Greenwich United Way Identifies Economy As Issue Facing Residents

GREENWICH, CT – The Women’s Initiative at Greenwich United Way, Sole Sisters recently hosted a breakfast presentation to promote the most critical needs in Greenwich — the results of its town-wide needs assessment.

Co-Chairs of the 2016 Needs Assessment Wendy Blumenthal and Lori Jackson recently presented early results from research at Greenwich Country Club. The complete results will be released in May during the Legislative Breakfast, hosted by the Community Planning Council, a Greenwich United Way program. The 2016 Needs Assessment will provide local donors, agencies and government officials with the only comprehensive statistical portrait of Greenwich and will guide Sole Sisters funding from event proceeds this year.

The most critical needs found in Greenwich were connected to situations and circumstances related to what Blumenthal called “economic disability”. She explained that funding programs and agencies that supported those in this category had the biggest return on investment. A.L.I.C.E., a United Way acronym which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, represents the growing number of individuals and families who are working, but are unable to afford the basic necessities of housing, food, child care, health care, and transportation.

• To sign up for breaking Greenwich news alerts and more, click here. And follow us on Facebook too.
  

Blumenthal said that 12 percent of families in Greenwich fall under A.L.I.C.E and that Greenwich United Way is supporting human service needs through agency partnerships.

Mary Forde, Director of Pupil Personnel Services and Special Education at Greenwich Public Schools said that the research is helping the school district find ways to provide families and students with opportunities to improve their circumstances and reduce the barriers children have in achieving success.

Greenwich United Way Board Chair Karen Keegan said that local agencies and officials will be able to respond to data found in the 2016 report during the Legislative Breakfast in May.

“We deepen our understanding, widen awareness and mobilize resources to best address unmet human service needs in Greenwich,” Keegan said. “Our 2016 [Needs Assessment] data provides us with a valuable tool that can be used by everyone in the community to best invest in community service programs to minimize gaps.”

On April 19, the Greenwich United Way will host its 11th annual Sole Sisters Luncheon, a fundraiser to support women’s initiative established in 2004. Arianna Huffington will be this year’s keynote speaker. Visit www.unitedway-greenwich.com for more information.

Contributed photos: #1: 2016 Needs Assessment Co-Chair, Lori Jackson, Greenwich United Way CEO, David Rabin and 2016 Needs Assessment Co-Chair, Wendy Blumenthal; #2: Sole Sisters Co-Chairs, Lisa Lori and Jill Weiner with 2016 Sole Sisters Luncheon Co-Chair, Eva-Stina Pehrson. Missing from photo is co-chair Marietta Contadino.