The United Way E-Newsletter

Success By 6 Ottawa supports full-day early learning implementation

Starting next September, full-day early learning will be available for up to 35,000 junior and senior kindergarten students in 600 schools across Ontario. The Ministry of Education hopes to have the program fully phased in and implemented by 2015-16, serving more than 240,000 children in the province.

With extensive research in Ottawa, Success By 6 Ottawa found that almost 30 per cent of our community's children are considered "vulnerable" — meaning they score below the 10th percentile for all Ottawa children in at least one readiness factor: language and cognitive development, communication skills or emotional maturity.
Research shows that high-quality, play-based kindergarten programs such as full-day learning have long-term benefits and help children succeed in school and in life. The opportunities children will have with these programs will enable them to enter grade one ready to learn and do their best. Since 1999, Success By 6 Ottawa has championed the implementation of full-day early learning, working with partners to ensure consistency, collaboration and, ultimately, the best results our community's children.

The case for support of full-day learning was made in our community research report Framework for Action, which was launched last year. At that time, we called upon parents, educators, government and the entire community to support the move to full-day learning and outlined what they needed to do. It has been one year since the report's release, and Success By 6 is ready to update the community about the progress made on school readiness.

On May 26 at the Westin Hotel, Success By 6 ambassadors Max Keeping and Suzanne Pinel will host the annual Making a Difference Luncheon, where new research findings will be presented. We will honour local individuals and agencies with Making Difference Awards for their work to make our community a better place for kids, as well as another Success By 6 ambassador, Shirley Westeinde, for her recent investiture into the Order of Canada.

Tickets for the event are still available, but will sell out quickly. Visit Success by 6 Ottawa to be part of a very special moment for Ottawa's children and their champions.

Success By 6 is a community initiative dedicated to ensuring that early childhood development is a priority in our community. For more information, visit www.successby6ottawa.ca.

United Way and Cardel Homes: Building Homes, Building Communities

Ever wonder where the furniture from show homes goes when the builders are done with it? Okay, maybe you haven't, but it does go somewhere!

Cardel Homes has been designing and building homes in markets throughout North America since 1973. Even with significant growth and widespread expansion, the company has remained a family business dedicated to community. Always looking for ways to give back, Cardel Homes approached United Way Ottawa to learn how it could help.

"Cardel Homes knows that it builds much more than a structure with walls and a roof," said Tanya Buckley, Director, Sales & Marketing, Cardel Homes. "We understand we're building homes and ultimately communities — and we want to give back to the communities that have called our houses home. Working with United Way helped us direct the resources we have to offer to where they're needed the most."
After working with United Way and learning about the different needs in our community, Cardel Homes decided to help by donating show home furnishings, including bedding, dishes, carpets, curtains, furniture, electronics and even artwork.
"Whether an organization is donating money, gifts in kind or its time, the important thing is to ensure the donation is going to a good use and helping someone in need," said Carole Gagnon, Vice President, Investor Development, United Way. "Our United Way team was thrilled to work with a new partner like Cardel Homes to find the perfect match for their gifts to the community."

United Way connected Cardel Homes and Helping with Furniture, a non-profit agency dedicated to helping refugees who have recently arrived in Ottawa. Since 2005, Helping with Furniture has been helping families put together a new home. Most families arrive from conflict or life-threatening situations with very few belongings and little money. With the generosity of the people in our community and companies such as Cardel Homes, Helping with Furniture is able to provide the essential welcome these future Canadians need.

For more information about Targeted Community Investments with United Way, please contact Martin Sampson, Director, Product Development at 613-683-3794 or msampson@unitedwayottawa.ca.

Nalini: Giving back starts from childhood

‘Giving back’ is a concept that Nalini and her family embraced in their home country of Ceylon. She has followed this path throughout her life, including in her adopted homeland, Canada.

“As a child, my brother and I were taught to give,” says Nalini, who works at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). “We learned by example; that we should give and not count the costs. The more our family earned, the more they gave to philanthropic endeavours.”

Since immigrating to Canada more than 30 years ago, Nalini has stayed true to her family’s values. Along with supporting causes that care for disadvantaged animals (she’s a dog lover) she first gave to a number of charities until she learned about United Way Ottawa.

“I stopped giving to individual charities when I discovered that giving to United Way consolidates my contributions,” says this long-time United Way supporter. “I also like the idea that the administrative fees are much lower than if one was to give separately to many charities.” Along with the ease-of-giving that United Way support entails, Nalini also discovered a side benefit: “All the mail-outs from other charities stopped.”

Not only has Nalini been an ambassador for United Way — talking up the advantages of giving this way to her colleagues — but last year she elevated her giving relationship, moving from being a leadership donor to a major donor. She also decided to become more directly involved in the Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign by becoming a campaign coordinator for her branch at CIDA.

For Nalini, “a great community is one that shares and gives. Building philanthropy into our lives and being selective through United Way is one of the best ways to help other people. By giving back to the community through United Way, we all win in the end.”

If you would like more information on becoming a leadership donor, you can contact Melissa Graham, Manager, Leadership Gifts, at 613-683-3786 or by e-mail at mgraham@unitedwayottawa.ca.

Sharing our Strengths Community Conference – Registration Open, Keynote confirmed

Registration is now open for the 9th annual Sharing our Strengths Community Conference, which will take place at Ashbury College (362 Mariposa Avenue) on Tuesday, June 29 from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The conference is an excellent and affordable opportunity for community leaders, staff and volunteers to acquire new skills and knowledge in the areas of strategic leadership, management, finance, communications and information technology. It also provides an opportunity for you to network and share information with others in the non-profit sector.

This year's keynote speaker is Betty Ferreira. She is a principal of ReStructure, a non-profit consulting service that helps organizations restructure and revitalize their operations, strategies and finances.

For her presentation "Inspiring Resilience," Betty will discuss how to acknowledge and address organizational resiliency challenges. Using examples from past experience, she will take delegates through the five major steps needed for organizational resiliency.

In addition to Betty's breakfast presentation, the conference includes a marketplace, speed-networking sessions and 42 workshops on a wide range of topics. Look for workshops such as strategies to help you learn how to integrate skilled immigrants into your workplace, use new social media technology, plan successful events on a budget and include key elements in grant proposals to get them noticed.

Register now and share this information with your friends and colleagues in our community.