United Way of Southeast Louisiana

Community impact strategic planning & fund distribution:united Way of Southeast Louisiana (uwsela) has a bold vision for eradicating poverty in sela. Grant-making supports the vision of "equitable communities where all individuals are healthy, educated and economically stable." This means both a sharpened focus on poverty through supporting the critical programs that form the bedrock of serving our population, and a systems change approach centered on collaboration. Our grant-making is rooted in addressing the complex interplay of symptoms and drivers of poverty in the region. In 2016, uwsela launched its first cycle of grants to support programs and groups working together in a collaborative Way to address the outcomes in our blueprint for prosperity. This portion of the community impact division, as distinct from the initiatives and programs it coordinates, is responsible for the annual strategic grants funding processes. It develops strategic plans to guide the funding processes and program or initiative development, and establishes and monitors measures of program success and financial accountability. Accomplishments: total # of people served by our 64 grant partners from july 1, 2023-june 30, 2024 - 225,820. Uwsela funded 64 programs, from july 1, 2023 -june 30, 2024 to address priorities such as workforce training, housing, medical and mental health care, youth development, education, child and adult care and academic supports. Uwsela answered over 225,820 appeals for help from our community.in addition to our program grants, in the spring of 2024, community impact re-launched its collaboration grants with $500,000 from the mackenzie scott funding to support eight (8) collaborative efforts:- la voz de la comunidad fundacion- northlake homeless coalition- second harvest food bank - jefferson family preservation consortium- urban league of Louisiana- new orleans children youth planning board- new orleans cypb- the split second foundation

Disaster relief:salt water intrusion - drinking water distributions in plaquemines parish:in september 2023, president biden declared a national disaster in Southeast Louisiana as an intrusion of salt water moved up the mouth of the Mississippi river, rendering the water unsafe for drinking and other essential uses. As the area's main source of drinking water moved north, schools, community centers, and local families faced difficulty finding and purchasing drinkable water. Uwsela and our partners at aetna collaborated and provided fresh drinking water to two locations within plaquemines parish. Basing our operations at plaquemines high school on october 4 and at phoenix high school on october 11, we provided 17 pallets of water, totaling 918 cases, estimated that we served 300 families at each location, totaling 600 households throughout plaquemines parish facing the water intrusion crisis in Southeast Louisiana. Slidell tornado response:on wednesday, april 10, 2024, nearly 700 homes and more than 50 businesses were damaged in the tornados throughout slidell, la. Uwsela sprang into action and within hours upon impact, we launched a fund in partnership with wwl to drive resources to the community. The following days, april 11-14, more than $4,000 in hygiene supplies were distributed to families impacted. April 20-21, uwsela went to the john slidell park gym from to hand out 85 gift cards totaling $50,915. These were given out to individuals who were identified by red cross as having major or severe damage. In addition, uwsela granted good sam's with $35,000 to support families with immediate needs like food, housing, gas and other essentials to get back on their feet. In total, uwsela provided more than $95,000 in support directly to families in need.

J. wayne leonard prosperity center:united Way of Southeast Louisiana's j. wayne leonard prosperity center is a one-stop financial capability center that connects individuals to a combination of ten financial capability services at no cost to participants.services offered are:- financial education - financial coaching - financial counseling - credit counseling - credit building access to safe and affordable financial products - free tax preparation assistance - access to federal and state - incentivized savings programs - asset ownership programsunited Way of Southeast Louisiana's financial capability team has developed a comprehensive financial education curriculum and resource guide to raise awareness and educate the community on achieving financial stability. The curriculum outlines practical steps for improving the economic well-being of individuals and families. It has been successfully implemented with community, civic, and private partners, consistently yielding positive results. Over the past four years, the guide has been used with participants in the individual development account (ida) program, receiving excellent feedback. Since its inception, the uwsela financial capability team has provided group financial education to over 13,001 participants. This training covers essential financial topics such as wealth creation, asset building, and long-term financial security. The curriculum is based on the uwsela financial education curriculum and resource guide and is supplemented by other renowned financial education programs, including afi financial literacy core competencies, freddie mac's creditsmart, fdic's money smart curriculum, the federal reserve bank's building wealth, and consumer action's moneywise, among other resources.the primary goal of these group training sessions is to introduce participants to financial management concepts, leading to more in-depth, personalized one-on-one coaching. These coaching sessions are designed to empower participants to achieve financial stability and long-term success. Uwsela specialists work with participants and their families to create household budgets, build savings, reduce debt, and improve credit scores. The one-on-one coaching has been highly successful for many participants.

