LIVE UNITED Transcript | United Way of Central Iowa

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Good morning, on behalf of United Way of Central Iowa, welcome to LIVE UNITED! I am Alyx Sacks. I anchor KCCI 8 News This Morning and KCCI 8 News at Noon. I’m honored to be back again this year as your host for today’s event.

If you were here last year, you may remember Timothy Perkins and the Morningstar Dance Troupe joined us to kick off LIVE UNITED with a land acknowledgement ceremony, honoring and respecting indigenous peoples and their traditional territories.

As we remember that moving ceremony, we once again want to acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the First People past and present, and honor with gratitude the land itself and the people who have stewarded it through the generations.

I would also like to note for any of our guests who might be hearing impaired, if you would like to follow along with the program today, please feel free to scan the QR code at your table for a transcript you can read as we move through the program.

As we get started this morning, the team at United Way wanted to first acknowledge and appreciate the hundreds of organizations throughout central Iowa who provide vital services to those in our community who need support.
Our community’s network of nonprofit organizations is exceptional, and we are fortunate to work closely with them to address our most critical challenges. So many of you are here today, and we cannot overstate how important your partnership is to our work, and to our community. If you are a member of one of central Iowa’s nonprofit organizations, please stand.
Please help me recognize and thank these and other members of our nonprofit community who are here with us today to celebrate our collective impact!
Thank you, you may be seated.
Today we will share with you a glimpse of some of central Iowa’s critical challenges, and we will recount some of the important work that is being done to address these challenges.
We will also honor some of the individuals and organizations who have helped to make a positive impact over the past year.

But first, we want to thank our long-time partner and sponsor of this event, Prairie Meadows. Please welcome Gary Palmer, CEO of Prairie Meadows to share a few words.
GARY PALMER - PRAIRIE MEADOWS COMMENTS

Thank you Gary and Prairie Meadows for your partnership
Good morning. My name is Sean Vicente, and it has been my honor to serve as the Board Chair for United Way of Central Iowa since 2021. United Way of Central Iowa is governed by an amazing group of volunteers in our community.
I would like to take a moment to acknowledge a few of these dedicated leaders.
If you are a member of United Way’s executive committee, board of directors, or one of United Way’s cabinets, please stand.
These individuals and others, about 300 volunteer leaders in total, volunteer their time and expertise to advise United Way in decisions regarding community investments and other important matters of governance, direction, and professional advice.
I would also like to recognize the staff at United Way of Central Iowa. This group is amazing – they truly care about our community and helping those who need it most. United Way staff, please stand and let us thank you!
Thank you, you may be seated.
Thank you, Alyx I will hand things back to you.

ALYX SACKS

Thank you, Sean. We will take a short break in a few minutes, and the Prairie Meadows team will serve lunch.
If you have attended this event before, you might notice the lunches are being handled a bit differently for our event this year.
Thanks to a lot of work by Prairie Meadows, any lunches that are not served today will be donated to our good friends at Urban Dreams. Thank you, Prairie Meadows.
Two years ago, United Way launched UNITED to THRIVE, the strategic imperative that was developed with input from thousands of partners and individuals to guide United Way’s strategies and measurement in addressing central Iowa’s most critical challenges.
To help illustrate UNITED to THRIVE, United Way uses puzzles. The critical issues our community faces are a lot like puzzles. They’re complex, made up of many interconnected pieces, and most importantly, they have a solution.
And every one of you in this room today is a part of solving those puzzles. So, to symbolize this, we’d like to ask you all to help us solve a puzzle.
On the other side of the stage, you see a big puzzle map. And on each of your tables you have a puzzle piece with your table number on it. We’ll now take a few minutes for lunch to be served, and during that time we’d like you to designate someone from your table to bring up your table’s puzzle piece.
Together, with every table in this room contributing, we will complete this puzzle. Because that is how we solve problems… together… in a UNITED WAY!
So please send someone up to the stage with your table’s puzzle piece now, and we will return at Noon to continue our program.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today.
and thank you also for helping us to complete the UNITED to THRIVE puzzle! My name is Mary Sellers, and I have the good fortune of bring the President of United Way of Central Iowa.

