districts to increase their capacity to achieve and maintain high-fidelity implementation, which includes generating annual attendance data reports to inform their efforts. Coordinating with local and State agencies, they impact policies and practices that reduce chronic absenteeism.The Children's Initiative Early Childhood Education Collaborative (ECEC) is a trauma-focused prevention and intervention program of Maine Behavioral Healthcare, which implements targeted program tactics proven to enhance the quality and sustainability of early childhood programs. ECEC provides education about infant and early childhood mental health, early childhood exposure to trauma, trauma-informed leadership, family engagement and professional resilience. These strategies increase support for 51 teachers and staff and provide them with the skills needed to increase behavior management efficacy. The overarching goal is to bolster the ability of community-based early childhood education programs to serve the next generation.

Goal 2: Empower neighbors to thrive - not just survive. When people have the educational and employment opportunities to become financially stable, they can pay their rent on time and put food on the table. They are also better able to save for emergencies, buy a house, pay for college, and save for retirement. This is why we work together to ensure more individuals and families in Greater Portland are more financially secure through improved education and employment opportunities. Success Measurement: By 2027, 70% of households pay less than 30% of their income on housing. UWGP funding that supports Goal 2 enabled, among other things: 1. 70 individuals enrolled in employment support and training. An additional 49 secured & maintained employment for at least 3 months. 2. 180 youth and adults completed their high school education through Adult Education classes preparing them for postsecondary education and/or employment. 3. 524 households received free tax preparation through CA$H Greater Portland. These individuals and families saved $158,200 in income tax preparation fees and received $1.1 million in federal and state income tax refunds, including $299,611 in federal Earned Income Tax Credits. Additionally, United Way of Greater Portland invests in or supports the following collaborative efforts toward this goal such as: 1. Funded by Women United, an Individual Giving Group of UWGP, The Opportunity Alliance's Project WIN (Women in Neighborhoods) is a collaboration that works with a group of single mothers and their children living in Portland's East Bayside neighborhood. Project WIN engages community partners like Southern Maine Community College, Portland Adult Education, Head Start, Pine Tree Legal, and East End Community School to help parents pursue employment skills and education goals to improve their own economic security and stability, while simultaneously ensuring their children are on a path at an early age to foster a love of learning. The program served 12 single-mothers and 39 children. By focusing jointly on the development of both mother and child(ren), Project WIN engages families using a two-generation approach. Women United supports this initiative because they know children and families do better when they both have every opportunity to succeed in school, in work, and as a family. 2. United Way of Greater Portland serves as the backbone for the Greater Portland Workforce Initiative (GPWI). GPWI is a collective impact collaborative that builds on the existing work and experience of 21 community organizations and connects with the public workforce system to create a dual-customer pipeline aligning with the needs of jobseekers and employers. To achieve this, the GPWI identifies sector-specific opportunities for sustainable employment, engages employers for input into the core and occupational skills required for increased employment of jobseekers with barriers to employment, provides individuals with barriers the skills and supports necessary to enter into the identified pathways, and provides employers with access to qualified jobseekers. Among their various projects, the GPWI offers a Bridge to Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA)/Healthcare Careers along with 6 Healthcare employer advisors, an employer-supported Job and Resource Fair focused on individuals reentering from incarceration, and an intensive English language acquisition class. Twenty-seven individuals received job relevant credentials through GPWI. Participants experienced decreased barriers to training and employment, gained knowledge of career pathways, earned recognized credentials, increased income, and gained access to employment benefits and job retention supports. The Bridge has shown remarkable success, received incredible support, and is recognized as a best practice. 3. United Way of Greater Portland serves as the Cumberland County administrator for the Local Board of the federal Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program (EFSP). This program is designed to help communities respond to local emergency food and shelter needs. EFSP funds to help local existing programs, such as food pantries and shelters, expand their capacity to serve those in need. Local funding decisions are made by the Local Board, which sets priorities, advertises the availability of funds, makes funding recommendations, and provides technical support to recipient organizations throughout the grant period. EFSP's. In FY 20, EFSP awarded $2,347,527 to organizations in Cumberland County through two rounds of Supplemental Appropriation for Humanitarian Aid, CARES Act funding and Phase 37.

Goal 3: Help us all live longer, better lives. Today, too many lives are cut short due to barriers to health, such as untreated mental health issues, substance use disorder, or domestic violence. And that is why we work to ensure that everyone in Greater Portland has opportunities to live healthier lives to reduce preventable premature death. Success Measurement: By 2027, reduce preventable premature deaths by 10%. UWGP funding that supports Goal 3 enabled, among other things: 1. 108 adolescents who received counseling reduced their risk for suicide and substance use. 2. 253 individuals participated in peer groups that resulted in a reduction of suicidal thoughts. 3. 377 adolescents, including 76 who are homeless, abstained from, or reduced, their substance use. Additionally, United Way of Greater Portland invests in or supports the following collaborative efforts toward this goal such as: United Way of Greater Portland is a funder of the Portland School Based Health Centers, a collaborative project between Greater Portland Health and the Portland Public School District to provide local children physical and behavioral health care at school. In the last school year, they assessed 350 middle and high school students to identify signs of at-risk behaviors, depression, anxiety, trauma and substance use. Of those students 56% screened positive on the at-risk screenings. Those individuals were then offered appropriate behavioral health/treatment services, including counseling and psychiatric services. During treatment, almost 100 students experienced a reduction in their scores for depression or anxiety. The centers have seen a growth in services available as well as services provided as a result of offering screening and trusting relationships. The School Based Health Centers are the result of strong collaboration resulting in the delivery of essential health and behavioral health services to Portland youth in the school setting.

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