United Way taking action in policy arena

United Way for Southeastern Michigan believes that government plays a crucial role in creating long-term changes in community conditions, and we are expanding our efforts to improve lives through public policy.

In fact, our public policy team has developed a platform based on educational preparedness, financial stability, and basic needs – the foundation of our new Agenda for Change – and we are working to provide you with an opportunity to have your voice heard as well. United Way knows that by mobilizing the collective voice of metro Detroit to advocate for change, we can make a greater impact.

That is why we have launched the “Take Action” project, an online advocacy program that allows individuals to log on to United Way’s Web site, identify their elected state and federal legislators, and conveniently contact them about important issues.

Through the Take Action project, you will also be able to monitor pending legislation tied to our policy platform.

When looking at educational preparedness, United Way believes it can use public policy to affect change by advocating for the Education Begins at Home Act and Early Learning Opportunity Act, and by supporting increases in Head Start funding. Our policy work will also support legislative efforts to increase school attendance and the work of the Early Childhood Investment Corporation, which focuses on opportunities for children before they enter school.

United Way’s financial stability focus includes advocating for the Savings for Working Families Act and the Calling for 2-1-1 Act at the federal level, as well as pushing for annualized Individual Development Accounts and promoting the inclusion of financial literacy in public school curricula.

Our public policy efforts to increase basic needs resources include advocating for greater funding for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, monitoring legislation tied to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, and securing federal earmarks that would enable United Way to help more individuals gain access to job training and to prepare for work in emerging economies.

Future plans call for special United Way summits bringing key decision makers and community leaders together to discuss issues tied to our platform. Our advocacy team is also working to develop a Public Policy Academy dedicated to educating the community about the importance of government and getting involved in political matters that affect them.

Learn more about United Way’s policy efforts and how you can get involved by clicking here.

Education begins at home, with your support 

Increasing early childhood education opportunities is a major focus of United Way for Southeastern Michigan’s new Agenda for Change. Much of our progress in this area is linked to our public policy work, and United Way supporters can make a difference by calling for the enactment of legislation like the Education Begins at Home Act.

This U.S. Senate bill would provide federal funding to states for quality in-home education and support services for children. No state matching dollars are called for in the legislation, which is currently being considered by the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee.

If the bill were to pass, in its current form, Michigan would be eligible for $13.1 million. This legislation is critical to advancing early education efforts underway in southeast Michigan.

Nationwide, the bill would:

• Provide $400 million over three years to expand access to parent education and family support services through quality early childhood home visitation programs
• Provide $50 million over three years to fund innovative ideas and partnerships at the local level to expand quality home visitation services to families needing English language education
• Provide $50 million over three years for in-home services to families of Armed Forces members
• Strengthen the early childhood home visitation components of Early Head Start

The children of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties need you. You can help make the Education Begins at Home Act a reality by contacting your representatives in Congress and asking them to co-sponsor the bill. Sending a letter is simple using United Way’s online advocacy tool -- just click here. The feature quickly identifies and directs correspondence to your representative.

By working together to advocate for the well-being of our region’s children, we will send a strong message to legislators about the importance of this bill. For more information on the Education Begins at Home Act, visit www.parentsasteachers.org.

A college senior from University of Michigan-Dearborn, Adam Harris discovered the universal camaraderie of students earlier this year when he helped rebuild a section of Lake Charles, La., with the help of United Way for Southeastern Michigan during Alternative Spring Break.

Vital stats: Adam Harris, 20, is organizing a student volunteer arm of the United Way at UM-Dearborn. He plays basketball for the Wolves, as in Wolverines, while majoring in business management. His ultimate goal is to gain a masters in sports administration and better the community through recreational programs for youth.

Background: Adam's family is integrally involved in the World Church of God on Mack Avenue near Crane on Detroit's East Side. He grew up passing out food to needy families. He lives with his mother in Lathrup Village and gives time to coach a junior basketball league in Southfield. "Sportsman skills – teamwork, leadership and commitment to practice – are skills transferable to every area of society," Adam says.

Volunteer history: Adam was one of 14 Detroit-area volunteers including college students and professionals who participated in United Way's Alternative Spring Break 2007, sponsored by FedEx and GameStop/EB Games. He rode a bus to Lake Charles, La., to help in the long-term recovery efforts to rebuild the Golf Coast area still devastated by the 2005 hurricanes.

What did he find? "The first day we took a tour of surrounding places to see how much damage was done. It was insightful to see how much destruction was still left 18 months later, especially because of stagnant water. I could feel how depressed people must be to live in such a situation. We helped one family recover some of their dignity. Their house had holes in the roof and a lot of damage. We tore out the old floor and installed a new one. We worked 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. The greatest joy was seeing Roxanne come home with tears in her eyes as her house was rebuilt."

What will you do now? "Working with United Way on Alternative Spring Break, I got to recognize the power of volunteering," he says. "It brings together people of all ethnicities and nationalities. It isn't about your position in society but how you can help others. This fall I will work on an organization I helped start, Students Working Onward Together, SWOT. We'll partner with United Way and the University of Michigan."

Who is your mentor? "Martin Luther King was my dad's hero, mine as well. I listen to his speeches on CD as I drive around in my car. His issues are as prevalent today as they were in the '60s. I can recite his 'Mountaintop' speech word for word."

To read Adam's blog from his Alternative Spring Break trip, go here: http://uwsemasb.blogspot.com/

Reprinted with permission from metromode.