Before going any further, I’d like to offer sincere thanks Sean Vicente for serving as our Board Chair over the past 2 years. Sean’s term as Chair will be complete at the end of June, and I just want to share with you what an amazing leader and partner Sean has been to our organization. We truly appreciate all that you have done to help us grow and evolve. Thank you, Sean.
We are very fortunate to have Sean hand the reins to someone who has been an incredibly dedicated and loyal leader for United Way in so many ways. Maria Volante will assume the role of Board Chair in July, and we couldn’t be more excited to tap into Maria’s enthusiastic and bold leadership for the future as we stride forward together. Thank you, Maria!
And one more acknowledgement… each year dozens of this community’s top executives and leaders volunteer to help us execute the United Way campaign. And one individual gives a tremendous amount of time and influence as our campaign chair. We are so fortunate this year to have Jeff Rommel from Nationwide as our campaign Chair. Jeff, under your leadership we know it is going to be a great year, thank you for agreeing to lead us.

Two years ago, when we announced UNITED to THRIVE, it marked an evolution of our organization and the way we work with others. We sought input from across the community to help us frame how United Way can best serve our community now and in the future.
Today, UNITED to THRIVE is helping us to be more nimble and responsive as critical issues arise. As you can see in our puzzle across the stage, we focus on not only the five elements of a thriving community with Equity at the center, but on how, like a puzzle, each piece is interconnected.
And at the center of it all is equity. United Way of Central Iowa defines equity in the following way:

Equity means every person has access to resources and opportunities based on their specific needs and aspirations, which empowers them to thrive long term.
We place equity at the center of our strategic imperative, because no community can thrive if every person in that community does not have access to the specific resources and opportunities they need.
Central Iowa has significant segments of our population that do not have access to the resources and opportunities they need. And that can be because of their race, their ethnicity, their economic status, their neighborhood, or other factors outside of their control.

United Way’s unique role in our community is to bring people together to solve problems. When critical issues emerge, as they often do, United Way is here to gather many around that issue...the people who want to help, the organizations who can provide services and resources, those that set policy and govern, and the people who are most impacted…

We bring them all together, so we can plan together, strategize together, and work together, in a UNITED WAY, to collectively solve the problem.
And these are some of our community’s most critical challenges. We are here to help navigate issues like food insecurity, youth violence, affordable housing shortages, and many, many more. Big, tough issues that require every bit of resolve, creativity, and determination this community can muster.
We are honored to partner with leaders and visionaries from central Iowa’s business and nonprofit community, with our lawmakers and policymakers, with our community’s most dedicated and passionate volunteers, those with lived experiences, and influential community organizers.
Together, UNITED, we dig in and do the hard work to make measurable and lasting impact.

As we do each year at LIVE UNITED, today we are unveiling our Community Report, which you have at your table.
You are the first to receive a copy, and in it we share some of our community’s most pressing, critical issues, and how we - with your help - are making a positive impact for our community.
As we walk through some of the information in this year’s report, we will zero in on one example of an issue in each of the five elements of a thriving community…
- Essential Needs
- Early Childhood Success
- Education Success
- Economic Opportunity
- And Health and Well-Being
But as we do that in each element, I ask you to consider how that challenge has impact in all five of the elements. These critical issues do not happen in a silo, they send ripples across the community that impact all five of these elements and every aspect of peoples’ lives.
As we work our way through each element, we are also pleased to offer a glimpse into some of our nonprofit partners who do amazing work in central Iowa to help people thrive.
Our first element is ESSENTIAL NEEDS.

