Is imitation really the sincerest form of flattery?

The cover of this week’s issue of the Seattle Weekly features identical photos of a young smiling woman. The first photo has the word “Screwed” by it, and the second photo is accompanied by the phrase “Still screwed.”

The art is a spoof of United Way of King County’s long-running “Choose the Way” ad campaign, and many of us at United Way think it’s very well-done. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the campaign, here’s an example:

More importantly, the Seattle Weekly cover art is related to an in-depth article by Laura Onstot about the many problems our community faces as unemployment benefits expire for thousands of people in the Puget Sound region.

For many, unemployment benefits are their last source of income, and they’re going to social service agencies for help–something they’ve never had to do before. It can be a scary, embarrassing and frustrating experience. It’s equally stressful for local nonprofits that are faced with increasing demand and dwindling resources.

Despite it all, there are places to turn to for help. If you, or someone you know, has fallen on tough times–whether it’s due to job loss, medical emergency, or any other reason–United Way’s “Where to Turn” website can connect you to services that you may not have even known about. It provides a wealth of information related finances, housing, food, health and employment.

• Here’s an interesting thought.  How crazy am I to even think this cold work??  Go to town, naysayers!
• Last Sunday, YouTube featured our old friend Mark Horvath and his invisiblepeople.tv site on their main page to help bring some social media exposure to the issue.  Successful?  I stopped counting at 500,000 views.  Mark continues to give voice to the people who we too often ignore at our convenience.
• And along the lines of what one day can do, United Way of King County will host it’s 5th Community Resource Exchange on September 24th as part of our annual Day of Caring.  You can help by conducting a Supply Drive and dropping off your collections at our downtown office by Friday, September 10th.  For the Tweeters among us (you know who you are), be sure to follow us throughout the day on September 24th at #uwkcdayofcaring.

Sprague Israel Giles at Petite Daycare for Day of Caring 2009

On September 24, over 9,000 volunteers will join together with colleagues, family and friends for our annual Day of Caring. It’s an amazing day of hope, unity, action and accomplishment, the largest single day of volunteering in Washington. You can be a part of it, too! 

Registration is now open, but projects are filling up fast. Right now, you have hundreds of projects from which to choose! Help paint a house for homeless families, clean and organize an area at the Union Gospel Mission for women and children or stock the shelves of a food bank.
Learn more and sign up here >>

I have a friend who loves Halloween and carefully plans his costume months in advance. Some of his outfits have been very elaborate, but by far, one of his most well-received costumes was one of the simplest–UPS driver.

People love UPS drivers. When a UPS driver arrives, usually that means you’re getting something important or maybe a nice surprise–like an unexpected birthday gift from a far-off friend.

There’s another reason to love UPS drivers, their co-workers and the company itself–they are incredibly generous with their time and money. Since 1982, UPS and its employees have donated $1 billion to United Ways across the country.

“To my knowledge, UPS is the first company ever to have contributed $1 billion through one organization, a tremendous accomplishment both for our employees and the communities that benefit from United Way services,” The UPS Foundation President, Ken Sternad, said. “Wherever there is a stop light or stop sign in America, there is likely a UPS driver passing by. They are part of the community, they see the needs, and they have been a key part of the $1 billion story.”

In 2009, UPS’s total philanthropy reached nearly $100 million, including more than $55 million from their 2009 workplace campaign. UPS has been the top corporate giver to United Way for nine of the last 10 years. UPS employees and their families also contributed more than 1.2 million hours of volunteer service last year through the company’s Global Volunteer Month and Neighbor-to-Neighbor program. UPS has twice won the United Way Spirit of America Award, United Way’s highest national honor for corporate citizenship and measurable community impact.

Locally UPS employees have volunteered with our Free Tax Prep Campaign, helping working families build savings. We’ve also had UPS employees join our Volunteer Reader Program.

UPS is also sponsoring our Day of Caring on September 24, which is the largest single day of volunteering in Washington state.

In 1907, 19-year-old Jim Casey borrowed $100 from a friend to start a small company in Seattle that would later become UPS. From the very beginning, UPS has been about people helping people to do great things in the community. We are proud to join United Ways across the country in thanking UPS and its employees for donating their money and volunteering their time. Congratulations on reaching the $1 billion milestone!

Let the fist pumping and general merriment begin! We are proud to announce that our community raised $101.2 million for our annual fundraising campaign. This makes us the number-one United Way in the country!

$35.5 million of the total was given directly to United Way of King County and will be invested on behalf of our donors to build on the results of the past year, like providing an additional 6 million pounds of food to put on peoples tables and lifting 1,000 people off of the street and out of homelessness.

Special thanks to our Campaign Chair Scott Carson, formerly of The Boeing Company, who led the fundraising efforts which came to a close on June 30. His vision and dedication to the community helped us maintain our number one ranking in what was an extremely difficult fundraising climate.

And of course none of this would be possible without the incredibly generous people in King County! Your commitment to the community is so inspiring. Even when times are tough, you continue to give. THANK YOU!

Be sure to read the articles in the Puget Sound Business Journal and The Seattle Times about our campaign success.

Now everybody dance!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson (District 36) on changes to Disability Lifeline

Last Friday, nearly 60 people representing government, the public, educational institutions, nonprofits and business attended “Disability Lifeline: A Community Conversation” hosted by United Way of King County, State Representative Mary Lou Dickerson, King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle City Council Member Tim Burgess. The meeting gave voice to the changes facing the old GA-U program (now called Disability Lifeline) and provided the community an opportunity to generate creative solutions to help ease the transition for people that will be dropped from the program due to new time limits instituted by the legislature this year (24 months in a 60-month period).

