Capital Region Cares Capital Region Cares 2018-2019 | Page 88

united way
california
capitol
capital region
Helping kids reach new heights
F
or nearly 100 years, United Way
California Capital Region has played a
vital role in connecting, strengthening
and shaping our community. In 2016,
UWCCR introduced the ultimate group
project by bringing together likeminded
organizations to make systemic change
and reduce generational poverty by
starting in school.
UWCCR’s Square One Project is a
20-year commitment to increase the
number of kids that graduate from high
school ready for college or career by
removing barriers that prevent them
from succeeding in school. Sacramento
area kids who graduate from college are
62 percent less likely to live in poverty
than those who drop out of high school.
The Square One Project is providing
tools and resources to build stable
households and promote education
by keeping kids in school, setting high
expectations, keeping kids on track and
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CAPITAL REGION CARES 2018 | comstocksmag.com
ensuring strong support.
Initial results are in: Kids are
improving reading skills – strongly
correlated to high school graduation.
After one year of help, 71 percent of
students who were reading below grade
level improved literacy performance
by one or more proficiency levels.
Enough funds were raised to open
a college savings account for every
kindergartener in all five elementary
schools in Sacramento’s Robla School
District. And UWCCR made sure kids
had access to nutritious food to learn,
play and grow by serving 216,684
healthy meals in 17 after-school
programs and 28 summer programs last
year.
The small business community can
also play a pivotal role and get involved.
Recently UWCCR introduced its Small
Business Program – an opportunity
for small businesses to contribute to
YOURLOCALUNITEDWAY.ORG
community health and well-being by
aligning business goals and employee
interests with the needs of the
community.
For more information, visit www.
yourlocalunitedway.org.