In order to thrive, central Iowans need not only food and shelter, but reliable access to quality, nutritious food and a safe, welcoming place to call home.
Affordable housing in central Iowa continues to be one of our community’s most critical challenges. We are facing unprecedented numbers of people who are experiencing homelessness. Evictions in central Iowa have increased by 35% in the past year, and nearly 8,000 central Iowa households are behind on rent.
Perhaps most concerning, thousands of central Iowa students started the school year experiencing homelessness. We often talk about the challenges of navigating school and graduating with a plan for the future. It’s not easy for anyone… now imagine how many more challenges THESE students, young people without a place to call home, face each day.
When we look at student homelessness racial disparities in our community exist. 64% of central Iowa’s student body is white. But two thirds of our homeless students are people of color making their journey more challenging, and it’s imperative that we address those disparities.
Throughout this report, we want to emphasize how each of these challenges reaches across and connects all the elements of a Thriving Community. Consider the implications of all of these students who are homeless… they are - of course - burdened in their essential needs, but their chances of education success are also dramatically impacted. And that means they will be challenged to access economic opportunities, or to live healthy lives now and in the future.
That is an example of how these elements are all connected, and any impact in one element – positive or negative – makes an impact across the board.
Thankfully there are many in this community who are working on our affordable housing shortage… many are in this room today. And United Way works hard to ensure we are all working together to make a difference. It’s a massive challenge, but we are all aligned to partner and move forward.
United Way’s OpportUNITY initiative convenes expert work groups to identify and enact solutions in Housing, Food Insecurity, Re-Entry, and other poverty-related issues.
United Way also funds programs such as food pantries, homeless shelters, legal representation involving evictions, landlord-tenant counseling, and case management, along with funding to support building and rehabilitating affordable housing units - all to assist families in breaking the cycle of poverty and unstable housing.
Our next element is Early Childhood Success.

Our youngest Central Iowans need not only access to childcare, but safe, reliable, and affordable childcare to be healthy and ready to learn.
Childcare is essential for a community to thrive. It is critical for a successful early childhood, it sets the stage for a child to be successful in school, and it gives parents the ability to work to achieve economic opportunity.
Iowa is highly dependent on childcare. 75% of our kids under age six have both parents or caregivers working outside the home. This statistic is very high when compared with other states, so we have significant demand for childcare.
And yet, we continue to struggle to meet that significant demand. Our supply of childcare is decreasing, significantly. We have lost more than 1,000 licensed childcare slots in Polk County alone in less than a year.
Why? Despite the rising costs of childcare for families -- often the largest item in a typical household budget -- childcare providers face incredibly difficult business challenges as the costs to operate childcare centers also continue to rise.

Centers are not required to take state funding, but many do to help alleviate the childcare shortage. Unfortunately, state funding is more than $3,500 less per child per year than standard market rates. So, childcare providers who use state funding to assist those most in need, are at a financially viable disadvantage.

Low income working parents are the ones most likely to be impacted by the shortage and rising cost of childcare.
And it is easy to see the impact of childcare shortages across all five elements. These children are not only impacted right now, but this also means they will enter school less prepared.
It means their parents will have a harder time finding reliable work and earning a dependable income without someone to care for their children. And quality childcare has been proven to improve the mental and physical health of our young ones.
With the help of many partners and advocates we’ve made great strides in helping central Iowans afford childcare. In 2021, we successfully advocated for new laws that increased the eligibility for public assistance for childcare expenses.
And in this year’s legislative session we successfully advocated for additional legislation currently awaiting the Governor’s signature, that will further increase the number of family’s who qualify for the state’s Childcare Assistance program. This bill also increases childcare reimbursement rates through the program.
There are many challenges to early childhood success, and we are thankful to our nonprofit partners, our childcare community, our Women United members in addition to other donors who support our work in this area.
The next element is Education Success.

