Well, you get people involved in the community and your people just get better than they already are. We all do. I think I’m a better person for my involvement in it.
#UNIGNORABLE
Our job is to change the lives of families and individuals struggling in poverty. It’s the best kind of change we can make happen in our community. And in the 2018-19 fiscal year, led by a new President and CEO, our United Way tackled it head on.
As our economy continued to recover, we were inspired through the hundreds of workplace campaigns that took place, and we grew support for new initiatives, such as All in for Youth. We connected with community members in new ways by participating in local events and launching new learning opportunities, like the Brain Architecture Game, which focuses on the minds of young children and how experiences affect their development. And we continued the journey toward bringing more innovative digital experiences to supporters and people interested in our cause.
We ushered in a new Community Investment Strategy, focused on seven desired results. These are being shaped into compelling investment opportunities for donors and organizations looking to become major game changers in the fight against poverty.
Then, as we turned the page on another year, we saw some of the best up and coming change makers celebrate their efforts, as over 300 students from 20 local schools presented solutions they created as part of Dentons Make Your Mark on Poverty, an inspiring annual initiative of our United Way.
Seeing the meaningful difference we’re making together today, and the incredible growing efforts of tomorrow’s generation, we embrace this time of change with enthusiasm and renewed inspiration for our vision of a poverty free community.
We are focused on impact.
The Impact Calculator provides supporters with an online tool that easily illustrates the impact of their donations by simply entering in a fundraising goal and dollars raised.
Coats donated through Coats for Kids and Families
Kid Kits produced for children of families in need
School Kits given to kids through Tools for School
Home Kits given to newly housed families
Care Kits given at Homeless Connect
That’s when a United Way funded success coach at her school reached out to help her chart a different path.
Through counselling, Emily developed new skills and learned how to thrive in her classes and in life. But most importantly, the success coach inspired her to believe in herself.
Emily’s new path was made possible because of United Way donors who love our community.
Emily is now a high school graduate and on the path to fulfilling her dreams. One of those dreams is to give back to her community.
Our 2018 Campaign Success
Through these efforts, $24 million was raised to support families and individuals struggling in our community. This would not have been possible without the generosity of donors, volunteers, workplaces and foundations throughout the region who showed how much they love their local community by giving back.
It was truly inspiring to see the community join forces and it was an honour to serve as co-chairs in support of these efforts. In 2018 alone, an incredible 283,000 local people got the help they needed to escape or avoid the pitfalls of poverty. We know that if we continue to work together, we can achieve the vision of a poverty-free community where all children can reach their full potential, where all individuals and families can attain independence and financial stability, and where everyone can enjoy a strong sense of well-being and safety.
From Individual Donors
From Corporate Partners
From Grants, Sponsorships and Foundations
United Ways across Canada partnered with the Pantone® Color Institute to create Unignorable — a colour developed specifically to highlight local issues and bring attention to the millions of Canadians impacted by them. The world-renowned artist Malika Favre utilized this colour to shine a light on poverty and its related issues through thought-provoking illustrations.
6,400 families received early learning and parenting supports
24,000 students participated in healthy development programs
5,000 children participated in nurturing after school programs
4,800 people received help filing their income taxes and accessing benefits
1,400 vulnerable community members received financial literacy training
2,100 individuals got help obtaining and retaining employment
68,000 participants accessed healthy meals or food hampers
19,700 individuals facing mental health challenges got counselling
2,500 people who experienced domestic violence received caring supports
Donors & Volunteers
Well, you get people involved in the community and your people just get better than they already are. We all do. I think I’m a better person for my involvement in it.
The United Way gives us the capacity to make an impact on the community and gives us the opportunity to do that.
Through all the educational pieces…I learned everything that United Way does and trying to end poverty is something that I can really get behind, so I wanted to give support.
My dad’s example sent an important message to me at a young age: When people need help, we help them. That’s the house I grew up in.
The Award of Excellence is a recognition award presented to organizations in the Alberta Capital Region that raised more than $1,000,000 in 2018. The following organizations were recognized at this year’s Red Tie Gala on February 21, 2019:
We appreciate the efforts of the companies who help make the Alberta Capital Region a better place to live and work.
Awards of Distinction are presented to organizations that generate outstanding results in their workplace and corporate campaigns.
Labour and United Way of the Alberta Capital Region share the goal of making the community a healthy place to live, work and raise a family.
Corporate partners play an integral role in the implementation of United Way’s various engagement programs and events.
Sponsored Campaign Representatives play a crucial role in providing leadership and customer service to more than 400 workplace campaigns.
United Way’s highly-skilled volunteer board determines United Way’s direction, advises employees and takes responsibility for financial decisions and performance.
Council member volunteers are community and social service sector experts who are responsible for identifying community needs and evaluating programs that receive United Way funding.
These dedicated volunteers provide leadership in attracting major individual donations.
The Labour Participation Committee builds on the long-standing commitment oflabour unionists to support United Way through fundraising and volunteering.
These generous speakers inspire others to give at the Leaders of the Way level by sharing their personal experiences and motivation.
United Way's Community Impact Speaker program allows individuals to share their personal experiences with poverty to provide awareness and inspire social change.
