June was all about homelessness
Foreclosure rates are at an all-time high.
So is homelessness.
United Way’s investment of $300,000 in rapid re-housing is helping 400 families experiencing homelessness right now in our community.
Your weekly investment of $5 provides one week of residence for an individual in an emergency shelter.
Read more about our work in homelessness.
See how the community got engaged around homelessness:
Give
June 26
It was a day of FUN-draising! Thanks to you the representatives raised well over $9,000 in 9 hours—they raised more than $14,000, which will get at least three families out of a shelter and into stable housing.*
Our representatives got creative to raise their portion of $9,000—whether it was raffling off the use of their car, encouraging our Text to Give initiative, soliciting family and friends to help, pulling together a last minute benefit rock show, playing a small concert for the lunch crowd at the IDS Center, or buying their colleagues lunch and cocktails—we’re grateful to have these fabulous supporters working with us!
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Jim Asselstine United Way Community BuildersI raised $1,830! |
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Scott Cummings United Way VolunteerI raised $2,306! |
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John Ewaldt, AFSCME United Way Board of DirectorsI raised $2,197! |
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Kittie Fahey United Way Women’s Leadership CouncilI raised $1,570! |
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Lan Freitag United Way AmbassadorsI raised $2,720! |
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Samuel A. Phillips StudentI raised $884! |
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Bryce White United Way Emerging LeadersI raised $1453! |
| Additional gifts of $1,340 were made in support of all the representatives. |
*All funds raised on June 26 support our homelessness efforts through rapid re-housing programs at St. Stephen’s Human Services and the YWCA of St. Paul.
Advocate
Video Contest
United Way introduced the LIVE UNITED Story Search—a national video contest that invites you to show us how you LIVE UNITED in less than two minutes. Entries can be submitted through September 30 and are open for public voting so you can encourage everyone you know to vote for you! Production isn’t important, it’s the story that matters and anyone can submit a video. Learn more.
Street Team
High school and college students were recruited to become this year’s promotional street team. They’ll be out and about across the metro area at places like the Famer’s Market and Lake Calhoun sharing the news, work and opportunities with United Way. Watch for them and join in if an impromptu conga line forms!
Volunteer
In addition to the hundreds of volunteer opportunities available through United Way Caring Connection, we also featured special projects around homelessness in June. Some volunteers were able to serve meals at Salvation Army’s Harbor Light Center to get a real “taste” of what it means to be homeless. While others enjoyed time with children who call the shelter “home” at the Family Service Center.
“I loved it! The employees at the Harbor Light Center were very well organized and had a
good idea of what they wanted the volunteers to do. It was very rewarding and fun.”
-Tanya Rustad, volunteer