The councils, comprised of volunteers, spent a month reviewing statistics, listening to subject matter experts, and engaging in candid discussion about tough issues.  Their work resulted in the development of the following findings and priority goals:

Thriving Children

The Thriving Children Council determined that thriving children show normal growth and gain developmentally appropriate intellectual, physical, behavioral, emotional, and social competencies throughout their childhood. The following factors greatly affect whether children thrive:

• Support and guidance from a caring adults
• Physically and emotionally safe places where they are actively and constructively engaged.
• Healthy bodies, healthy minds, and healthy habits.
• The intellectual development, motivation, and skills that equip them for successful work and lifelong learning.

Providing children with the environment and resources they need to thrive requires a nurturing community: strong families, engaged community members, effective and coordinated early care and education, and good health.

To achieve this, the Thriving Children goals are:

• Children live in a safe and nurturing environment.   
• Children are born healthy and are nurtured to achieve and maintain lifelong physical, emotional and social health.
• Every family has access to safe, affordable, and quality childcare, including before and after school.
• All children are physically, emotionally and socially ready to enter and succeed in school.
• All youth have the knowledge, skills, and competencies to be successful adults.

Strong Families

The Strong Families Council defined strong families as those that are able to achieve their full potential and be self sufficient.  (Self-sufficiency is the ability for a family to have the resources to meet its own needs without public or private assistance.) 

A key factor in achieving self sufficiency is financial stability, which is linked to reliable transportation, affordable child care and adequate health care. 

The Council identified the following barriers to building strong families:

• Generational poverty
• Early parenthood
• Illiteracy
• Lack of education and employment skills
• Lack of affordable housing
• Substance abuse

To help address these issues, the Strong Families goals are:

• Families have the life skills to function as a stable unit,
• Families have good health status.
• Families are financially stable and are able to access the basic resources they need.
• Families are motivated and empowered to develop positive aspirations.

Independent Seniors

Independent Seniors are seniors who are able manage their own home and personal needs.

The Independent Seniors Council recognized that problems generally associated with growing old often lead to less independence.  They are also exacerbated by:

·         Poverty

·         Lack of family members who are willing or able to provide of assistance

·         Lack of knowledge of services

·         A complex system of services

The Independent Seniors goals are:

• Healthy and independent seniors
• Active and engaged seniors
• Seniors living in safe, livable and senior friendly homes
• Seniors being able to get where they need to go and when they need to
• Seniors being aware of and taking advantage of programs and services

The United Way has received proposals for achieving the identified goals from community partners, and the Community Solutions Council volunteers are currently reviewing these proposals. They will identify strategies that are most effective in achieving the goals and will recommend them as investment opportunities to the United Way Board of Directors. The Board of Directors will determine how donor dollars will be used to fund the recommended strategies.

Additionally, the United Way will strengthen its role as a community organizer by coordinating partnerships, promoting volunteerism, encouraging advocacy, and increasing an understanding of the goals and underlying issues.

To learn more about the United Way goals, read the Community Solutions Council white papers at Community Solutions.