Two Ten Footwear Foundation

Two Ten changes the lives of Footwear employees and their families during times of immediate crisis by providing emergency financial assistance to cover housing costs, utility bills, car repairs, and other immediate needs; natural disaster relief; referrals to special services such as crisis intervention, credit, and debt counseling, and other similar life skills services; and essential community resources. Funds are paid directly to Footwear employees via e-check. Payments range from $1,000 - $3,000 based on need.the populations of Footwear families we assist work in retail sales, customer service representatives, factories, warehouses, and distribution centers. Most people we assist work in lower-wage positions and are vulnerable to loss of income at different times of the year when business slows or orders in a factory or warehouse decrease. Two Ten provides resources for Footwear employees from 50 states, puerto rico, and the u.s. virgin islands. In fy23, the top five states seeking Two Ten's services were puerto rico, Florida, Indiana, Tennessee and Texas. In fy23, the Two Ten relief services team assisted 1,891 Footwear families with emergency assistance. Two Ten received calls from 3,847 Footwear workers or their families, and 99% of those received a call back within Two business days to complete our intake process. The personal and confidential 30-minute intake call determines eligibility and how best to meet immediate needs. In fy23, 69% of callers were female, and 31% were male. The three largest age groups who called were between the ages of 33-50 (45%), 18-32 (38%), and 14% of callers who fell above the age of 51. The reason most cited by those needing assistance was "financial issues," followed by "health and "natural disasters. "in fy23, Two Ten served 2,237 Footwear employees with special services, including 881 referrals to our telephonic mental health counseling services and 14,130 referrals to local community resources, such as united way, red cross, and the salvation army. Education expense:as part of our commitment to strengthening the Footwear industry, Two Ten Footwear Foundation offers Footwear employees and their families higher education scholarships based on financial need, academic ability, and personal promise. In fy23, Two Ten funded 150 students with scholarships. 99% of the students are full-time students, while 1% of the students are part-time. Scholarship funds were awarded to 84 renewal scholars and 65 new scholars. Most students received an award between $4,000 and $5,000 with the opportunity to renew annually if they maintain a required gpa of at least 2.5. All new scholarship awards will average $4,000 per annum, renewable for three years. Two Ten also provides a scholarship for military veterans or their dependents called the Footwear warriors endowed scholarship. This scholarship is made available to the men and women who have served our u.s. military and are currently working in the Footwear industry or their dependents.with the cost of higher education soaring, Two Ten scholarships help ease the burden for Footwear employees or their dependents attending college. To be eligible to apply and be considered for a Two Ten scholarship, the applicant must be working within the Footwear industry for a minimum of Two years or the child of a parent working in the industry for the same duration. The scholars working in the Footwear industry comprised 23% of the total pool, while 75% had parents working in the Footwear industry and 1% were design students. The application administration process is outsourced to the international scholarship and tuition services (ists). After ists presents the completed applications, Two Ten scholarship staff rank applicants using a scoring rubric weighted by the following system: 70% financial need, 15% special circumstance, and 15% academics based on gpa. Two Ten then selects the top students from the new pool and those who maintained eligibility from the renewal pool until the endowment has been spent.

Industry education (formerly leadership development):the Two Ten Footwear Foundation is committed to providing the help and resources needed to improve the lives and careers of Footwear professionals. In fy23, industry education - or outreach - was incorporated into every possible activity to maximize the outcomes; every opportunity was utilized to increase awareness of the Foundation's offerings within its service industry. Two Ten hosted the highly visible annual gala fundraising event in june of 2023. . During fy23, Two Ten incorporated outreach into dozens of virtual corporate visits and made presentations to american Footwear workers. Additionally, Two Ten worked with its strategic partners to present the Foundation to targeted audiences through print, digital and virtual presentations. Social media and digital communications continue to increase in relevance and importance as critical communication tools, providing vibrant forums to reach, engage and educate the Footwear community. Two Ten's content development and management strategy for its social properties during fy23 were further expanded, with a database of client stories pushed out through relevant channels, including facebook, twitter, instagram, and linkedin. The Foundation has seen an uptick in its followers on multiple digital properties and new visitors to its website platform. Applications for Two Ten's scholarship offerings, intake calls, and attendance at community group events have grown due to this effort.

Community building (formerly member and education):two Ten Footwear Foundation is dedicated to building a stronger Footwear community by offering national educational and professional development programs designed to provide opportunities to engage with and learn from fellow members and leaders of the Footwear industry while supporting Two Ten. Community engagement initiatives each offer different activities and outcomes based on the individual needs of its targeted constituents include women in Footwear industry (wifi) and human resources leadership.wifi focuses on inspiring, mentoring, and connecting women at all levels of their careers and creating advocates for Two Ten. Wifi accomplishes its goals by holding virtual networking and professional development events twice to three times per year. In each instance, the topic matter and program format are designed to be relevant and scalable to meet the needs and interests of each regional area. The human resources leadership council (hrlc) connects human resources professionals within the Footwear industry for thought leadership specific to hr and to create advocacy for Two Ten and its mission. Hrlc works on Two Ten's behalf to increase awareness of the Foundation within their companies and to ensure Footwear employees know about Two Ten's services and programs. Hrlc also works together to reach other hr professionals to educate and engage them in the Foundation's programs and services, scholarship offerings, and the community groups available to members of the Footwear industry.