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United Way of Pennsylvania hosted a legislative breakfast and was joined by the PA House of Representives Policy Committee. This successful event helps advocate for PA 2-1-1 across the state.
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UWP Hosts 2-1-1 Legislative Breakfast
This week UWP and PA 2-1-1 had the opportunity to host a briefing for both caucuses of the House Policy Committee to give an update on the current status of 2-1-1 throughout the commonwealth and where we are hoping to take 2-1-1 in the next year. This opportunity was important to showcase how the state funding support over the past two budget cycles is helping 2-1-1 become a more consistent experience for all Pennsylvanians.
There was a good turnout from legislators and representatives from the Northeast and Southwest regions, as well as UWP representation. There were over 15 legislators and/or legislative staff in attendance for the briefing. The legislators came well prepared to talk about their experiences with 2-1-1 and had a lot of questions regarding the service and the plans for the future. They were enthusiastic and supportive of 2-1-1, which is helpful in our advocacy strategy moving forward.
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The United Way of PA ALICE project is well underway, and we are excited to continue the process of bringing the data to Pennsylvania! ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed. ALICE is the population who are working, but still have a difficult time affording their basic needs, such as housing, food, child care, etc. By embarking on this journey we are hoping to bring more awareness to the 42% of Pennsylvanians who are ALICE.
ALICE is an opportunity to remove the stigmas attached to other terms, such as the working poor, and to change the message around the importance of ALICE in the fabric of our communities. This report will help guide our public policy work moving forward and can be used to support new local programs, and those your communities are already investing in to support the needs of ALICE and help more Pennsylvanians become financially stable.
We are proud to announce we have 24 local United Ways who are fully invested in the ALICE project, which has helped us raise more than $90,000 for the project. We have also identified strong leads for outside funding support to help us grow the outreach for the project. From the fully-participating United Ways engaged in ALICE, we have put together an A+ team to help guide the project to ensure we are developing tools and strategies that will allow local United Ways to maximize this opportunity. Our ALICE Advisory Committee members are:
- Bill Jones, President and CEO, United Way of the Wyoming Valley
- Kenny Montijo, CEO, United Way of Lebanon County
- Maria Garlick, Executive Director, United Way of Clinton County
- Will Price, Executive Director, United Way of Venango County
- Kathy Armillei, Executive Director, United Way of Huntingdon County
- Tim Fatzinger, President and CEO, United Way of the Capital Region
- Peg Kopko, Vice President, Community Impact, United Way of Lackawanna and Wayne Counties
- Nicole Shaffer, Director of Development & Communications, United Way of York County
- Monica Cravotta, Vice President, Development and Programs, United Way of Monroe County
- Lu Flickinger, Resource Development Director, United Way of Carlisle & Cumberland Valley
As this process moves along, we will have more updates and opportunities for engagement. We hope the network is as excited about this project as we are, and we look forward to mobilizing people across Pennsylvania to invest in United Way's work to help ALICE! If you are interested in becoming a fully-participating ALICE United Way, please contact
Maggie Livelsberger.
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First quarter data shows state revenue up, unemployment down
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With one quarter of the state's fiscal year in the books, Pennsylvania's revenue collections are exceeding expectations by 3 percent, or about $210 million. This was boosted by a strong September in which General Fund Collections were $184 million higher than anticipated.
Year to date collections are up for sales tax, corporate net income tax, and inheritance tax. Collections are down for the personal income tax, the realty transfer tax, and also very slightly in the "sin" taxes for alcohol, gaming, and tobacco.
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate is 4.1 percent, as of the end of August. Although this is the lowest state unemployment rate since July of 2000, it is higher than the national rate of 3.7 percent.
Nonfarm jobs were up 1.1 percent in September, and jobs increased in three of the 11 supersectors over the month. Those supersectors were mining and logging; trade, transportation and utilities; education and human services. The PA Department of Labor and Industry also reports that jobs in the education and health services sector rose to a record high in August.
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PSAYDN Annual Partners' Retreat Announced
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The Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool/Youth Development Network (PSAYDN) announced their annual partners' retreat, which will run consecutively with the PENN SACCA Conference. The date for the PSAYSN retreat will be Novemeber 29-30, 2018 and the PENN SACCA Conference will be held November 29-December 1, 2018.
The PSAYDN retreat will focus on policy development, quality initiatives coordination and sustainability, and provide professional development opportunities for OST professionals, school administrators, teachers, faculty, nonprofit/community leaders, business/industry professionals, policymakers and other community partners. There will be a host of speakers and more than 16 workshops to choose from.
If you are interested in attending, you can register here: PSAYDN Annual Partners' Retreat
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UWP Offers Opportunity to bring AmeriCorps VISTA to your community
UWP is excited to offer small and medium sized United Ways the opportunity to partner with VISTA through UWP. UWP can aggregate VISTA sites to prepare a more viable VISTA project to CNCS funders.
AmeriCorps VISTA members are volunteers who commit at least one year to work to fight poverty in local communities. They join to build capacity in the community by creating new programs or expanding already existing ones. United Ways who are looking to build capacity in the following areas may benefit from a VISTA member:
- Economic Opportunity: Safe and affordable housing (including legal aid strategies to support safe and affordable housing) and employment training and access
- Education: Improved school readiness and academic performance in K-12 schools, increased graduation rates, and college enrollment and retention
- Healthy Futures: Improved access to nutritious foods and health care, and response to the opioid epidemic
- Veterans and Military Families: Providing service to veterans and military families
If you're interested in learning more about the VISTA program, please
register to join our webinar on October 23rd, 2018 at 3:30pm. If you are unable to make it, please contact Amanda directly to discuss the project.
We are currently accepting projects to add to our portfolio. The portfolio will be submitted in December. To successfully submit, we are asking interested parties to submit concepts for VISTA program sites by November 21st, 2018. You can submit your project concept
here.
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UWP Debuts Workplace by Facebook Group
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UWP would like to invite the PA United Way Network to join our Workplace by Facebook group! UWP is sending out invitations and will be posting content including member updates, advocacy alerts, graphics, and news!
All United Way staff in Pennsylvania are welcome to join the group and start conversations with their peers across Pennsylvania. At UWP, we encourage collaboration and innovation, so we are excited to be using this new tool that will make it easier to do both!
If you haven't received an invite, please feel free to click this link to join the group. All you need is to be logged into your Workplace by Facebook account through United Way Worldwide! If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Amanda Barbarich.
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Rotz appointed to Governor's Early Learning Council
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United Way of PA's President Kristen Rotz, has been appointed by Governor Wolf to serve on the Early Learning Council for Pennsylvania. This is an advisory body for the Office of Childhood Development and Early Learning. OCDEL is a joint deputate of the Department of Education and the Department of Human Services, led by Deputy Secretary Suzann Morris.
The Early Learning Council brings together a wide variety of stakeholders and advocates, including providers, practitioners and partners who touch programs for children from pre-natal to five years old. The committee hears updates from OCDEL but also provides feedback to guide the work.
United Ways who have questions, concerns or feedback about OCDEL initiatives are encouraged to connect with Kristen.
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