Critical Human Service Grants Awarded

Earlier this month a 13-member Citizen Action Team (CAT) collectively donated over 300 hours to determine how best to support the critical human service programs in our area. After reading the applications, interviewing program staff and volunteers, and working together to discern the most effective use of the donated dollars the CAT recommended and the United Way Board affirmed funding to 23 different programs. A list of those programs is available by clicking here. Here are a few things you should know:


- 27 programs applied

- $250,000 was awarded

- 9 programs received more than 75% of the total ask

- Each of the 5-counties are well represented in the distribution

- 8 of the funded programs had not been funded by United Way in the past

- The funded programs address a wide range of needs including health care, housing, food, and financial assistance.

The CAT did a fantastic job and the community has been well served by their efforts. If you donate through United Way I hope you know this group of volunteers took their job very seriously and worked hard to make sure your gifts will have a meaningful and lasting impact.

The grant cycle continues as we prepare to award grants to area programs serving young people. Applications are due to us by 5:00 p.m. on May 6. The CAT will conduct interviews on June 2 and 3 with award announcements being made the following week. At present we anticipate awarding $110,000 during this cycle.

It’s never too late to give. Gifts and pledges made before June 1 will be added to the youth grant cycle. If you have not given please do so know. Gifts and pledges can be made on-line (create link) or my contacting Kate Kerr (create link) 231.947.320 x203.

The United Way does not exist to raise money. Instead we seek to give donors and efficient and effective way to help others. These grants are one important way we fulfill this mission and improve the lives of others.

Growing Your Partnership

Partnering with United Way provides an easy, convenient way for you to invest in your community. We want to help you make the most of your investment. When we come together, the possibilites are endless.



Together we can:

• Meet your company's philanthropic goals. We make it easy for your company to get involved and achieve your philanthropic or community based goals.

• Build trust and increase goodwill among customers by giving back to the community.

• Build a positive local image for your company. After all, your company is a member of our community too! And working with United Way will automatically promote your company's efforts, generosity and community support.

• Energize your employees. Focusing your organization toward a common goal helps build morale and teamwork.

• Connect employees to their community. United Way matches employee volunteer teams with great opportunities to help our community.

• Link employees with services. If your employees have a spouse, kids, parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, friends, friends of friends or neighbors then they probably know someone who can benefit from grant funded programs.

You can also take advantage of various other year-round resources available to you and your employees. We can help you access expert speakers, receive information on local issues, link employees to services, network and assist during transitions.

Let us help you craft a strategic plan for community involvement, call 231.947.3200 Ext. 204 or email Michellek@unitedwaynwmi.org. If your company doesn't have an established campaign, it's easy to start one! Call today!

Barefoot in April

A huge thank you to the thirty-four people who joined us for our One Day Without Shoes walk through downtown Traverse City. Two local schools, Westwoods Elementary and Mill Creek Elementary, went shoeless for the day. This event was a huge success and the impact we made was tremendous. The purpose of the day was to help recognize how small, simple things - such as shoes - can make a tremendous difference in the life of someone. In conjuction with the Day Without Shoes United Way held a shoe drive that helped fill the needs of many in our community and the world around us - we collected over 500 pairs of shoes!

Alternative Spring Break - Marcel's House

On our first day of work for the St. Bernard Project, we went to the home of Marcel Rivera-Ayestas and spent the day hanging drywall.

Marcel is 61 years old and has dedicated his life to helping those who are less fortunate. "Go for the core of your being," Marcel said, quoting a close spiritual friend. "The core of my being is to help care for God's children."

A native of Honduras, Marcel is a single father to daughter Kayla and son, David. He is a grassroots organizer, mostly for the rights of day-laborers.

Though Marcel works hard to help others, he found himself in need of help after katrina swept through New Orleans in 2005, devastating the city. Marcel left the Sunday before Katrina, after his son, who is studying law in guatemala, implored him to leave. marcel joined the mass exodus out of New Orleans, but not before helping transport hundreds of homeless people from the local homeless shelter to a hurricane shelter. Marcel spent the weeks following Katrina's landfall in a van in a parking garage in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He then temporarily lived in Georgia until he returned to New Orleans in December 2005.

