Capital Area Newsletter September 2022
In this issue:

  • ALICE in Focus: A Virtual Dialogue
  • UWSCMI Recognized for Women United Work
  • 21-Day Disability Equity Challenge
  • UWSCMI Visits Morning Blend
  • VITA Volunteers Needed
  • CapCAN welcomes Jonathan Rosewood
  • Regional Happenings
Virtual Dialogue Covers ALICE Households,
Impact on Children & People with Disabilities
United Way partners and supporters from across our six-county region gathered virtually for a one-hour deep dive into the latest analysis of how financial hardship affects children and people with disabilities. Now here's your chance to see where that conversation led. To watch the video recording, click below.
 
Your donation will help ALICE households get back on their feet and ensure that they are prepared for the future. Our commitment remains local. Those who give locally will see their dollars invested locally through local programs and partners. If you would like to hear about the ways that this United Way is helping and how you can participate, email Merry Donn at m.donn@uwscmi.org.
 
Give. Advocate. Volunteer. 

UWSCMI Awarded the Athena Organizational Leadership Award
United Way of South Central Michigan (UWSCMI) Women United was awarded the Athena Organizational Leadership Award at the Athena White Rose Gala on August 25th. This award "recognizes a business or organization that has been exemplary in supporting, developing, and honoring women leaders in our community". We were honored and humbled by the recognition of our work in providing support to middle school students who identify as girls. Thank you to the Lansing/East Lansing Chapter of The Links and ATHENA International for this prestigious award.
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Did you catch our 21-Day Disability
Equity Challenge?
More than 1,000 people across our region took part in our 21-Day Disability Equity Challenge during August. We hope you were among them! If you missed it, or missed a few days, we've made each day's information available online. Check out our UWSCMI News & Updates page.
UWSCMI Visits WSYM FOX 47 Morning Blend
Nick Lynch, Director of Annual Giving at United Way of South Central Michigan-Capital Area talks about kicking off their annual fall campaign. To see the recording, click HERE.
It's that time of year when your United Way and our caring volunteers make a committed effort to raise crucial funds supporting our local programs and partnerships. This is our first campaign as a merged United Way, but our promise remains firm: Local dollars stay local. Your gift will be invested in transforming lives right here in the Capital Area. Discover more about our collaborative work online by clicking HERE.
 
Donate today at unitedforscmi.org/donate.
UWSCMI’s VITA Program Wants Your Help!
UWSCMI’s VITA Shared Services team is gearing up its volunteer recruitment efforts to prepare for another season and is asking for your help! If you have not heard of VITA before, it is the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, a no-cost to the client, high-quality, tax preparation service offered in local communities in partnership with the IRS. Annually the VITA team and its dedicated community of volunteers serves more than 5,000 ALICE households throughout its nine county service area (Clinton, Eaton, Gratiot, Ingham, Ionia, Kalamazoo, Montcalm, Shiawassee, and Washtenaw), refunding millions and saving hundreds of thousands in costly tax preparation fees. These are funds that stay in our community, in the hands of those who need it most. For the 2021 tax year, the average client saved $187 in tax preparation fees and received more than $1,000 in combined refunds.
 
As a volunteer, you can help facilitate those savings and refunds. A typical volunteer, helping once per week for four hours can save thousands and refund tens of thousands over the course of a ten-to-twelve week tax season. Volunteering is flexible with both in-person and remote opportunities available for training as well as serving the community. And the best part? You don’t need to have ANY prior experience or skills beyond basic computer knowledge. The VITA Team offers a comprehensive training program that will take you from knowing little to nothing about taxes to being able to prepare basic tax returns for those who need your assistance, all while supported by experienced staff and volunteers.
 
With the financial difficulties exacerbated by the pandemic as well as the changes to the tax code including the Child Tax Credit, the need for this service is particularly acute. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of households are not able to benefit from this service due to a lack of capacity which is why we need your help. If you are looking to put your skills to work or learn a new one, all while helping build financial stability in your community, the VITA program will allow you to make a tangible impact. To get started, participate in a virtual orientation where you can learn more about the program and volunteering, meet fellow volunteers, and ask any questions you have, more details on dates and times and how to register can be found here https://www.micauw.org/vita-volunteers.
 
If you still have questions or want more details before joining, please contact Nick Miller at n.miller@uwscmi.org or visit the URL listed above.

CapCAN would like to welcome a new staff person to the team: Jonathan Rosewood. Jonathan is the guest on September’s #CapCANKnows Podcast.  https://youtu.be/vNyK5kDweJQ
 
Jonathan previously served as a college adviser in the community, and CapCAN is fortunate to have recruited him back as our new College Access and Engagement Associate! Jonathan will be leading equity work across the community, reaching out to underrepresented populations through partnerships to help create an even bigger college-going culture! He is available to do speaking engagements, train you in college positive mentoring and help support your organization as a part of our network of collaborative partners.
 
CapCAN also has a new crew of college advisers. Ashley Justice, CapCAN’s Program Manager and School Liaison, will be training them this month to kickoff a great fall lineup of activities and engagement with school partners. Lots of great things are happening at CapCAN. Click on the Learn More link below to read all about them.
 
CapCAN wishes you a great kickoff to the school year!
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Are You Following Us?
Now that we're part of the new United Way of South Central Michigan, you can find out even more about how we're changing lives by following UWSCMI on Facebook, YouTube -- and of course, check out our website, UnitedForSCMI.org.