United Way of Rhode Island, Inc.

THE CHALLENGE
• 90,000 households in Rhode Island—including more than 230,000 people—are struggling to meet basic needs.
• Nearly 20% of Rhode Island children live in poverty.
• Since 2008, the philanthropic landscape in Rhode Island has had a slow recovery.

WE BELIEVE
• People want to do better for themselves and their families.
• LIVE UNITED is for everyone.
• There are solutions to our challenges, if we work together.

Through our strategic plan LIVE UNITED 2020, we will strengthen our community. We will invest in partnerships that are tested to make sure that they work over the short term, and are scalable over the long-term. We will try some new ideas, too. And, with support, we will spread positive results to families across the state.

GOALS
Change the lives of 250,000 Rhode Islanders and strengthen our community, together.
--Provide a path out of poverty for 50,000 Rhode Islanders by improving the basic supports that will move them out of crisis.
--Help 100,000 Rhode Islanders meet basic needs.
--Give 65,000 young Rhode Islanders opportunities that ensure the next generation is strong and successful.
--Engage 35,000 Rhode Islanders through volunteerism and philanthropy.

Going deep, rather than wide
The plan will require United Way of Rhode Island to go “deep, rather than wide,” with investments and partners, to target the root causes that have thwarted Rhode Island’s ability to thrive. While we serve all Rhode Islanders in need, this plan will tackle Rhode Island’s great challenge, reversing the racial inequities that have plagued Rhode Island’s Black and brown communities for generations.

In order to “Live United,” we must dismantle systemic, institutional, and historical barriers based on race, gender, sexual orientation, and other identities. We commit to leveraging all of our assets (i.e., advocacy, convening, fundraising, strategic investments, awareness building) to create a more equitable Rhode Island.

We will build on the success of United Way 2-1-1 in Rhode Island as the primary connection center that links people to critical human services. But our work won't stop there: 2-1-1 data will serve as the barometer of rising needs within our community.
We will promote access to affordable housing, childcare, job training, education, healthcare and other basic supports as investments in the overall success of our community.

Program samples:
• The long-term homeless population will be housed: Opening Doors Rhode Island will be fully implemented.
• United Way 2-1-1 in Rhode Island will provide 1,000 mobile health screenings annually.
• New mentorship programs will help Rhode Islanders gain an education and better manage their money.

We will help children gain the academic and social skills they need to be successful in school
and in life. We will improve training and educational opportunities for adults, to help more Rhode Islanders find new, or better paying, jobs.

Program samples:
• Hasbro Summer Learning Project will serve 10% of all low-income children.
• Improved afterschool programs will serve 20,000 students statewide.
• Partnerships with employers will develop job and career training programs.

We will increase opportunities for people to help solve social problems through gifts of expertise, time and money.
We will create new volunteer opportunities with a focus on long-term change and improve the quality of our existing engagement programs.

Program samples:
• To support our community and ambitious goals, we will raise $15 million dollars from 20,000 donors.
• Data points, trends and stories from United Way 2-1-1 in Rhode Island will identify the most critical needs facing our community.
• Expanded programs for young professionals and women will be a focus of new opportunities to give, advocate and volunteer.

United Way of Rhode Island has successfully served Rhode Islanders in need for nearly 90 years. We are a statewide United Way, with a commitment to helping Rhode Islanders help Rhode Islanders.

Donations to our Community Impact Fund directly support people and programs, as a trust covers our fundraising overhead.

Committed, passionate staff with experts in fundraising, community investment, public policy, education, financial literacy, and call center services. Our 2-1-1 staff is knowledgeable, dedicated and compassionate.

Our 2-1-1 call center handles nearly 200,000 calls each year -- data from those calls provide us with an inside view on need in the community. We have the data, and the ability, to see new trends in community need and available services, and to act on that data.

We are a member of the Zero 2016 coalition to end chronic and veteran's homelessness. We support the Housing First (supportive housing) model and have worked with our partners to end chronic and veteran's homelessness in our state. We have made progress in recent years, and we are getting close to 100% -- our goal for the end of 2016.

In five years, our summer learning signature program, Hasbro Summer Learning Initiative has grown to 18 programs statewide serving 1,600 children. Research tells us that nearly 30,000 families in our state would enroll their child in summer learning, if a program were available to them. We are working to expand summer learning opportunities for all children in our state, in an effort to help reduce summer learning loss.

Establishment of UW 2-1-1 in RI. The statewide information and referral line takes over 200,000 calls annually and is among the highest-volume 2-1-1 call centers in the country, per capita.

Passage of $75 mil. in affordable housing bonds through the work of a UWRI-led coalition to build more than 1,200 units of affordable housing.

Establishing the first quality rating system for pre-K programs in RI, BrightStars.