As of July 1, DSHS identified and reviewed the cases of more than 4,400 people statewide that have received DL benefits for at least 20 months. Nearly 40% appear to meet the federal disability standard for SSI and 1,000 new expedited Medicaid (DL-X) approvals were obtained. According to Doug Houser, DSHS Region 4 Social Services Coordinator, when the time limits go into effect in September, nearly 60% statewide – 930 in Seattle and King County – will lose their DL benefits since they don’t appear to meet the federal disability standards and will have exhausted their allotted time on the program. In the next six months another 800 people will lose their benefits, with more following each month thereafter until June 30, 2013 when the time limits are set to expire.

DL recipients facing September termination will receive a notice from DSHS in the upcoming weeks outlining the reason for termination, their Fair Hearing rights and referral resources. DSHS indicated a willingness to work with providers that have clients whose benefits may be about to expire to ensure that all information relevant to their case has been considered, but indicated that a release of information would be required.

Panelists fielded comments and questions on a range of issues from how the housing voucher program was going to work to the management of incapacity evaluations, the process for negotiating contracts and fair hearing rights. DSHS was encouraged to continue the process of allowing current mental health contractors to complete medical evaluations under the Early SSI Transition Project and to proactively work with providers who have clients about to be terminated from the program.

In addition, ideas were generated in small group discussions on how to best prepare agencies and clients facing termination and how to monitor the effects of Disability Lifeline on the community. Recommended suggestions included:
• coordinating legal advocacy services
• educating clients about DL changes before they receive a termination notice
• using 2-1-1 as a referral and data source
• collecting exit data from private and nonprofit housing providers on where people terminated from DL benefits are moving
• collecting arrest and emergency room visit data
• shifting funding if needed to respond to needs
• working with private landlords to ensure continuity of housing for those facing termination from DL benefits

State Representative Mary Lou Dickerson who sponsored the bill and led the effort to push the Security Lifeline Act forward during this difficult legislative session ended the meeting by saying that “we need to wrap a blanket of care around those that are about to lose their benefits” and echoed comments from a concerned citizen who reminded everyone that our community should have a coordinated response in place to ensure that individuals losing their benefits don’t fall into homelessness.

The next community conversation is planned for sometime in late September/early October. If you would like to be on the invite list, contact communityservices@uwkc.org

Background: This year the legislature passed the Security Lifeline Act (ESSHB 2782), which created a number of new programs, but most importantly renamed the General Assistance-Unemployable, Disability Lifeline – a program that provides $339 in cash and medical benefits to very low income people unable to work due to a temporary physical or mental health disability. For the first time, Disability Lifeline sets a time limit on receipt of benefits to 24 months in past 60 months, requires participation in chemical dependency treatment and vocational rehabilitation when deemed necessary, establishes an early SSI Transition Project that focuses on early identification of SSI potential, and creates a housing voucher program.

After Joe Cunningham drops off his 11-year-old son Patrick at school, he carefully watches the fifth grader enter a crowd of classmates. Even after all of these years of therapy, he can’t help but worry about how the children will receive his son.

Diagnosed at age 3 with autism, Patrick and his family faced an uphill battle. It wasn’t until Joe got involved with the Fathers Network, a program offered by United Way grantee Kindering Center, that he got a clear sense of how to help his son.

Through the Fathers Network, Joe learned how to look for the right kinds of therapists and how to navigate an educational system that wasn’t designed for Patrick. Maybe most important was the emotional support from the other dads, which helped Joe to be a great father to Patrick.

Today Patrick still has issues fitting in socially, and he probably always will, but he more than keeps up with his peers academically. This fall he will enter middle school as an honors math student and a member of the jazz band. These achievements are possible thanks to the rigorous speech and language therapy he received starting at an early age and the support his family enjoyed from Kindering Center and the Fathers Network.

United Way of King County invests in programs that identify developmental delays as early as possible and provide therapeutic services for children and their families. The earlier a disability or developmental concern can be detected, the better the chance of making adjustments that will maximize a child’s ability to thrive in school and in life.

Congratulations to KING 5 News for winning a 2010 Regional Emmy Award for its coverage of our Climb for the Community. Reporter Paul Silvi and photojournalist Peter Cassam not only covered the story, they went all the way up to the summit with the rest of the team!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Molly Nordstrom, United Way’s 2009-2010 board chair was the only female member of the Climb for the Community team. Molly describes the experience of climbing Mt. Rainier as “humbling” and “truly beautiful and spiritual.” She also says that it’s a good thing that the team started their summit ascent in the dark because, “If you had seen what you were climbing in broad daylight, you might not want to take it on.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

United Way CEO Jon Fine and Board Chair Molly Nordstrom on the summit of Mt. Rainier

Last July, United Way of King County CEO, Jon Fine celebrated two major milestones. He turned 55, and he made it to the summit of Mount Rainier as a member of our Climb for the Community team.

Here’s Jon talking about his experience climbing Mt. Rainier. He had never climbed a mountain before and remarks that he was “skeptical” when people suggested he should go up Rainier. However, Jon also says, “I love United Way…and there wouldn’t be too much I wouldn’t do to support United Way.” Guess that includes climbing 14,000 feet!

Click here to view the embedded video.