UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL IOWA BLOG

Des Moines received the prestigious All-America City Award for its civic engagement to help more young children from low-income families achieve grade-level reading proficiency and early school success. This is Des Moines’ sixth award; the city is tied with Roanoke for receiving the most awards of any community nationwide.

As summer kicks off, so has a campaign to encourage families to access sites providing free meals to kids and teens ages 18 and younger. 

 A community kick-off event at Lovejoy Elementary this morning celebrated the launch of Vision To Learn in Des Moines and provided 20 students with free glasses to help them succeed in school and life. Approximately 160 students at five Des Moines elementary schools will receive glasses this spring as part of a pilot project that brings a successful national model to central Iowa, and as part of Vision To Learn’s plan to serve kids throughout the state.

At the LIVE UNITED celebration on May 1, United Way of Central Iowa released its 2017 Community Impact Report and honored Matt McDermott, Connie Boesen, Athene USA, and several organizations for improving the lives of central Iowans.

Central Iowa students involved with Read to Succeed have shown significant improvements, United Way of Central Iowa announced at a press conference today at Willard Elementary School. United Way also renewed its community-wide call to action by asking parents, caregivers, and volunteers to Read Together with a child for 15 minutes every day, lifting up a research-based strategy.

This morning, Governor Terry Branstad signed into law House File 473, expanding pathways to achieve a high school equivalency diploma, a key legislative priority for United Way of Central Iowa and several state partners.

Central Iowa outpaced the level of improvement nationally in well-being, according to the latest Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index data released today. Central Iowa’s Well-Being Index score increased to 63.8 from 62.6, moving closer to the Community Goal for 2020 of 64.5. Nationally, the score went up to 62.1 from 61.7.

United Way of Central Iowa (UWCI) is now accepting nominations for its LIVE UNITED Awards, recognizing the impact organizations and individuals made in the central Iowa community over the past year through giving, advocating and volunteering. One organization will be honored with the Spirit of Central Iowa Award for significant efforts in all three areas.

United Way of Central Iowa (UWCI) concluded its 100^th Year at a celebration today recognizing the impact of several initiatives throughout 2016.

Des Moines Public Schools, United Way of Central Iowa and DART are teaming up to offer free public transit access to Hiatt Middle School students to see if the program improves student attendance. The pilot program begins December 19 and continues through the rest of the 2016-17 school year.