Not Sure What To Do Next

Age 16, pregnant, sleeping on a friend’s couch, no permanent place to live and feeling very alone.

New Beginnings is a program that helps women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy have a safe place to live and support/education throughout the pregnancy, birth and first months of their child’s life.  Staff and trained volunteers teach life and parenting skills, help women connect with needed community resources, find and keep employment and/or school.  They make sure they are connected with a health care provider.

This is in the heart of St. Cloud near Caribou and Dairy Queen.  We go about our daily business and have no idea these little miracles are happening right next door. 

United Way supports this service because of the solid start these infants are getting – a much better chance for long term health and success in life for both mom and child.

Volunteering at Work!

Oxymoron?  In some people’s minds, but this can and does happen.  How?

Lunch time volunteering.

TriCAP and Pine Cone Vision employees created Cards of EnCOURAGEment over their lunch times.  These cards are sent to service members overseas.

Avon Lumber One employees created fleece blankets that were donated to Catholic Charities Emergency Services.  They have already found good homes and are keeping children and adults warm when the heat is turned down to save money for groceries and other basic necessities.

We all need to pitch in.  That’s what these volunteers did.  They found a way to be involved that included positive time with their co-workers.

Think about how you can go the extra mile.  Check out United Way Volunteer Central – searchable database of local volunteer opportunities online at www.unitedwayhelps.org or call Mary Krippner, United Way’s Community Volunteer Coordinator at: (320) 223-7991.

What if this were you?

Single mom, just moved to St. Cloud with two young children.  Newly divorced – finding a new life.  Working and have a small apartment – just making bills meet.

Gall bladder attack!  Lots of pain.  Noone to care for my children. Need to go to emergency room.  Doctor says I need surgery.

What do I do? Who will care for my children?

We are fortunate there is a local answer.  St. Cloud Area Crisis Nursery, a service of Lutheran Social Service supported by United Way.

Crisis Nursery’s top priority is the children – their safety and care.  They can provide temporary overnight care, if needed, through licensed providers.

They help in even tougher situations when a parent is at their wits end, concerned they may even harm or neglect their child.   Temporary child care in this situation allows the parent time to see the help them need to get stabilized.

Conni Orth and trained volunteers make this service available in our area 24/7.  If you ever wonder if volunteers make a difference, this United Way supported service is proof!

A Best Kept Secret!

Music, art, laughter, discussions, exercise, walking path, meals, reading the paper, having a cup of coffee, playing pool . . . You are thinking . . . What is she talking about?

Whitney.

Ever go there?  1527 Northway Drive, St. Cloud

When you get older, there is a bit of wisdom to be gained if you are open to it.  Maybe there are new things you want to learn like Spanish or how to make a wooden bowl.  Maybe you just want to get out of the four walls at home and be with other people.  Connect up and feel a part of something.   As you get older the losses can pile up (health, employment, people with love) so we need to keep looking for ways to stay full.  Involvement at Whitney is one of those wise actions a person can take.

United Way of Central Minnesota supports the Third Age University of Whitney because it lessens isolation and increases valuable social connections for the portion of our population that is growing the fastest. 

You will feel the energy as soon as you walk in the door!

Service helps children with Cerebral Palsy

Matthew Koob, United Cerebral Palsy of Central Minnesota (UCPCM), told me a story recently.

It was about a child who could not speak and had limited body movement.  This child was often being fed potato chips.  UCPCM was able to help this child obtain an adapted communication device that made it possible to communicate through touching pictures that expressed her thoughts.  This child was finally able to say "I do not like potato chips."

That may not sound like much but imagine the frustration of not being able to communciate your most basic wishes and thoughts.

This new technology will open all kinds of doors to helop this young person live a much fuller life connecting with others.

This is only one example of the everyday life changing work of UCPCM, a United Way funded service.

United Way Partner Program: Central Minnesota Sexual Assault Center

Sitting in a room where a young woman is telling about how she survived being raped is something I will never forget.

She wanted us to understand the ways that the Central MN Sexual Assault Center (CMSAC) helped her get through the aftermath.  She attended support groups, was helped through their advocacy in her reporting of the crime and one to one listening.  Time has passed and healing occurred.  She is now a trained advocate helping others.  Her courage, her future focus in everything she said was clear.

Hearing her story and learning about CMSAC's work in our local communities was part of the annual visit our United Way Community Investment Team volunteers have with each program United Way funds.  From Peg LaDue, CMSAC director, and a CMSAC board member, volunteers learned about their presentations in schools focused on prevention and their relationships with hospitals and law enforcement that help ensure that women and men and children are treated in the most thorough and respectful ways.  In these meetings, our volunteers also learn about their goals, challenges, how they conduct outreach, partnerships they have established in the community to strengthen their work, staffing and how they utilize the skills of volunteers.  Volunteers review their annual audits, income/expenses and budget projections.

One other thing they shared should be a fact known by us all: Last year, the local Central Minnesota Sexual Assault Center which covers our local four-county area had 483 new cases/new people last year.  52% of them were under age 18, our children and youth. They ranged in age, infants to teenagers.

If you ever doubt that a gift to United Way can make a difference in someone's life.  Think again.
  

Service for families with children who have developmental disabilities

When you become a parent there is always the underlying thought - will my baby be healthy? Some parents need to face this reality head on when their child is born.

There are experienced people who help these families - it is one of the best kept secrets in our community . . . Arc Midstate.

It is an agency with a range of services that help families with children with developmental disabiltiites  - providing advocacy, education for the community about resources and realities, sibsgroup for brothers and sisters of children with special needs, Pilot Parents - parents with like-family situations supporting each other, sessions with high school students on causes of fetal alcohol syndrome, trainings and connections with child care providers, the list goes on . . .  sharing knowledge and support related to down syndrome, autism, and aspergers.

With a small staff and volunteer core they accomplish so much and help literally thousands of local people every year. This is one of the most efficient and resourceful programs funded by United Way.  Check out this gem.