New orleans grade level reading campaign:- reengaged more than 100+ organizations and businesses actively participating in the new orleans campaign for grade level reading.- multiple community members involved; partnerships established through the new orleans campaign for grade level reading vision: all students in new orleans read at grade level by the end of third grade. 10-year goal: by 2027, 80% of economically disadvantaged new orleans students are reading on grade level by the end of third grade. (1) increase public awareness and build community support for the campaign; (2) improve school readiness by advocating for increased funding to support high-quality early care and education for children, birth to age three, who are deemed "at-risk; (3) improve attendance and reduce chronic absence by increasing knowledge, awareness, coordination, and focused action to address the community and systems-level factors that contribute to chronic absence; (4) increase summer learning and prevent summer slide through the kay fennelly literacy institute professional development and coaching for out-of-school time instructors and staff; (5) improve literacy instruction across settings for children, birth to eight, building on the work of the Louisiana early literacy commission.progress on our vision:- school readiness: 2023 - 33.1% of kindergarteners met or exceeded standards on the drdp-k*(*only 170 records submitted, ldoe 2023); ~8,679 at-risk children, ages 0-4, unserved by a publicly-funded seat (calculated using agenda data for october 2022 & 2023). 2024 goal - 80% of new orleans children enter kindergarten ready for success; no more than 5,500 at-risk children, ages 0-4, unserved by a publicly-funded seat.- attendance: 2023 - 28.6% of new orleans public elementary students were chronically absent. (ldoe, 2023). 2024 goal - fewer than 10% of public school students in pre-k through 3rd grade are chronically absent.summer learning: 2023 - more than 3,300 children have participated in free/low-cost summer programming with instructors supported by the kay fennelly literacy institute since 2017. (internal data); 2024 goal - 2,000 more low-income children, ages 4-8, will participate in affordable, high-quality, literacy-rich summer programming.third grade reading: 2023 - 31% of third graders in new orleans public schools are reading on grade level, based on achieving mastery or above on leap ela. (ldoe, spring 2023); 2024 goal - 70% of third graders in new orleans public schools are reading on grade level by the end of third grade.revised strategic direction: (1) increase awareness and coordinated action through a campaign that engages media, partners, and people who impact the lives of young children; (2) improve available data through a coordinated local data hub and longitudinal tracking of child outcomes; (3) deepen coordinated engagement of partners in impacting chronic absence, school readiness, summer slide, and early literacy through the campaign's steering committee, working groups, and targeted engagement and public awareness efforts; (4) advance public policy by exploring a statewide grade-level reading network and public policy advocacy that connects public policy decisions to child success.dolly parton imagination library:mission: to inspire a love of reading in children from birth to age five by providing high-quality, age-appropriate books each month.hb 412 (2023) created the imagination library of Louisiana under the Louisiana educational television authority for the purpose of developing, implementing, promoting, and fostering a comprehensive statewide initiative for encouraging children from birth to five years of age to develop a love of reading and learning.funding: the program is free of charge to families, made possible with funding by dolly parton, the state of Louisiana, and local community partners.orleans parish: to serve 65% of the cities eligible population would cost $340,162 annually (22,024 children) and could leverage existing efforts by United Way in neighboring parishes and krewe of dolly in 70117 zip code.nola cares:throughout the 2023 Louisiana legislative session, the new orleans campaign for grade-level reading (glr) engaged partners to keep the pressure on state elected officials to increase funding for early care and education. Glr organized coalition members to advocate for local ece funding, with a focus on (1) supporting the implementation of the new early childhood education millage, and (2) advocating for additional funding in the 2024 city budget with a focus on ece teacher retention stipends. This included a forum on early care and education advocacy with over 100 participants at clover on october 11, 2023. Glr continued its efforts to better center and develop sustainable and coordinated parent and early childhood provider voice in advocacy. Glr did this by coordinating with for providers by providers (4pxp), the nola cares participatory action research network, and the power coalition in developing and implementing advocacy strategies. It also engaged providers and parents in informing glr's advocacy agenda around the 2024 city of new orleans budget. To advance our advocacy efforts we engaged a broader network of providers. The primary activities implemented with the grant extension to achieve the expected results included providing capacity building support and technical assistance to ready start networks in rural parishes such as st. tammany, plaquemines, st. bernard, Washington, and tangipahoa. This included 32 hours of consultation on board development, coalition building, and fund development with each ready start network. The networks participated in board training, stakeholder identification, and ecosystem mapping, fostering collaboration and clarity in expanding early childhood education access. Additionally, advocacy activities were implemented through participation in early ed day at the capitol, with over 20 members actively engaging in legislative advocacy, which helped secure funding for early childhood education. Lastly, glr sponsored the focus on the future forum, held on wednesday, april 10, marking a pivotal moment for early care and education (ece) in jefferson parish. Hosted by jefferson ready start network and jefferson parish councilmember at-large scott walker, the event gathered business leaders, community members, educators and advocates to discuss the transformative impact of ece on children, working families, the economy and the broader community.several key results were achieved:- ready start networks strengthened their internal capacity through technical assistance and board development, resulting in a clearer vision for expanding access to early childhood education.- participation in legislative advocacy led to legislative wins, including the restoration of $15 million for the child care assistance program (ccap).- collaboration and peer learning were enhanced across rural parishes, with networks sharing best practices and improving their operational strategies.- individual ready start networks formed new public private partnerships, increased enrollment in early learning centers, and planned for new centers on public school campuses.