- Central Iowa students need not only to graduate from high school, but should also have the opportunity to graduate with a plan for a successful future.
- Since launching UNITED to THRIVE, United Way has been focused on helping students get to graduation, and to think about what’s next. For some, college makes sense. And for others, there are many other equally viable paths.
- But for far too many, what lies beyond high school is a mystery. 26% of our central Iowa high school graduates say they do not have a plan for the future.
- And if they are Black, Latino, or come from a household living in low income, that number increases dramatically.
- These students need to learn about what is available. To understand all the different opportunities that are available once they earn their diploma.
- Unfortunately, due to very high counselor to student ratios – on average 1 counselor to every 450 students – schools are not structured or resourced to the provide post-high school planning students need at an individual student level.
- And it is not as easy as “get a job” after you graduate. In Iowa, 88% of our jobs are mid-skill or high-skill and require some additional training or certification beyond high school.
- United Way has been proud to partner with our school systems to help students learn about some of the options beyond high school. We have recently launched the United Wayfinders initiative that offers middle and high school students in-person introductions to many employment options in skilled labor and other areas.
- Our next element of a thriving community is Economic Opportunity.

Central Iowans need not only to be self-sufficient, but to be financially stable and have the opportunity to build wealth for their family and future generations.

For years United Way has worked to improve central Iowans’ access to financial stability, by focusing on increasing incomes, and creating opportunity through better jobs.

But economic opportunity is about more than income. In order to grow beyond survival, beyond just getting by and paying bills, people need to build assets and wealth.

Wealth can feel like a loaded word. But we aren’t talking about people getting rich. We’re talking about ways central Iowans can earn enough to meet their needs and more.

To have the means to provide food on the table or a roof over their head. With the long-term goal to be able to invest in assets like a house, a retirement plan, savings plans that help to provide long-term stability now and in the future.

This is how you break the cycle of poverty and create an environment where individuals -and their future generations -can thrive.

But in central Iowa attaining assets like these is much easier in word than in deed…

1 in 5 households lack sufficient liquid assets, meaning they could not manage to survive, if they experience a job loss, a medical emergency, or another financial crisis leading to a loss of stable income.

And 36% of Black and 19% of Latino households’ debts are greater than their assets. Meaning they have zero net worth… they have no financial cushion to help them weather a financial crisis or invest in their future.

The majority of the adults in these households are employed… they are working but are still barely getting by.

Just this week, United Ways of Iowa announced the publication of the ALICE Report. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. These are Iowans who are fully employed, but still not earning a living wage. And their numbers are increasing.

United Way focuses on economic opportunity by supporting many initiatives across the community to help central Iowans gain the skills and training they need to increase their income, improve liquidity, and build wealth.
In this most recent tax season, 79 volunteers joined our VITA program to help central Iowans file more than 1,300 tax returns, resulting in more than 2.3 million dollars in tax refunds coming back into our local economy.
Our final element is Health and Well-Being

Central Iowans need not only access to medical care, but access to quality, culturally appropriate care promoting physical and emotional well-being and improving resilience.
Access to appropriate healthcare continues to be incredibly challenging throughout central Iowa, more specifically mental healthcare.

In fact, Iowa is ranked LAST in the nation for the percent of adults able to receive the mental health treatment they need – 44% of Iowa adults with mental health needs receive no treatment at all.

Mental health is an incredibly important issue of focus within the Health & Well-Being element. The significant need for mental healthcare has been identified and healthcare providers and others understand the very real impact mental health conditions can have on an individual and on our community as a whole.

I mentioned culturally appropriate care. This is an issue that is increasingly important - It really comes down to trust.

For individuals of color, immigrants, refugees, or a member of any other underrepresented group in our community, it can be difficult to find healthcare providers who look like you, sound like you, or are otherwise culturally aligned with you.

We know from our research and conversations, it matters.

If we are already hesitant to access healthcare because of cost and other factors, the lack of cultural alignment can create an additional hurdle in making the decision to go to the doctor, dentist, or mental health provider and get the care we need.

We will work to find meaningful ways to make it easier, like our HealthWorks program building pathways to cultivate a diverse healthcare workforce and providing opportunities for individuals to see themselves in healthcare careers.

United Way is focused on many initiatives associated with mental well-being, having a sense of purpose and hope, and being well informed about the options that are available for help and support.

