United Way of Greater New Haven has focused for the last three years on education, income and health because we know that these areas are most important to individuals and families achieving success in life. While the three are inter-related, education is at the heart of our societal challenges. The nature of our economy today requires increasingly sophisticated skills for people to command a sustainable income. The future economic development of our region will depend on the available talent living here.
One of the many ways we have been busy in the last several months has been stepping up our work in education, one of the three pillars of our “Agenda for Change.” As I previously mentioned, Mayor John DeStefano approached United Way in December and asked us to partner with the New Haven Public Schools with the “wraparound services” component of the City’s new School Change initiative, which has been receiving national headlines recently for its innovative teacher contract and evaluation system.
Specifically, United Way was asked to take the lead in designing and sustaining a new system for New Haven to coordinate a range of services to support children’s overall development and enhance their ability to focus and learn in the classroom. The collaboration – called “Boost!” – will involve the school system, other public agencies, community-based nonprofits, faith-based organizations, businesses, other stakeholders and service providers.
The range of services falls into four broad categories – academic and enrichment, physical health, emotional and behavioral health, and family support and engagement (see attachment).
Boost! will complement high‐caliber curriculum and instruction in the schools, “wrapping around” the school day and the individual child with necessary supports to promote success. We will be partnering directly with five New Haven schools starting in September, and are eager to engage many of you in this work as it unfolds. You can learn more about Boost! at
www.boostnewhaven.org.
In another education-related development, United Way was recently selected to participate in United Way Worldwide’s (UWW) Education Mobilization Cohort; New Haven is one of only ten United Ways across the country selected through a competitive process for this learning collaborative. We see this as both a tremendous opportunity to learn from other leaders in the education field, as well as an important recognition of the significance of our own emerging work in this area. In mid-April, as part of this cohort, I also had an opportunity to participate in the national America’s Promise conference called “Grad Nation” that focused on strategies for United Ways to have an impact on the high school dropout problem; I came away inspired and armed with specific strategies for our region.
In yet another dimension of our education work, United Way has also just this month launched our new Early Head Start initiative. In partnership with three community-based child care organizations, we are making available 41 new spaces for children to participate in Early Head Start in New Haven. We are excited about this opportunity to respond directly to a desperate need for infant-toddler care in the region – and to do so in keeping with our Success By 6 goals around access to high quality care for low income families.
We look forward to sharing more information with you in the months ahead about this exciting new program too.
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