United Way Grants and Initiatives in Mendocino and Lake Counties

UKIAH, Calif. - April 25, 2013 - PRLog -- United Way of the Wine Country recently awarded a grant to Redwood Children’s Services and continues to support programs within its five-county region including Mendocino and Lake Counties.

A local team of volunteers was assembled by Mari Rodin, Regional Manager for United Way of the Wine Country, to award investments to programs that deliver the greatest impact in Mendocino and Lake Counties. The local team is focused on working collectively with the community to define community goals and develop strategies and investments to reach those goals.

In Mendocino and Lake Counties, grant support was awarded this year to Redwood Children’s Services’ “Youth Advancement Project” with locations in Ukiah, Lower Lake and Clearlake to increase linkages to community resources and support for youth. The grant supports courses on employability at Redwood Children’s Services’ teen resource centers, which also offer mental health services, peer support, social services and computer classes.

Other activities in the region include United Way and the Lakeport School District partnering to bring the Schools of Hope program to Lakeport Elementary School this past fall.  Schools of Hope is a kindergarten through third grade reading initiative with the goal of helping kids read proficiently by third grade. The program engages community members as volunteer tutors and is successfully reaching 6 classrooms with hopes to expand. Planning is currently taking place to begin Schools of Hope at an Ukiah Elementary School in the fall of 2013.

“We are seeing great generosity and a movement of agencies and community members working collectively,” said Mike Kallhoff, United Way of the Wine Country President and CEO. “Through our fundraising efforts over $1 million in donor choice gifts are distributed annually to organizations throughout our 5-county region (Sonoma, Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties). Donations to the United Way Community Fund help to support a small grant program, as well as successful initiatives like the Schools of Hope literacy initiative and the free tax preparation program, Earn It! Keep It! Save It!

With a goal of helping Mendocino and Lake County families become financially stable, United Way and a coalition of partners is providing free tax preparation through the Earn It! Keep It! Save It! program. Last year Earn It! Keep It! Save It! helped nearly 250 families in the Mendocino-Lake counties  receive more than $270,000 in tax refunds to help working families make ends meet and help boost our local economy. The program is on track to meet or exceed those results again this year.

About United Way of the Wine Country United Way of the Wine Country’s mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of our community through leadership, community engagement and effective investment. For more information, visit United Way of the Wine Country at www.unitedwaywinecountry.org.