Healthcare4every1 UPDATE

On January 13, an estimated 1,000 people packed the room at Union Station in Hartford to hear about the new heatlth care plan and come together to call for action.

Healthcare4every1 officially released thier new proposal, called SustiNet, to provide quality, affordable health care to everyone in Connecticut. The creators say SustiNet is groundbreaking because it controls skyrocketing costs and provides quality care that puts a premium on preventing illness and coordinating care.

Their next step is to deliver this proposal to Connecticut's legislators and Governor.

To join the campaign and to receive updates, click here. Regular phone calls and emails to your representative and senator will make sure bold action on health care remains a top priority.

For more information please visit healthcare4every1.org.

To read more about Connecticut and health care reform, please visit the following sites.

• AARP Bulletin Today
  
• Connecticut Citizen Action Group
  

MLK Day of Service

During the 1950s and ’60s, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized the power of service to strengthen communities and achieve common goals. Initiated by Congress in 1994, King Day of Service builds on that that legacy by transforming the federal holiday honoring Dr. King into a national day of community service grounded in his teachings of nonviolence and social justice. The aim is to make the holiday a day ON, where people of all ages and backgrounds come together to improve lives, bridge social barriers, and move our nation closer to the “Beloved Community” that Dr. King envisioned. With thousands of projects planned across the country, the 2009 King Day of Service on January 19 promises to be the biggest and best ever!

This year’s King Holiday is one day before the Inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama. The President-elect will participate in community service on King Day and is asking Americans to serve on the holiday and make an ongoing commitment to service. Organizers hope the President-elect’s call to service will lead to millions of Americans honoring Dr. King through community service.

Courtesy of MLKday.gov

United Way has partnered with Epsilon Omega Chapter Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and The Greater New Haven NAACP, to bring you MLK Conference 2009, Building the Beloved Community: The Time is Now. There will be workshops for community members of all ages, speakers, and performances that are all focused on mobilizing community members and strengthening the community as a whole.

For more information, or to volunteer, click here.

For more opportunities and events, visit www.USAservice.org, or click here.

Local Non-Profit Leader Receives National Honor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan 14, 2009
Media Contact: Michelle Wade
Work: 203.691.4202
Cell: 860.834.0128
mwade@uwgnh.org

Local Non-Profit Leader Receives National Honor

New Haven (January 14, 2009)- Christine Alexander, Executive Director of New Haven Reads has been recognized as The Home Depot and United Way 2008 Community All-Star. This award recognizes one individual who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in community service and who has devoted their time and efforts to make long-lasting contributions to their local community.

Alexander is the founder and volunteer Executive Director of New Haven Reads, which provides adults and children access to free books as well as tutoring opportunities in order to improve literacy skills and success in the region. In 2006, New Haven Reads distributed over 135,000 books to children and adults and offers a free tutoring program which has 280 students enrolled and 100 on a waiting list.

Alexander knows that literacy is the largest barrier between poor and rich children, and that literacy rates directly affect a person’s quality of life.

“Reading and having access to books is a start to solving this problem our community faces,” said Alexander.

Through United Way’s partnership with the NFL, as this year’s Community All-Star, Alexander was invited to attend Super Bowl XLIII taking place on February 1, 2009 in Tampa Bay, Florida.
Along with this national honor, Alexander and her husband, Bruce Alexander, were recently honored with the 2008 United Way of Greater New Haven Alexis de Tocqueville award for their sprit of giving and volunteerism in this community.

About United Way:
United Way brings together the caring power of people to create change in our region and to improve lives. We strive to be a catalyst for identifying community needs and opportunities for change; to focus on specific community priority areas and initiatives through which we have the best opportunities to improve lives and change conditions; and to engage donors, organizations and community leaders to improve the social and civic health of our region.

More information about United Way’s work to improve lives and communities can be found at http://www.uwgnh.org/.

About New Haven Reads:
The overall goal of New Haven Reads is to provide an environment where children and adults have access to free books and tutoring to increase their literacy skills and academic performance. During the past six years, New Haven Reads has grown from a powerful idea to a thriving center of literacy located in the Dixwell neighborhood of New Haven. With each of our four locations, we have nearly doubled our physical size and the number of students and groups we serve.

For more information about New Haven Reads can be found at http://www.newhavenreads.org/


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Third Annual Point in Time Homeless Count

Join other concerned community members and service providers in New Haven for a Point-in-Time Count of the Homeless. Teams of 2-3 volunteers and an experienced leader will canvass the New Haven area conducting surveys of homeless individuals. The more we know about our homeless population, the more we can help them and better coordinate our services. This Point-in-Time Count is not only a chance to learn how many people are homeless and where they are located, but also information about how they became homeless and what services they need to help them. The numbers from this count are also important for homeless assistance grants funded by HUD, State of Connecticut, and City of New Haven.


When:
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 from 6 pm to 11 pm

Where:
Volunteers will meet in the parking lot at Presbyterian Church in the Owens Community Building (704 Whitney Avenue, New Haven.)


Register to sign up at or call (203)495-1773 x 4040, leave name and contact information

For information about the Statewide Count: Contact Sarah Zucker, Project Assistant, CT Counts 2009, at 860-721-7876 xt 111 or szucker@cceh.org