The original article, "LaSalle, United Way examine 'food deserts' in Detroit" as written, did not clearly, from the outset, provide acknowledgement of the study's author and included some figures from the report without sufficient attribution. We have therefore removed the article and refer you directly to the study itself. A full copy of the study, "Examining the Impact of Food Deserts on Public Health in DETROIT," conducted by Mari Gallagher Research and Consulting Group, may be downloaded by going to http://www.marigallagher.com/projects/.

Kurt's Corner: Expense of Car Ownership a Burden to Detroiters

United Way’s new Agenda for Change focuses heavily on providing for the tri-county population’s basic needs while supporting existing regional efforts and assisting in the development of programs that help residents realize financial stability. 

While everyone in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties is affected by roller coaster gasoline prices, there are numerous discrepancies within the region when it comes to taxes, access to jobs, availability of fresh fruits and vegetables, affordability of housing, access to public transportation and much more. The city of Detroit has experienced unprecedented disinvestment over the course of decades, as businesses and jobs have relocated to the suburbs. Recent research has shown that the Detroit region has led the country in the share of jobs being created 10 miles or more from the city’s central business district.¹

Runzheimer International, the Wisconsin-based firm specializing in total employee mobility, reported that Detroit, Philadelphia and Los Angeles are the most expensive places to own and operate a typical 2007 mid-size vehicle, with yearly costs exceeding $10,600. Detroit area costs were $12,210 per year with Philadelphia next at $11,081, and Los Angeles in third place at $10,604. Expenses include operating costs (fuel, oil, tires and maintenance) and ownership costs (insurance, depreciation, and license and registration fees).

The three most expensive cities in Runzheimer's analysis of more than 100 U.S. cities all share one common factor -- high auto insurance rates. Detroit rates for liability, comprehensive and collision insurance for a mid-size sedan driven within a 50-mile radius of the city are $5,072 annually. Philadelphia’s rates come in a distant second at $3,779 and Los Angeles rates are $3,225.  These rates are based on both male and female drivers over a minimum age with clean driving records, and include comprehensive, collision, bodily injury, property damage and uninsured motorist coverage.

"Urban policyholders throughout the country generally pay for more auto insurance due to the increased frequency and severity of insurance claims in larger cities," says Pete Kuhnmuench, executive director, Insurance Institute of Michigan.  "In Michigan, our urban policyholders are further burdened by Michigan's mandatory automobile insurance law, which requires the purchase of unlimited medical benefits.  In fact, Michigan is the only state to require unlimited medical benefits for all reasonable and necessary care."

As United Way collaborates with others in the region to improve the financial stability for all residents, we will work actively in public policy channels to support efforts targeted at reducing the auto insurance rate differential that exists for residents of Detroit.

Upcoming events
Leadership Next offers networking, baseball, more

United Way for Southeastern Michigan’s popular new Leadership Next program will hold its first general meeting Aug. 8, and young professionals interested in playing a role in revitalizing the region are encouraged to attend.

Creating a more progressive, bustling metro Detroit by engaging emerging leaders is the charge being taken on by Leadership Next. The program seeks to lift up and build upon Southeastern Michigan’s assets to make the region stronger, and to attract and retain talent in the process.

The upcoming meeting will provide attendees an overview of the program, as well as an opportunity to mix and mingle with other emerging leaders.

The Aug. 8 event will be held at The Fillmore on Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit, and starts at 5 PM. The first 200 people to RSVP will receive a ticket to the Detroit Tigers-Tampa Bay Devil Rays game across the street at Comerica Park. The game begins at 7:05 PM.

If you are interested in attending the meeting, go to www.uwsem.org/leadershipnext, to sign up. Becoming a member is simple, as long as you believe in the potential of the region, register online and contribute to United Way. In return, United Way provides skill-building workshops, volunteer events and quality networking opportunities.

Tell us about it: Education
To take the survey, click here.

Michigan Future, Inc., in its often-quoted 2006 report, "A New Agenda for a New Michigan," states that "we have come to believe that Michigan's decline is caused, in large part, because Michigan — its citizens, enterprises, and communities — has been slow to adapt to a rapidly changing global economy – what Thomas Friedman calls the flat world. The only reliable path to a high-prosperity Michigan is to be concentrated in knowledge-based enterprises. What most distinguishes successful areas is their concentration of talent, where talent is defined as a combination of knowledge, creativity, and entrepreneurship." The report presents a number of strategic priorities that are viewed as critical in turning around the economic prospects of both the state and the Detroit region.

The number 1 priority is - Build a culture aligned with the flat world. "What matters most are the attitudes and beliefs of citizens about how to get ahead in a world of constant change. Our expectations about the economy and how one constructs a good-paying career are a big driver of how successful we will be in the future. The stories we tell each other, and most important, our children, about how to do well economically matter because they guide action. We need today's stories to be aligned with the realities of the flat world. Long-standing Michigan beliefs about the economy are now impediments to our future success. We operate against a substantial headwind unless we change our expectations about (1) the ability to get a good job without post-secondary education and (2) being entitled to a secure job with good pay and benefits, as long as you do a good job, whether your employer is successful or not. The evidence is clear: the most reliable path to economic success is post-secondary education."

Earlier this year, EPIC-MRA conducted a poll on behalf of Your Child, the Skillman Foundation and the Detroit News. United Way for Southeastern Michigan (UWSEM) has received permission to replicate a number of the original questions so as to receive broader community input on this important topic. Educational preparedness is a key component of United Way's new Agenda for Change, as well as one of the five core areas for the One D initiative, where it is being championed by New Detroit and UWSEM.

The survey allows both parents and non-parents to participate.

To take the survey, click here.