We have been a leader in the statewide Well Kids Coalition and other initiatives dedicated to children’s physical and mental well-being with a focus on creating access to resources that support healthy lifestyles where people live, work, and play.

It’s our hope that in reviewing this Community Report that you can see our collective work is more important now more than ever.
This work can feel weighty, especially over the past few years. The way we address critical challenges in our community has evolved, and as a result - United Way’s work has evolved as well. To be more responsive to, and reflective of our community in addressing those critical community issues.
With UNITED to THRIVE, we have established the framework we need to be nimble and more immediate as critical issues arise. And we will continue to be a steady, dependable source for the community,
Identifying the gaps and leverage points in our community and rallying people and organizations around those challenges and need. Investing in nonprofit programs, forming coalitions, and convening the community, advocating for policies that help central Iowans live better lives, and matching an army of volunteers to the opportunities in our community where they are needed most.

Since 1917 United Way has helped this community navigate incredibly tough challenges. From its founding at the close of World War 1, to the Great Depression, from Polio to black and African American families who were displaced by the MacVicar Freeway – now 235. Through natural disasters and pandemics to the challenges we face today and tomorrow.
I look at the history of volunteer leadership and staff that have led those efforts for over a century and I take so much pride in the work we do as stewards of this organization - and this community. And I am so proud of the partnerships we have forged over those years with those in this room and beyond.

Together, we can and do make an impact. We work together, to solve these puzzles. Because to grow, to prosper, to thrive as a community, we all must LIVE UNITED.
Thank you, again, so much for being here with us today. We are so grateful to have you engaged in this important work.
And now, I am excited to invite Alyx back to the stage to present our annual LIVE UNITED Awards.

ALYX SACKS

Thank you Mary.
Each year at this event, United Way recognizes individuals and organizations that have made a significant impact over the past year with the annual LIVE UNITED Awards.
This year, the awards are a little different than in past years. We will be presenting two types of awards this afternoon… the LIVE UNITED Leaders, and the LIVE UNITED Champions.
LIVE UNITED Leaders are individuals, and they are people who have distinguished themselves as donors, volunteers, and advocates for United Way’s work, and the UNITED to THRIVE priorities.
LIVE UNITED Champions are organizations – employers, nonprofits, and others that have done exceptional work over the past year to make an impact in central Iowa through United Way and other organizations.
The last award is called the Spirit of Central Iowa Award, and it honors one organization that has gone above and beyond to give, advocate, and volunteer in support of United Way and central Iowa.

Our first honoree is a LIVE UNITED Leader, an individual who has worked to improve the lives of our youngest central Iowans.
As a leader and champion for Women United, this person has helped to raise millions of dollars to support childcare centers in areas of central Iowa that need them desperately.
She has provided her expertise and influence as a member of United Way’s Early Childhood Success cabinet, providing advice and direction on the investment of critical donor dollars to benefit children.
And as an advocate she rallies those around her at Principal to support United Way and Women United to help ensure kids in our community have every opportunity they deserve.
Please join me in congratulating 2023 LIVE UNITED Leader...

Next, I am excited to present our first LIVE UNITED Champion award, recognizing an organization that has a long and storied legacy of giving back in central Iowa. Its founder instilled in the company and its people a deep desire and commitment to serve and improve the communities in which it operates.
During last year’s annual United Way campaign, this company raised a record amount of dollars. And they are celebrating their 90th year of operations with an ambitious goal to complete at least 90 acts of giving in support of local nonprofit organizations by the end of the year.
And they are well on their way to completing that goal, having completed more than 50 volunteer events, packaging 30,000 meals, creating 4,000 after school bags, assembling 100 financial literacy kits, and many, many more.
The organization’s founder helped to establish the World Food Prize, a foundation that addresses food security issues across the globe.
Please join me in congratulating this amazing LIVE UNITED Champion...