New orleans mental health collaborative (mhc):the new orleans mental health collaborative (mhc) was created to identify and fill gaps in mental health care in the city. The initiative was launched during a special city council session on mental and behavioral health convened by new orleans city councilmember joe giarrusso on sept. 15, 2022.in 2023-2024, the mhc confirmed its geographic target population to go along with its vision and areas of focus.vision: all new orleanians have equitable access to a robust, well-coordinated mental health system of high-quality care.areas of focus: access to care, capacity building and needs assessmentgeographic target area: new orleans east, lower 9 and holy cross neighborhoods - the area of new orleans identified as a behavioral health desertaccess to care:- began planning for the behavioral health provider event for our geographic target area- assisted with the coordination of efforts for organizations who work with school to draw down medicaid dollars- via samhsa's recast grant, increased hours of direct mental health services to youth in schools- via samhsa's recast grant, began the planning for the resolve community impact grant process that will fund programs that address gaps in care to the most vulnerable communitiescapacity building:- via samhsa's recast grant, increased # of trained individuals working with children and/or families on mental health first aid- secured $100,000 to provide mental health first aid training to faith leaders in our geographic target area needs assessment:- completed the comprehensive needs and resource assessmentcommunity engagement:- #mentalhealthmoment social media campaign- mental health collaborative radio show series- mhc at community health fairs- started to revamp the mhc website and collateral policy:- educated ourselves on those bills impacting our work- members of mhc and uwsela's public policy committee engaged in calls to action around bills impacting our work and some testified as wellsamhsa recast grant:the substance abuse and mental health services administration (samhsa) awarded mhc partners, led by United Way of Southeast Louisiana, over $1.9 million for two years to expand and coordinate trauma-informed community behavioral health resources and services for young people. Funds support the resilient, equitable systems for overcoming loss and violence everywhere (resolve) new orleans project, which focuses on serving youth and families living in communities of chronic poverty most impacted by collective trauma and community violence. In 2023-2024, the samhsa recast grant secured the project coordinator and external evaluator, achieved a full year of impact with its service providers and developed the plan for the resolve community impact grant process to take place in august 2024.

