UNITED WAY OF ALLEN COUNTY INC

Kindergarten countdown: kindergarten countdown completed its eleventh year where 115 children attended classes in the schools they will be attending in the fall. The program operates in two public school districts and emphasizes classroom skills like raising hands and lining up quietly as well as strengthening the literacy skills that are necessary to learn to read. This year's students showed a 17 percent increase in basic literacy skills and a 18 percent increase in social emotional scores from the assessments completed at the beginning and end of the four-week program. There was a 38 percent increase in the number students able to write their names.

Community collaborations: united way of allen county invests in numerous collaborative efforts that convene multiple partners to address critical community issues through our priority areas of educational opportunities, food security, housing stability, and mental health access using community-based solutions. --donor designations: united way of allen county (uwac) directs designated contributions (50 or more) to a specific uwac priority area(s), initiative(s), or to local united ways in other communities. Uwac retains 15% of designated gifts to united ways/funds that are part of the northeast indiana consortium and 15.1% on gifts to other united ways. No other fees or percentages are charged against these gifts. --volunteer engagement and day of caring: our total volunteer engagement coordinated over 1,700 volunteers for over 9,700 hours of community service which equals over 340,600 worth of service invested back in to allen county. We work with corporate partners to connect their employees to volunteer opportunities in the community. We coordinate kit builds for them to complete or companies participate in our largest volunteer event, day of caring. Our 32nd annual united way day of caring continued to rebound in terms of volunteer numbers. In 2024, over 1,500 volunteers contributed over 6,000 volunteer hours, and completed 72 projects. Projects submitted for day of caring are completed in one day and typically consist of cleaning, landscaping, painting and other general maintenance. Projects take place at non-profit agencies, schools or private residences coordinated by neighborlink. United way works together with corporate partners, non-profit agencies and volunteers to meet the needs of our community, making allen county a better place to live and work. --persistence pays off: persistence pays off (ppo) is an initiative of united way that was launched in april 2021. The goal of the initiative is to get more students to complete their college degree or certificate by helping eliminate some of the barriers that students are facing. We partner with the trio offices at ivy tech community college fort wayne and purdue fort wayne along with luthern social services to provide students educational goal attainment, case management, life skills development and financial literacy coaching. Three hundred and sixty-six students have received services through ppo in four and a half academic years with a persistence rate of 96%. This means that 96% of the students have either completed their certification or degree or have re-enrolled the next semester to continue their education.