What Matters™

Your United Way is focusing on what matters most – the lives we change, the communities we shape.

The United Way of West Central Connecticut believes families are the foundation of our community. It is our belief that, regardless of their makeup, all families should have the opportunity to experience a quality life, socially, emotionally and economically.

We do this through collaborative, targeted, community efforts, such as:

Nurturing Our Children and Families:

• The Discovery Initiative is a partnership between the United Way, local Boards of Education and government, Family Resource Centers, School Readiness Councils, community early care and education providers, parents and the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund. This collaborative is working to address issues from birth to age eight in our community.
• The Born Learning Initiative is a national campaign to help parents and caregivers of very young children understand that everyday moments can be teaching moments. The campaign is sponsored by United Way, the Ad Council, the nation’s pre-eminent public service advertiser and Civitas, a top expert in parent outreach strategies and creative marketing around early childhood development. Through advertising, parent education and community impact, the Born Learning campaign will help parents, caregivers and communities provide quality early learning opportunities for young children.
• Our middle school initiative “Kids in the Middle” focuses on children ages eleven through fifteen. The United Way and its partners work to engage these youth in activities that make a contribution to the community to help them successfully navigate their transition to young adulthood.

Supporting Seniors:

• Our Senior Initiative is in the process of getting under way. Working to improve community conditions requires understanding the community. The United Way undertook a senior community needs assessment to understand just that – its resources, assets and needs related to seniors. Professionals and volunteers who work with senior citizens from our four towns – Bristol, Burlington, Plainville and Plymouth – have been working together for the last eight months to gather data about seniors. From that assessment, several priorities surfaced and the Senior Advisory Council is working to narrow these into one specific area that United Way can focus on. Details will follow!

Providing Basic Human Needs:

• This initiative won’t be officially kicked off for another few months but in the meantime, we have been matching funds to local agencies that provide heat and energy assistance, such as Bristol Community Organization, Burlington Fuel Bank, Plainville Community Food Pantry, and Plymouth Fuel Bank.
  

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United Way is in the business of creating meaningful and tangible impact in each an every community across America.

• It is not how many individuals we provide for and serve.
• It is not how many programs or partners we unite.

What matters is:

• The bottom-line results
• The lives we change, the communities we shape.

For our country, our communities, our families – that’s what matters.

Seven Things Connecticut Needs to Know about Early Childhood..	Are you ready?