Louisiana prisoner re-entry initiative (lapri) collaborative:year 5 - jefferson parish lapri:- 2023-2024 represented year five of the initiative. The contract year 5 in jefferson parish was march 1, 2023-february 29, 2024.the department of public safety and corrections (dps&c)/jri office continued to refer clients in addition to referring clients housed in other correctional facilities across the state. Correctional facilities allowed access to clients virtually to enroll client in the program and provide in-reach services. Engaging clients virtually as a part of the in-reach process within the correctional facility presented challenges for some of the correctional facilities because the facilities were not structured to allow providers to access clients virtually. The program structure has been modified to accept referrals from the community, service providers, program participants, probation and parole and reentry transitional specialists working in other parish jails and state correctional facilities across Louisiana. Between march of 2023 and february of 2024, 85 participants received services with la-pri in jefferson parish. Over 71% of participants were black, while 19% percent were white. Moreover, participants spanned a wide age range, from 21 to 69 years old. The average age of participants enrolled was 40 years old. Needs such as acquiring a driver's license, securing employment, and accessing food assistance were reported. Referrals were made to the legal services team to continue to serve our clients to include getting contempt(s) of court waived, reducing participant fines, fees and consumer debts, applying for disability benefits and appealing any denial of benefits (snap, medicaid, social security (ssi)/disability (ssid), and etc.). Participants needing workforce services were connected to employment. Though limited in scope, transitional housing has been a great backup plan for those who have limited housing options or circumstances changed with little notice and no healthy alternatives. Program partners include the Louisiana department of public safety and corrections that were the source of the referrals, catholic charities to provide case management services, Southeast legal services and loyola university school of law to provide civil legal services to address any legal barriers a justice involved individual may have. Louisiana public health institute is the evaluation partner to evaluate the efficacy of the lapri model and its implementation. Funding partners include the Louisiana department of public safety and corrections, the jefferson paris council and the u.s. department of justice.year 5 outcomes: - provided 3,217 services to 85 participants between march 1, 2023, and february 29, 2024- participants most commonly required housing assistance, employment support, and legal aid- 87.5% of participants did not recidivate during their time enrolled in the initiative- employment increased 46.2%- income increased 53.8%- legal standing increased overall for participants 35.7%st. Tammany parish lapri:2023-2024 represented year three of a two-year initiative with a one-year contract extension. Year 3 ends november 30, 2024. The department of public safety and corrections (dps&c)/jri office continued to refer clients housed in the st. tammany parish jail and other correctional facilities across the state. Correctional facilities allowed access to clients virtually to enroll client in the program and provide in-reach services. Engaging clients virtually as a part of the in-reach process within the some of the correctional facilities presented challenges for some because the facilities were not structured to allow providers to access clients virtually. The department of public safety and corrections (dps&c) transitional specialist assigned to the st. tammany parish jail began referring clients housed at the st. tammany parish jail in april of 2022. The st. tammany parish jail has allowed access to clients virtually to enroll client in the program and provide in-reach services. The program structure has been modified to accept referrals from the community, service providers, program participants, probation and parole and reentry transitional specialists working in other parish jails and state correctional facilities across Louisiana. Between december of 2022 and november of 2023, 55 participants received services with la-pri in st. tammany parish. Over 54% of participants were white, while 44% percent were black. Moreover, participants spanned a wide age range, from 22 to 69 years old. The average age of participants served was 46 years old. The participants were referred for legal services to include reducing participant fines, fees and consumer debts, applying for disability benefits and appealing any denial of benefits (snap, medicaid, social security (ssi)/disability (ssid), and etc.). Though limited in scope, transitional housing has increased for those who have limited housing options. Eligible participants were referred for workforce services. Program partners include the Louisiana department of public safety and corrections that were the source of the referrals. Catholic charities to provide case management services, nami-st. tammany to provide transportation services, first district-st. tammany workforce development to provide employment services, Southeast legal services and loyola university school of law to provide civil legal services to address any legal barriers a justice involved individual may have. Louisiana public health institute is the evaluation partner to evaluate the efficacy of the lapri model and its implementation. Funding partners include the Louisiana department of public safety and corrections. Mackensie scott funds were allocated to support the initiative.outcomes for year 2:- provided 1,118 services to 55 participants in st. tammany parish from december of 2022 to november of 2023- the services most often provided to participants were case management, direct assistance, and collaboration of care- 89% of participants were not rearrested - employment increased 110% - income scores increased by 160%- access to healthcare increased by 65%year 3:st. tammany parish lapri was granted a one-year contract extension by the Louisiana department of public safety and corrections to continue to providing services in st. tammany parish. The contract will end november 30, 2024. This allowed lapri to continue to provide services without disruption to the program or the clients that were enrolled in the program. Program partners remained the same, excluding nami-st. tammany to provide transportation services. Though not as reliable, it was more cost effective to use rideshare services for clients needing transportation. The department of public safety and corrections (dps&c)/jri office continued to refer clients housed in the st. tammany parish jail until the end of march 2024 when we were informed that the reentry center was scheduled to be cclosed,and we would no longer receive referrals from the st. tammany parish jail. We continue to receive referrals from other correctional facilities across the state. We also continued to accept referrals from community, service providers, program participants, probation and parole and reentry transitional specialists working in other parish jails and state correctional facilities across Louisiana. Correctional facilities allowed access to clients virtually to enroll client in the program and provide in-reach services. 2023-2024 represented year three of a contract extension. Year 3 ends november 30, 2024. La-pri was granted 1 year contract extension by the Louisiana department of public safety and corrections to continue to providing services in st. tammany parish. The contract will end november 30, 2024. This allowed la-pri to continue to provide services without disruption to the program or the clients that were enrolled in the program. Program partners remained the same, excluding nami-st. tammany to provide transportation services. Though not as reliable, it was more cost effective to use rideshare services for clients needing transportation. The department of public safety and corrections (dps&c)/jri office continued to refer clients housed in the st. tammany parish jail until the end of march 2024 when we were informed that the reentry center was scheduled to be closed, and we would no longer receive referrals from the st. tammany parish jail. We continue to receive referrals from other correctional facilities across the state. We also continued to accept referrals from community, service providers, program participants, probation and parole and reentry transitional specialists working in other parish jails and state correctional facilities across Louisiana. Correctional facilities allowed access to clients virtually to enroll client in the program and provide in-reach services.

