Gateway

Gateway's method is simple, but proven. When we help families reach their full potential, our education system, economy, workforce and communities thrive. Thus our mission is not accomplished until Alabama children and families are connected, competent and contributing citizens.

During our 125th year of service, Gateway launched a bold 10-year strategic plan to move Alabama forward with child welfare, financial stability and mental health solutions. By 2025, Gateway aims to be a game changer for children and families.

In order to achieve an ambitious vision, Gateway launched an innovative strategic plan in 2015. We collaborated with all levels of staff, the Board of Directors, community partners and industry leaders to develop a path never forged in Alabama. After analyzing the exponential changes in our social, economic and political climates, we asked ourselves a critical question:

How do we become a game changer for children and families?

Thus Gateway is in year two of its strategic plan, aiming to become a game changer for children and families. We are successfully pushing toward the following objectives:

• Lead transformational change for children and families
• Do what is best for families and work from a strong base business
• Become a policy driver for children and families
• Be the preferred provider of services
• Build efficient organizational infrastructure and capacity
• Expand our current product line
• Expand our foot print with new product lines and geographical areas
• Align resources and partnerships for collective impact
• Align facilities and resources with operations
• Align the strategic plan with stakeholders

No other organization can match Gateway's proven capacity to strengthen families and communities:

• Gateway carries a 125-year-old track record of strong relationships with the private and public sectors
• Families' ability to pay is not a barrier for Gateway services thanks to generations of community
support
• Gateway was one of the founding four community partners for the United Way of Central Alabama
and remains one of four agencies to receive an allocation of more than $1 million per year
• Gateway is the only agency in Alabama to provide a wide array of services for families that range from financial counseling to intensive mental-health therapy.
• Gateway is one of the Alabama Department of Human Resource's largest service providers and contract holders in the state, totaling more than $16 million in contracts.

Thanks to the commitment and expertise of our staff, Gateway accomplished our first year goals within eight months of the strategic plan's launch in 2016. More importantly, year one of Gateway's strategic plan resulted in game-changing outcomes for Alabama children, families and communities:

Gateway produced proven results for children, families and communities:

• Families paid back more than $650,000 of debt through financial counseling.
• 104 families stayed together through counseling.
• 34 teens in foster care gained employment.
• A record-breaking 13 foster children with mental health needs were adopted.
• More than 1600 hours of premier mental health therapy was provided to Woodlawn students and families.
• 70 percent of Woodlawn teachers saw improved classroom behavior and achievement.
• 15 families kept their homes and avoided foreclosure.

Gateway became Alabama's largest, most effective service provider:

• Boasted a 94 percent success rate keeping families together and preventing child abuse.
• Continued to help families pay back debt, surpassing the $69 million mark since the program's launch in 1991.
• Exceeded national statistics, helping 95 percent of teens transitioning out of foster care earn their high school diplomas/GEDs, compared to 55 percent. Sixty-nine percent of these teens gained employment, compared to 35 percent nationally.
• Expanded its Intensive In-Home Services program from 2 to 33 counties, becoming the largest provider in the state.
• Added the state's best school-based counseling program to another Birmingham City School.
• Became the first and only agency in Alabama with staff and foster parents fully trained in the nation's leading trauma-informed safety model: The Mandt System.

Gateway remains fiscally strong and responsible:

• Operates on a $10 million budget.
• Received more than $2.3 million in community support and private contributions.
• Continued its 93-year-old partnership with the United Way of Central Alabama and was awarded one of its four largest program allocations.


Gateway's tremendous results could not have happened without the strong leadership of Gateway's Board of Directors, the courageous work of its staff and the support of an incredibly generous community. The momentum gained from last year's tremendous success continues into the strategic plan's second year. Although the expectations we have set for ourselves are high, Alabama children and families deserve nothing less.