United Way receives $4 Million Social Innovation Fund grant

Ursula Adams Director of Digital Engagement United Way for Southeastern Michigan

The Corporation for National and Community Service has announced that United Way's early childhood efforts will be awarded a $4 million grant from the Social Innovation Fund. In fact, United Way for Southeastern Michigan is one of just five grant recipients nationwide.

Visit www.LiveUnitedSEM.org/SIF1 to view the press release about this announcement. The grant will be used to accelerate our goal of ensuring 80% of kids start kindergarten ready to learn. Currently, less than half of the 6,000 children who enter kindergarten each year in our region are ready to learn.

You may hear about this announcement in the news or see it online. In fact, they’re already talking about it over on MLive.com! I invite you to join in the conversation online. Here are some facts that you can share when talking about the need for early childhood investment in our region:

• By the age of three, a child in poverty will have heard 30 million words less than a child in a middle income home.
• 90% of a child’s brain is developed by the age of four.
• Half of children in kindergarten are intellectually unprepared for formal education.
• 40% of employers say that recent high-school graduates lack adequate soft skills for entry-level jobs.
• By 2020, there will be 123 million high-paying, high-skilled jobs and only 50 million Americans qualified to fill them.

This announcement is great news for families and children, and for all of United Way’s partners who share our vision for education in our region. I hope you will join me in spreading the good news.