Vita, eitc, and single stop:vita, the volunteer income tax assistance program, provides free tax preparation services to low- and moderate-income workers, helping them keep their full tax refunds. Irs-certified vita volunteers assist taxpayers by ensuring they avoid costly fees and predatory lending practices while also claiming all eligible tax credits, such as the earned income tax credit (eitc) and child tax credit. Eitc is the nation's largest anti-poverty initiative, designed to help lift low-income families out of poverty.united Way is crucial in promoting the vita program and eitc through marketing and outreach across its seven-parish service area and beyond. In partnership with single stop usa and delgado community college, United Way also offers free tax preparation and benefits screening for students, ensuring they receive all the public benefits they qualify for. The aim is to boost students' income to help them stay in school, preventing difficult decisions between affording childcare, books, or food.accomplishments: - total number of income tax returns completed - 8,210 - total amount of income tax refunds - $9,415,750- total amount of earned income tax credits - $3,365,091

Individual development account project (ida):an ida is a matched savings account that helps low-income individuals and families save money to acquire an economic asset that can build long-term financial stability and self-sufficiency. This project allows participants to use their idas for down payment/ closing costs on a new home, start or expand a small business, post-secondary education, home repair, and vehicle purchases. Participants are required to attend financial education courses and asset-specific training before making a purchase. In addition, they must save for at least six months before making a purchase. Ida project partners provide financial education, credit counseling, and asset-specific training. We received a $1,000,000 mackenzie scott charitable giving on december 15, 2020, to start our fourth program. The fourth ida project will operate from july 1, 2021-june 30, 2026.accomplishments: - total number of participants enrolled - 18- 7 homeownership - 3 vehicle - 7 business start-up or expansion - 1 post-secondary education- total number of participants that have completed 12 hours of homebuyer training - 7 - total number of participants that have completed 12 hours of financial education - 18- asset purchases - 18 total: 7 homeownership, 7 small businesses, 1 post-secondary and 3 vehicle