"New Orleans was a war scene out of Honduras," said Marcel, looking up from the craggy street beneath his feet at the at the other crumbling homes neighboring his. "New Orleans was neglected; saving this city and its inhabitants was completely left up to those who remained."

Today, still unable to rebuild his home by himself, Marcel takes up temporary residence in a trailer in Mississippi, commuting to New Orleans to work as a carpenter and to continue grassroots organizing. After Katrina, he continued The Wall, a soup kitchen and homeless shelter that he founded in 2001, despite his own need to return to his home. According to marcel, this monthly-held soup kitchen has fed nearly 1 million people sinced he started it.

"Sometimes all they need is a cup of coffee," Marcel said. "The cup of coffee is like a pebble tossed into a pond, causing cascading ripple effects. It's a small gesture, but it's what this city needs."

Since work has begun on Marcel's house the copper wiring and plumbing has been stolen out of his house twice and just last week another attempt to break into his house was made. He now spends many nights sleeping on the floor of his home which has no running water and electricity just to protect it from being broken into again.

"Right now, it's difficult driving from Mississippi to New Orleans everyday," said Marcel, "but it's because of grassroots efforts like St. Bernard Project that I believe in the power of people and community. I look forward to the day that I can come home."

Alternative Spring Break - House #2

The house we spent most of the week working on was owned by a woman named Tonya Scott.  We spent three days in her 2 story home and were able to get it all insulated, the ceilings drywalled and about half of the walls drywalled. 

Here is Tonya's story:

“My life was normal,” Tanya said before pausing to qualify that statement “whatever normal means.” A life-long resident of New Orleans, Tanya worked as a L.P.N. for a V.A. hospital and clinic before the storm. She had what she described as a “basic and comfortable life” filled with work, friends and family.

As news forecasts began to suggest the power of the ensuing storm, Tanya was working 12-hour shifts at the V.A. hospital. In fact, having experienced many storms throughout her life, Tanya professed that she knew very little about the storm’s seriousness or severity until her mother, Audrey, informed her the eve before the mandatory evacuation.

The following afternoon, Tanya sat in disbelief as she watched Mayor Nagin announce the mandatory evacuation on the news. Tanya felt overwhelmed with the inundation of information and silently debated what, if any, course of action to take. Audrey, her mother, had already made the decision to evacuate the area; however, Tanya did not want to make any immediate or rash decisions.

Despite the pressure to evacuate, Tanya continued living her life. On Tuesday, the day of the storm, Tanya dropped her daughter, Nicole, off at work. The next day, Tanya recalls, “the sewers were backed up and the water was nearly chest-high. “Amidst this commotion, Tanya received a phone call from her frightened daughter, Nicole. Nicole expressed her fear that she might die. A week passed before Tanya received word that Nicole was O.K.

Tanya evacuated to Gonzales, LA, a city located in the Ascension Parish. She stayed in Gonzales for one week before relocating to Baton Rouge and then finally settling in Houston, Dallas for several months. In December of 2005, after months of instability, Tanya arrived back in New Orleans hoping to find some equanimity and begin the rebuilding process. Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan.

The storm waged heavy structural damage on Tanya’s home. Moreover, the aftermath of the storm played a significant role in the deterioration of her health. In early 2006, Tanya moved into a F.E.M.A. trailer. This living arrangement, Tanya believes, led to the worsening of her asthmatic condition. A fact she feels might be correlated to the presence of formaldhehyde, a chemical believed to be found in all new, unused and unventilated F.E.M.A. trailers.

In November of 2008, Tanya developed severe pneumonia that required invasive surgery to remove water from her lungs. Shortly thereafter, following doctor’s orders, Tanya moved out of the F.E.M.A trailer. To make matters worse, the funds Tanya received from the Road Home were used for a forced mortgage payoff. In other words, she now owned a home that she could not afford to rebuild. Moreover, Tanya allocated the remainder of her insurance money to a plumber who never rendered the services she had paid for. While Tanya has suffered a great deal both emotionally and physically, she remains confident and optimistic about her future in New Orleans.

To date, Tanya is excited that her house has begun the early stages of the rebuilding process. When asked what is the first thing she is going to do when she is reunited with her home? “Kiss all the walls, everything!”