Staff Spotlight: Nidia Logan graduates in Leadership Memphis class of 2012

Posted on May 8, 2012 by

Nidia Logan

Nidia Logan is the most recent member of the United Way of the Mid-South staff to graduate from Leadership Memphis.

Logan is the Manager of United Way’s Community Impact department, and has been a member of the staff for nearly eight years. Logan helps manage a results-driven process that assembles community volunteers to analyze local challenges and nonprofit budgets, making difficult decisions about where to distribute funding to create solutions and address needs.

“The 2012 Executive Class of Leadership Memphis challenged each graduate to step up and lend our time, talent, and treasure to produce a positive, collective impact on the city,” Logan said.

“I learned a lot from the experience, especially the importance of forging new and meaningful relationships through a blend of people from different sectors of the region. United Way is a powerful vehicle for community change. The Leadership Memphis experience helped me connect with opportunities to expand the work of United Way. I was challenged professionally and personally to seek new ways to collaborate and build on the many amazing initiatives going on in this city,” Logan said.

Posted in Allocations, Education, Events | Tagged

National Disability Institute’s Real Economic Impact Tour meeting at United Way offices tomorrow

Posted on May 7, 2012 by

 

The National Disability Institute’s Real Economic Impact Tour is a national movement of more than 800 partners in 100 cities. The tour is dedicated to improving the economic lives of people with disabilities and their families. It also is building disability inclusive communities of practice and promoting economic justice.

United Way of the Mid-South and the Earned Income Tax Credit Alliance are partnering with the National Disability Institute’s Real Economic Tour tomorrow (May 8, 2012) to discuss making a real economic impact for people with disabilities in our local community.

The meeting features a discussion of outreach strategies related to financial education, free tax preparation and asset building activities that are available to persons with disabilities.

The meeting begins at 9:00 a.m. and lasts until 11:00 a.m., with registration at 8:30 a.m. at United Way of the Mid-South, 6775 Lenox Center Court, Suite 200, Memphis, TN 38115.

For more information or to register please visit this site or contact Katie Metz with the National Disability Institute by e-mail at kmetz@ndi-inc.org.

Posted in Education, EITCA, Events, Financial Stability, Health, Improving health for adults & seniors, Strengthening families and neighborhoods, Volunteers | Tagged , , ,

EITCA and VITA volunteers celebrate success with guest speaker Councilman Myron Lowery

Posted on May 7, 2012 by

Councilman Myron Lowery (center,seated) thanks EITCA and VITA volunteers at the Volunteer Celebration at the Hickory Ridge Mall.

United Way takes pride in its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Earned Income Tax Credit Alliance (EITCA) volunteers for their work to help bring millions of dollars into our community.

On Saturday April 28,  these volunteers were recognized for the good they do across the Mid-South in this unique partnership between United Way, the Internal Revenue Service and other organizations across our region. The celebration was held at the Hickory Ridge Mall banquet room.

Many VITA and EITCA volunteers were honored at the event (a list is attached at the end of this story). Regina Walker, Senior Vice President of Community Engagement and Alignment with United Way provided opening remarks and Memphis City Councilman Myron Lowery (Super District 8) encouraged the efforts of volunteer tax assistants. As one of the effort’s founding volunteer partners, Lowery has continued to provide his support each year.

Just last year over 6,600 tax forms were prepared by the EITCA / VITA partnership, resulting in over $3.7 million in Earned Income Tax Credits coming to the Mid-South. These returns resulted in over $11 million in tax refunds coming to the region. According to 2011 statistics, roughly 80% of people who could file and take advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit have one or more children. Over 38% of potential filers receive assistance from food stamps, while 55% have an adjusted gross income of less than $15,000 per year. Volunteers are hoping for even better results for this year (official statistics are normally released in August).

The EITCA is seeking grants and other support for its continuing work to see more people use the Earned Income Tax Credit so more tax refund dollars will come to the Mid-South. These refunds can be used to pay bills, fix a vehicle to use for work transportation and in some cases, are used as down payments for homes.

Other guests who participated in program activities include Phelicia Stuckey, who provided music; T.L. Williams Dance Academy provided a tribute to dance; Shirley Downing, former Ms. Senior Tennessee, made remarks on “We Know We Are Getting Older When…”; Dereka Williams performed a tribute in song;  “World Famous” LeVeda McCou provided remarks on “Laughter is Good for the Soul”; Other presentations were made by Debra Pointer, Senior Tax Consultant, Internal Revenue Service and Nidia Logan, Manager, Community Engagement and Alignment, United Way of the Mid-South.

The list of EITCA and VITA volunteers can be downloaded here as an Adobe Acrobat PDF document.

Posted in EITCA, Events, Financial Stability, Personal Stories, Strengthening families and neighborhoods, Volunteers | Tagged , , ,

SAVE THE DATE: United Way Golf Scramble and Clays Shooting, Monday, August 27th

Posted on May 4, 2012 by

Make sure to save the date for the United Way Golf Scramble and Clays Shooting, Monday, August 27th. More information coming soon!

