Category Archives: Collective Impact

My Promise

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trescott-sarahby Sarah Trescott
Website Development Director

I have started volunteering at Granger Elementary. Every Monday and Wednesday I spend 30 minutes with Juan and Leslie, helping them advance their reading skills. I just finished my first week, so I am by no means a volunteer reading professional…yet.

I was nervous the first day. Sure, I love to read and I think kids are a blast–but that doesn’t mean the kids will like me or I’ll be any good at helping them learn. It was a little awkward at first, until I realized the kids had some of the same nervous fears that I did. So, we just talked about pets and sports and did a lot of high-fives and knuckle bumps to celebrate the words they read correctly.

I figured after a while we would feel more comfortable around each other, but I was surprised that both kids greeted me on my second day like they had been waiting for me to arrive. We joked about the green slimy eels we read about in a book, and raced through word lists so we could get back to the chapter book to see what happened. There were more high-fives and knuckle bumps. I had just met them 2 days ago, and already Juan was bummed that I wasn’t going to be there again till Monday.

As I walked out the doors after an hour of volunteering, my mind was a tornado of thoughts. I wish I could bring everyone here for just 30 minutes. I think 30 minutes might just be enough time to demonstrate how important early learning is to student success. Juan and Leslie are in 3rd grade. They should be reading in class with their friends. They struggle with basic words and reading comprehension. They are good kids. Smart kids. There is no reason for them to have “special” classes, except that they didn’t have access to some basic help a few years back. They didn’t have support in preschool and kindergarten to get them on track. So here we are.

DSC_0030Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with these kids. But I wish I didn’t have to go. Actually, I know I wouldn’t have to be there if everyone supported private/public partnerships to fund high-quality preschool programs. Juan and Leslie are the kids that these programs would help. It would have given them the tools in kindergarten so that by the time they got to 3rd grade, they could be on track with their classmates.

Working for United Way of Salt Lake, I could tell you story after story about the kids in our neighborhoods. There are thousands of kids like Juan and Leslie in our communities. United Way of Salt Lake has made a promise to these kids and their families. It is a promise to find a way to make sure every kid gets a chance to succeed in school and life. It is important that not only one kid beat the odds stacked against them–but to change the odds entirely. That is a huge promise! And one I fully intend to keep. It’s not just an organizational promise. It is my promise.

If you would like to learn more about the United Way of Salt Lake Promise, please go to uw.org/ourpromise. To help support our efforts to fund high-quality preschool, please sign up for our Newsletter and Policy Matters. Join us to help change the odds and GIVE, ADVOCATE, or VOLUNTEER.

UWSL Hosts National Collective Impact Leaders

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crim-billby Bill Crim
Senior VP, Collective Impact and Public Policy

United Way of Salt Lake was proud to host Jeff Edmondson and Colin Groth of the Strive Network for a series of events in Salt Lake during the last week of March.  The work of Strive was featured in the original article on “Collective Impact” published by the Stanford Social Innovation Review.  Since that time, Strive has become the nationally recognized example of using the principles of Collective Impact to build the cradle-to-career civic infrastructure necessary for every child to succeed, every step of the way.

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In meetings with UWSL Board members, Changing the Odds Campaign Founding Council members, and community partners (as well as an in-depth interview with Doug Wright on KSL Radio), Jeff and Colin recognized UWSL for the effectiveness of our work locally, and helped build support for the continued development of the regional leadership structures necessary for our partnerships to deliver on the visionary promise of academic success for every child.

UWSL will be joining Strive in a joint project with United Way Worldwide to provide support and coaching to other United Ways that are working to develop cradle-to-career collective impact initiatives.  We are proud to be a member of the Strive Network – and appreciate the support of Questar, Salt Lake Community College, and John Milliken in making the Strive visit a success.

