United Way kicks off campaign against childhood poverty
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PLAINS TWP. — The United Way of Wyoming Valley, the largest fundraising organization for community needs in the area, kicked off its 2014 campaign on Thursday evening with a laser-beam focus on childhood poverty.
With statistics showing 29 percent of all children in Luzerne County and 33 percent of all children under 5 years old in the county living in poverty, United Way officials determined childhood poverty was the greatest need.
The approximately 500 community and business leaders and volunteers who gathered at the kickoff reception in the Keystone Ballroom of Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs learned of the “Poverty to Possibility” movement, the theme of the campaign, and heard from Susan Dreyfus, a national expert and advocate in the fight against childhood poverty.
“Tonight is not only the start of the 2014 campaign, but it marks the beginning of a new era for the United Way of Wyoming Valley,” President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Jones said before the program.
He said the campaign would be a change in the traditional role of fundraising and funding to having a single issue for the agency, which funds charities, organizations and services in the community.
Jones said the agency has looked at data in determining how best to combat childhood poverty through programs that support children’s education and health and show their families ways to find financial stability.
“By July we will be funding specific services,” he said. “We will look at what will have the biggest impact.”
Campaign Co-chair Bill Sordoni, who with his wife and Co-chair Jennifer introduced the first showing of the local United Way’s 2014 campaign video, said the campaign against childhood poverty was three years in the making and included creating a steering committee and engaging Teri Ooms, executive director of The Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development at Wilkes University.
The institute conducted a study isolating the major issues in the area — crime, drug use, health and safety, employment, education and poverty. Sordoni said poverty is at the heart of the other issues.
In her keynote speech, Dreyfus, president and CEO of the Alliance for Children and Families, said human capital is critical to the area’s ability to create a healthy Wyoming Valley.
“You’re about to take on something that is very hard, but is so very, very important,” she said.
Previously the first administrator of Wisconsin’s Division of Children and Family Services and secretary of the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services, Dreyfus cited her 21st century theory of change. She said fostering the health and well-being of all people is necessary for prosperity; leaders also must be adaptive and must move from a transactional to a dynamic and transformational mindset, and leaders all must share the goals of changing systems and analyzing and using data.
Before the program, Dreyfus told The Times Leader the childhood poverty rate is 28 percent nationally, which is close to Luzerne County’s rate of 29 percent, or 11,535 children.
“That is devastating for a community from a human services standpoint and a human capital standpoint,” Dreyfus said.
“Poverty is a thief. It really does rob individuals, families and communities.”
She said reducing childhood poverty would make a difference in the education system and corrections. She again stressed the importance of human capital.
“Everybody is important,” Dreyfus said.