Posted in Events

Your support at work: Suffering from deep depression and family issues, Joanna struggled to care for her three-month-old child

Posted on May 3, 2012 by

Joanna worried her battle with depression would hinder her ability to care for her three-month-old child, but your support has her family on a positive path with a brighter future.

Note: This story comes from Janet Whaley, Executive Director of Comprehensive Counseling Network. Names and images are changed to protect privacy.

Joanna was suffering from constant sadness and could barely keep up with all the demands of caring for her three-month-old baby. She knew she needed help, both for her own sake, and more importantly, for the sake of her child.

After contacting one of United Way’s network agency partners, Joanna engaged in counseling sessions with a therapist. She was diagnosed with clinical depression which stemmed from a childhood filled with abuse and neglect.

“She shared her deepest pain of witnessing her father’s abuse of her mother when she was a child,” an agency counselor said. “Her own relationship with her baby’s father was not good and she feared he was seeing someone else.”

Joanna’s fears were sparked when her boyfriend had become violent one night and hit her. She was blaming herself and thinking she had done something to cause the violence.

“She wondered if she would end up like her mother – abused and broken,” the counselor said. “Over time and with counseling, Joanna found strengths within herself and new ways of handling her situation.”

Joanna and her boyfriend worked together to make a tighter commitment to each other, avoid hurtful behaviors and improve their relationship. At her last session with the agency, Joanna laughed and said, “I feel strong now. I know there will be other things I need to work on, but I can do it.”

Joanna has learned to stand up for herself and take responsibility for her life thanks to the help of agency counselors. Your support of United Way helps families end generational cycles of abuse and find ways to live more positive lives.

Posted in Crime, Health, Helping children and youth succeed, Improving health for adults & seniors, Partner Agencies, Personal Stories, Strengthening families and neighborhoods

Volunteer Spotlight: Delores Williams, EITCA / VITA volunteer site coordinator – “giving back is its own reward”

Posted on May 2, 2012 by

From left, Delores Williams and United Way President Bryce Haugsdahl

Delores Williams believes that giving back to our community is a reward in itself.

Williams just completed her third year as a member of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) team, working with the Earned Income Tax Credit Alliance (EITCA) at United Way’s EITCA/VITA site in the Hickory Ridge Mall.

EITCA/VITA sites help connect low and low-to-moderate income people with free tax preparation and making sure qualifying people file for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which can result in greater tax refunds for individuals and families.

Williams was a crucial part of keeping the Hickory Ridge site open on Saturdays. She volunteered to serve as the Saturday coordinator from January 21st through April 14th.

“On average, we would have 25 to 30 people come on Saturdays to get help with their taxes. When I would get there at 9:30 a.m. in the morning, there would already be a line, waiting for me to open up,” she said.

volunteer spotlightThe Hickory Ridge Mall EITCA/VITA site stayed open past the April 17th deadline to file taxes, and roughly 150 people showed up in post-deadline days to get help with preparing and filing their taxes for free. Many people who miss the deadline neglect to file their taxes altogether, which can lead to additional problems and burdens for years to come. Keeping the center open for a few days after the deadline helps people avoid these long-term problems.

Recently, Williams represented the team of EITCA/VITA volunteers when they were nominated for Volunteer Mid-South’s “Spirit of Giving” awards in recognition for volunteering excellence in our community.

Williams is the Automatic Clearing House Coordinator for Hospitality Federal Credit Union. She has been preparing people’s taxes for 15 years – for seven years with H&R Block, and more recently as an EITCA/VITA volunteer. She enjoys the opportunity to serve our community and share her knowledge and skills to help someone with their tax returns.

“The responses you receive from the people, the joy, it’s like a glow,” she said. “Even if people owe, they feel like they have learned something. Some were willing to wait long hours to get the help they needed.”

As far as the future goes, Williams is optimistic about continuing her work through EITCA/VITA.

“I find it to be uplifting, because you want to give back to someone,” she said, adding, “sometimes you don’t have the means to do it. I am glad to be in a position where I can give back.”

Posted in Education, EITCA, Financial Stability, Information Resources, Personal Stories, Strengthening families and neighborhoods, Volunteers

United Way of the Mid-South shares information about Community Issues Management during global Community Leaders Conference

Posted on May 2, 2012 by

community issues management CIMDuring United Way Worldwide’s Community Leaders Conference in Nashville this week, United Way of the Mid-South staff will present a demonstration and explanation of the Community Issues Management system (CIM).

United Way of the Mid-South President Bryce Haugsdahl, Vice President of Community Impact Diana Bedwell and Community Impact Specialist Tehrian Martin will share how our region uses CIM to support community leaders in fact-based decision making and planning.

Diana Bedwell will highlight how CIM data is gathered and used for the Kindergarten Readiness work of the Memphis City Schools PreK – 3rd Grade Continuum Advisory Task Force.

United Way of the Mid-South is also heavily involved in a presentation at the conference on aligning health care efforts (see yesterday’s story here).

We’ll have more information about this presentation next week on the United Way News Center.

Posted in CIM, Funding Decisions, Information Resources, Technology