What's Happening with United Way's Women's Initiative
The Women’s Initiative provides a meaningful opportunity to share your vision, expertise and resources to improve the lives of children and families by addressing the most critical needs in Greater New Haven. Here is where you'll find out everything you need to know about what's happening with Women's Initiative. So bookmark this page and come back to visit often...
Upcoming Events You Don't Want to Miss
Changing' Lives with a Diaper Drive - May 1st - June 8th
The Women's Initiative is partnering with The Diaper Bank to collect 1,000 diapers for lower income families struggling to make ends meet. We invite you to help organize a diaper drive, and we challenge you to get five friends to support and collect diapers with you. We will celebrate on June 8th with "bottom's up" champagne toast at The Diaper Bank in New Haven. Please reply to Jenna Cluver if you are interested in being a part of this Diaper Drive. Download the Diaper Drive toolkit here.
Volunteer to be a Mock Interviewer at STRIVE June 14th
We are looking for one more female to volunteer as a mock interviewer on Thursday, June 14th. You will meet with prospective job applicants and conduct one-on-one mock interivews. If you have an hour to spare that morning, please contact Jenna: jcluver@uwgnh.org or (203) 691-4215. Further details and an evaluation guide sheet will be provided.
What We Have Been Up To
The "BHAG" Conversation Continues
Under the inspiration of Dr. Claire Gaudiani's presentation at our Breakfast and her stories in Daughters of the Declaration, 20 women joined us for a wine and cheese open house on May 16. We continued the conversation and recaptured our energy for action! It was the first in a series of discussions, as women continue to step up to join the growing list of community leaders interested in making an impact. We will soon launch our next BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) - showing once again that the collective power of women can accomplish great things and lasting change!
The Power of Women: Then & Now Breakfast
International author and scholar, Dr. Claire Gaudiani, offered the keynote address to a gathering of 120 women and men at United Way Women’s Initiative Breakfast on April 26, at The New Haven Lawn Club. Gaudiani explained the significant role women have played in strengthening our communities throughout history. Read more about the event and view photos.
Spring Cleaning Clothing Drive
With the Spring upon us, the Women's Initiative supported a Spring Cleaning Clothing Drive -- collecting gently worn business apparel. In less than three weeks, we collected interview attire for nearly 200 women job seekers in the community!
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Most items were donated to STRIVE-New Haven, whose job-training program prepares, places, and supports Greater New Haven residents in secure employment. About 40% of STRIVE graduates are female, but their men's clothing selection has been considerably more plentiful than what's available in the women's closet.
We also offered a portion of the collected items to IRIS (Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services), to help fulfill their services in re-settling and assisting new Americans to be self-sufficient.
A special thank you to 454 Life Sciences, Blackstone Library, CT Orthopaedics, The Grove, Petra Construction, Soundview YMCA, and Yale-New Haven Hospital for the use of their space to collect clothing, as well as their efforts to support the drive. Read more and view photos.
A Discussion: Coaching Families to Financial Stability
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On Thursday, February 16th two Smart About Money (SAM) volunteer budget coaches from Wells Fargo hosted a small group discussion to share their experiences in providing the tools and supports that families need to improve their financial stability. One remarked, "Working in a financial institution had nothing to do with this decision. It helped more so to think about how I made decisions and budgeted as a young married woman." Another added, "I was attracted to the program because of the pre-screening process and the individual's interest in budgeting."
SAM is a financial literacy support program designed to help low-to-middle-income households set and achieve their financial goals, such as increasing savings, using a mainstream financial institution, and reducing debt. Recent data reveals that 1 in 2 people in the city of New Haven is considered poor (based on the federal poverty level). One way United Way is responding to this challenge in our community is by creating opportunities for individuals to acquire skills to achieve financial stability leading toward independence. Volunteer as a budget coach and make a difference in someone's life today. We will provide the training and support for you.
Women Leaders Volunteer Saturday
Women leaders gathered to prepare a homemade meal for about 60 people on Saturday, February 11th. The volunteer event, which took place with one of United Way's partners, The Community Dining Room (CDR), enlisted the culinary skills of volunteers who prepared and served lunch.The hot meal was well-received by grateful guests, and the group of women enjoyed sharing their time and talent. Read more and view photos.
Leadership Council Meeting & First Meet & Greet
On January 11th, over 25 women attended the first Women's Initiative Meet & Greet at The Graduate Clue which followed the Leadership Council meeting. We saw many new faces who came out to learn about the Women's Initiative and to meet with the Leadership Council Members. View photos here.
WI on WTNH's CT Style
Watch Maria Arnold share the recent successes of our Women's Initiative on WTNH's CT Style. Look for many of our existing members who are featured in photos! View CT Style Segment here.
Robes & Slippers for Moms at Shelters
For Moms living in shelters, Christmas lists do not include their own wishes. Their wish list selflessly asks for necessary books, clothing and desired toys so that their children have something to open on Christmas morning. Popular toy drives often fill these needs. The Women’s Initiative Engagement Committee wanted to help these Moms. From our tour of Martha’s Place, a homeless shelter for women and children in New Haven, we pooled resources and responded.
Christmas morning at the shelter had 40 soft, warm robes and slippers as gifts for the Moms to open! “I can't re-emphasize enough how thrilled the case managers are that the mom's they serve also had a gift to open on Christmas day", said Mary Grande, Development Associate from Martha’s Place. Mary added, “I hope you can convey to the Women's Initiative members the gratitude we feel for all the women in this group willing to make the holiday brighter."
Thank you to Linda Masci, Barbara Healy, Judy August, Giulia Gouge, Pam Hansen, Crystal Neuhauser and Maria Arnold for lending a hand in getting these robes and slippers for these Moms. Through their individual efforts along with reaching out to their networks, these Moms will find warmth and comfort this holiday! Interested in other projects like this? Please contact us today!
Woman and children finding hope in transition at Martha’s Place
In November, members of the Women’s Initiative toured Martha’s Place shelter in New Haven to see, first hand, the good works being done when people pull together to support women and children needing to stabilize their lives. Martha Place houses single women and also accommodates three families. Lack of affordable housing is the biggest challenge facing homeless families. The length of stay at these shelters increased 17% because of this. The Women’s Initiative is finding ways to help. From this tour, the women in the WI took on a project and pooled their resources to donate 40 robes and slippers for Moms this Christmas. Stay tuned for a clothing drive in the new year as a way to help these women dress for success for job interviews to further stabilize their lives.
Women's Initiative Reception
New Haven Food Truck
For many children living in low income families, summer is a time of hunger as they no longer have access to healthy, reliable meals served when school’s in session. In addition, only 25% of the children who are eligible for free meals actually receive them. In June of 2011, the Women’s Initiative launched with a call to action around the need to serve children and teens with meals when school is out. Thus, the New Haven Food Truck was born! The Food Truck delivered meals for children living in low income neighborhoods over the summer serving 2 meals per day and over 16,0000 meals in total! View video of the Food Truck launch. The Women's Initiative helped to make this happen!