Workforce readiness - employment & training programs:to expand our workforce development investments and community-strengthening efforts, uwsela works with the Louisiana department of children and family services workforce division to provide capacity building resources and assistance for their set for success programs. These programs provide individuals and families the opportunity to transform their lives through training and skills to overcome barriers. Participants can gain skills, education or work experience needed to become employable and earn a living wage. Over the past year, uwsela has helped build capacity in both the snap and step employment & training programs by developing, working on, leading, or participating in projects such as, but not limited to:snap e&t: a position on the snap e&t advisory council; creation and presentations on best practices partner guide-fiscal and reimbursement guidelines; development of the partner referral strategic plan; on-boarding approved providers into the snap e&t program; assisting potential contractors in understanding the application and contract submission documentation; researching state ngo's and identification of potential workforce partners; providing technical assistance and peer to peer learning; and presenting the introduction to the cliff tool for provider agencies.step e&t: completion of the catapult powered by cliff tools pilot project and the statewide implementation of the program. The cliff tools are used to assist case managers with their clients and can show haw an increase in income or career advancement can lead to the loss of eligibility for participation in government assistance programs; cliff presentations to la state legislature and la governors subcabinet on workforce & education; selected for attendance at national cliff convening, selected for beyond the cliff coalition; training of step coaches on tool; uwsela prosperity center step e&t participation through targeted and integrated financial capability education to referred step participants. The prosperity center provides educational and training opportunities through financial education (various financial topics), financial profile (analysis of current financial situation) and financial coaching (strategic one-on-one interactions) to referred step participants. Through this program, participants are helped to become knowledgeable and understanding of how they can navigate their own financial situations, which can lead to a path of self-sufficiency.

Rate payer endowment:out of school time programming and summer opportunities for youth in our city are essential to keep our young people engaged and offer safe spaces for learning and growth. The summer months are the most challenging for our alice households as many of the supportive services youth receive during the school year are unavailable. We want to acknowledge and support the work of our community partners who are committed to providing quality summer programming that help close the gaps in summer learning loss and economic opportunity. The United Way of Southeast Louisiana sought to offer this funding opportunity to small-sized (budget under $500,000) bipoc-led youth-serving organizations to broaden or enhance their existing summer 2023 programming for low-income, vulnerable youth ages 11- 24 over the summer months. Grant amounts ranged from $5,000 to $10,000. The funding was to address the solutions identified in the youth (1) health and well-being; (2) voice; (3) learning; (4) economic stability; (5) safety and justice; and (6) space and place.funded summer programs:- about f.a.c.e. (about family and community engagement)- cultivating youth- electric girls- eternal seeds- friends of new orleans public library- jesus project ministries- pink nails girls mentoring- phoenix communities of nola- re(ad) treat- the foundation for science and mathematics education- trinity community center summer leadership development- yeah! Yogi- the youth initiativeimpact and results:- 4,539 youth served- 2,803 hours of program service hours provided- 6,633 meals provided- 85% of students feel more confident working with power-tools- 81% of students feel more confident with public speaking and 98% experienced a reduction in anxiety symptoms- 98% of participants experienced a decrease of depression; 89% had an increase in the ability to feel bodily sensations; 88% had an increase in optimism; 83%had an increase in distress tolerance- 76% of participants reported they had a changed perspective on empathy- 100% improvement by older rookies in three categories- 96% of the students added advanced coursework to their schedules- neighborhood children read books and hosted their own book discussions - 70% increase in participant communication skills, 68% increase decision-making skills, 60% increase in job readiness, and 83% increase skills related to setting and meeting personal goals- 95% of students would like to participate in future stem program, 88% of students are interested in pursuing a stem career pathway, and 98% of students feel more confident in their stem knowledge- 42 teens signed up for the teen tech center- participants completed an art mural in the community- reduction in juvenile justice system interactions and a decrease in at-risk behaviors- increase in awareness of profession art career pathways

All other program services