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County Rankings and Roadmaps

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elizabeth_garbeby Elizabeth Garbe, Public Policy Director
and Natalie Fall, Events Intern

On March 20th, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation released the most recent data from their County Rankings and Roadmaps Program.  This marked an important day for United Way of Salt Lake and our partners in our quest to lead data-driven decisions and change in the communities we serve.   

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Similar to UWSL’s Collective Impact work, the Rankings and Roadmaps is built on the understanding that no single sector alone can tackle the health challenges in a community.  The project has a deep understanding that underlying social and economic factors, like education and unemployment, affect the health of individuals. Because of this, it is important for education, income, and health stakeholders to work together to tackle the myriad of issues a community faces. Drawing on health information from various national data sources, the rankings are comprised of several indicators, such as graduation, crime, and unemployment rates that may be contributing to compromised health and limited care access.

United Way of Salt Lake is one of 18 recipients of the Roadmaps to Health Community grant from the foundation. The grant supports the South Salt Lake Early Learning Network, which is focused on ensuring all children enter school ready to learn – an important step in ensuring all children in the community graduate from high school. Salt Lake County has one of the lowest graduation rates in the state, with 72% of 9th graders graduating in four years, compared to the state average of 76%.

This data highlights the deep interdependence of obstacles to physical and social wellness present in our neighborhoods. Applying this new data to our Collective Impact work will help United Way of Salt Lake and our partners mobilize resources, advance policy, and align our efforts towards healthier communities.

To check out the County Rankings and Roadmaps Program click here http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/.

For more information about UWSL’s partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation go to http://www.uw.org/news-events/news/united-way-of-salt-lake-10.html.

Ashley Hillman Serves South Salt Lake!

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United Way of Salt Lake staff member, Ashley Hillman (Community Collaborations Director), made an appearance in the Promise South Salt Lake Newsletter! Get to know Ashley a little better and read what South Salt Lake had to say below!

Serving South Salt Lake: Ashley Hillman

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High quality preschool closes the achievement gap for at-risk kids

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by Gavin Reese
Attorney
Ray, Quinney and Nebeker
Chair, Young Leaders

In September, the legislature’s Education Interim Committee heard and discussed research that was based on Granite School District’s high-quality Title I preschool program. This innovative program addresses school readiness, closing the achievement gap for at-risk children, and the reduction of special education costs.

Senator Aaron Osmond initially drafted the piece of legislation in 2011 based on research started by Mark Innocenti, Director of the Early Intervention Research Institute at the Center for Persons with Disabilities at Utah State University. The legislation then continued as part of United Way of Salt Lake’s Collective Impact partnership with Voices for Utah Children, Granite School District, and Goldman Sachs.

During the hearing, Senator Osmond discussed how the study, which began in 2005 and is ongoing, tracked at-risk 4 year-olds throughout grade school as they participated in quality education programs at 11 Title 1 schools in the Granite School District. Research shows that these children, many of whom would have been placed in special education classes, were able to close the achievement gap by the time they started kindergarten and nearly all of the students have remained on par with their class through fourth grade. This reduction in special education resources can save the state millions of dollars, which can then be reinvested into the preschool program to serve more children.

For those looking for effective and efficient ways to close the achievement gap and boost student achievement in Utah, Senator Osmond’s High Quality Preschool bill (that is based on the Granite program and research study) should be a top priority for the 2013 legislative session. Knowing many of the youth in UWSL’s service area lack opportunity at an early age, UWSL is committed to ensuring children have access to early childhood programs proven to close the achievement gap and reduce special education use.

Unfortunately, Utah will be facing another tight budget year, where limited resources must be spread across competing priorities. As Senator Osmond stated, “One of the challenges we have is the reality that funding today’s immediate problems will always trump the long-term investment conversation…[but] we have to start talking about solving long-term problems with short-term solutions that really will impact the growing special education use and that will close the achievement gap moving forward.”

As Utah looks at where to invest our precious tax dollars, we must make certain we are putting our money into programs such as high-quality preschool which are proven to save millions of dollars down the road and ensure all children enter school ready to learn and have the opportunity to reach their potential.