Our next honoree is a LIVE UNITED Leader, an individual who has worked throughout her career to vastly improve the lives of central Iowans.
As a leader and champion for people who need assistance, this person has helped others understand and receive unemployment and SNAP benefits – allowing them to stay in their homes and avoid food insecurity.
She has used her expertise, her influence, and her well-known reputation for excellence to connect with smaller businesses and newer nonprofits to expand their reach, stability, and longevity as community-based organizations.
And as a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, she created her own organization that trains thousands throughout central Iowa in applying the lens of DEI to trauma-focused services and trauma-informed workspaces. All working to end the stigma of mental health challenges in the Black community.
Please join me in congratulating 2023 LIVE UNITED Leader...

This next LIVE UNITED Champion is an organization that has been an exceptional supporter of central Iowa and United Way.
With a passion for supporting early childhood and education success, members of this organization achieved huge growth and participation in their 2022 United Way campaign.
As a sponsor of last year’s Stuff the Bus book drive this company collected thousands of children’s books, and they made and donated dozens of magic reading carpets to United Way’s Book Buddies.
They also had a huge crew at United Way’s annual Day of Action, and with a healthy volunteer-time-off program they showed up all year long devoting more than 1,200 hours to volunteering in central Iowa.
Please show some love to LIVE UNITED Champion...

Our next honoree is truly a LIVE UNITED Leader, an individual who has distinguished herself as a resolute voice for people in need, and an icon in our community.
By serving as a mentor to young people, particularly young women, she shares her wisdom with our community’s future leaders, and encourages them to engage in the community.
As a powerful advocate for mental health issues in central Iowa, she has worked tirelessly to raise awareness and combat stigmas that surround it.
This amazing person uses her significant influence and talent to raise awareness of important issues like food insecurity, workplace challenges, housing, and so much more.
As a champion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, she has leveraged her business to educate and encourage dialogue about issues that make up an inclusive community.
Through her business and local publications, she has called our attention to leaders, entrepreneurs, up-and-comers, wise sages, and more, all with a perspective on improving and growing our community through business, social, and cultural advancement.
Please join me in congratulating and thanking 2023 LIVE UNITED Leader...

Our final LIVE UNITED Champion is an organization that has been an exceptional supporter and partner since United Way of Central Iowa founded back in 1917.
Their 2022 United Way campaign is only one piece of their overall commitment to our work.
Their CEO and his wife served as the 2022 United Way campaign co-chairs.
The organization provides a 50% company match for all employee United Way gifts.
And each year their team amazes us with an employee participation rate of more than 93% -- this organization consistently ranks at the top for per capita giving.
With a specific and significant focus for supporting Essential Needs and Economic Opportunity, members of this organization see the importance of the interconnectivity within the 5 Elements of a Thriving Community – leading them to volunteer 12,000 hours at 560 nonprofits across central Iowa. They see where success in one element impacts success in the others.
Please help us congratulate LIVE UNITED Champion...

The Spirit of Central Iowa award is presented each year to one organization that has shown exceptional commitment to our community through United Way through their efforts in giving, advocating, and volunteering.
It is an incredible honor to recognize this company for its outstanding efforts in our community.
This year’s Spirit of Central Iowa Award winner shows their dedication to our community through engagement utilizing their time, talents, and treasures throughout the year.
In 2022 their campaign giving increased 24.7% over what had been a massive record-breaking year in 2021.
This organization makes giving back to central Iowa core to their culture. For instance, their team participated in Day of Action with 363 total volunteers working 920 hours of community service.
The list of their engagement in the community is long, and impressive, and you will hear more about that in a short video.
Please join me in congratulating this year’s Spirit of Central Iowa award recipient...

[COMMENTS FROM GRANT KVALHEIM, ATHENE CEO]

Friends, colleagues, and fellow central Iowans, that concludes our program. Thank you for your great energy here today. We are so thankful you were able to join us, and thank you again to our sponsor, Prairie Meadows.
Now go forth, and LIVE UNITED!

LIVE UNITED 2023

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