The Campaign Cabinet is a roster of more than 40 senior-level leaders from all sectors – business, government, post-secondary and labour - who dedicate themselvesto leading and delivering a successful campaign.
United Way volunteers are key to organizational success. Volunteers offer their time, their expertise and, most importantly, their hearts.
Engaging our Community
Communities United continues to make strides in developing strong partnerships among community groups, local agencies, businesses, schools, and community leagues in the core neighbourhoods of Bannerman, Clareview, Fraser, Hairsine, and Kirkness. Taking a broad approach to promoting youth employment, Communities United organized career fairs at schools, job fairs with employers that are currently hiring, youth employment workshops, free babysitting certification workshops, soccer referee training, and supported youth entrepreneurship.
Twenty-one schools in the Alberta Capital Region tackled local poverty with project grants from Dentons Make Your Mark on Poverty. This United Way initiative is designed to empower and inspire the next generation of philanthropic leaders in our community. Students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 had a unique opportunity to learn about poverty in their communities and contribute to projects which included a student breakfast club, collections of warm clothing to donate to people in need, a program to cut down on food waste, construction of a tower of non-perishable items for the food bank, and a street art project to highlight the challenges of homelessness.
An unprecedented eight financial institutions and three community groups have been working together to provide financial education in the Edmonton region for the last three years. The collaborative trained nearly 100 volunteers from financial institutions to go out into the community and present their financial knowledge through free “Each One, Teach One” financial literacy workshops and information booths. Through this initiative, more than 1,300 individuals were empowered with financial knowledge.
The GenNext Initiative is a committee of young professionals from a diverse group of workplaces and professional backgrounds working to inspire their peers to become the next generation of philanthropic leaders. Committee members planned and hosted the first ever GenNext Mixer. The event was a success and sold out with over 100 attendees who learned how they could take action against the #UNIGNORABLE issue of local poverty.
Campaign Kickoff attendees
Speaker presentations given
Days of Caring held
Red Tie Gala attendees
volunteers supporting various agencies
Poverty simulation participants
All in for Youth uses a wrap-around approach to support the diverse and complex needs of socially vulnerable children, youth and families in five demonstration schools. The model brings together the expertise of partners from community agencies, school boards, funding organizations and government. During its second year of implementation, approximately 2,100 students accessed universal supports for overall well-being; 921 youth were supported with learning during critical Out of School Time hours, over 900 students were provided with breakfast, lunch and snacks, 824 family members received short term interventions, and 238 students received one-on-one mentorship.
Women United’s vision is for the most vulnerable girls in our city to complete high school with pride in themselves, their community and their culture. In the year since the Women United affinity group launched, the commitment and dedication of women in our community has been inspiring. Sarah Chan hosted An Evening with Sarah and Porsche hosted Horsepower and Heels, two key events that brought members and guests of Women United together to share in the experience of learning about at-risk youth and the power to changes lives. Through their efforts 318 girls in three schools targeted for support by Women United received the All in for Youth wrap-around services they need to succeed.
The Community Mental Health Action Plan is a partnership of more than 50 organizations working to help all organizations maximize mental health and addiction supports and services. For the first time security and staff working at City Centre Mall were provided mental health and trauma training. The training means that mall security will not only be better equipped to support themselves in understanding their own mental health, but be better at supporting visitors who come through the mall.
Poverty is #UNIGNORABLE. That's why I just gave to @myunitedway to help them create pathways out of poverty in #yeg! https://t.co/ZWLuAuCyXW
— Dennis Agbegha (@DAgbegha) October 2, 2018
Since 1982 AGLC has been a loyal contributor to the @myUnitedWay campaign, raising a total of $767,825. We are proud of our rich history of giving to the communities where we live and work across the province. Our kickoff was a great success with Roary the Lion. #unignorable pic.twitter.com/zqhWqH2m6b
— AGLC (@AGLC) October 2, 2018
We were fortunate enough to enjoy a #TacoTuesday to kick off our @myunitedway campaign but the reality is that there are too many individuals unable to put food on their table. That’s why we are working hard to make poverty #UNIGNORABLE in #YEG pic.twitter.com/uuuMUEgrfu
— The Family Centre (@tfcnalberta) October 9, 2018
Our annual Employee Giving Campaign provides opportunities for our employees to get out in the community - not just in #yyc. A huge thank you to our volunteers in #yeg who helped @myunitedway to build a gazebo, lay flooring, paint sheds and replace roofing for a local agency! pic.twitter.com/HS7mAEfSga
— Fluor Canada (@fluorcanada) October 18, 2018
Powerful/eye-opening/stressful/frustrating/scary experience - but I recommend folks to participate in @myunitedway’s Poverty Simulation. Poverty robs kids of their potential & steals hope from families that struggle to build lives of stability and independence. #UNIGNORABLE #yeg pic.twitter.com/NdIB4iLOsR
— Steph Perilli (@stephperilli) October 23, 2018
Brain architecture game with @myunitedway and participants @Zorbulous @LindsayTrembla3 showed us the importance of early positive experiences for children to help prevent/end poverty #UNIGNORABLE pic.twitter.com/d9TRNOetJz
— MichelleDevlin (@michelledevlin) November 14, 2018
Thank you for changing lives.