United Way has appointed Deborah L. DeHaas, vice chair & regional managing partner at Deloitte & Touche US LLP, chairperson of the 2008 board of directors. Deborah, a board member since September 2004, has been a United Way supporter for many years. She most recently has chaired the Tocqueville Society and before that served as United Way Campaign Chair for both 2003 and 2004. In addition, through her leadership, Deloitte holds the “#12” spot on the United Way list of Top 25 Corporate Citizens, as well as last year’s “#2” spot for Tocqueville Society members.

“Deb is an inspiration both as a woman business leader and as a philanthropist,” said Janet Froetscher, United Way president and CEO. “She is known throughout the city of Chicago for her work with numerous causes. Her ability to lead our Tocqueville Society toward continued success, as well as her dedication to United Way, make us incredibly excited to announce her as our new board chairperson.”

Deborah, a resident of Winnetka, succeeds Lester McKeever, managing principal, Washington, Pittman and McKeever, who continues as vice chair, as well as a member of the United Way African American Initiative Senior Advisory Committee.

The United Way board of directors also welcomes three new board members: Amy Fahey, president, Chase Middle Marketing Banking Midwest, JPMorgan, Arlene Kowalczyk, senior vice president of Downers Grove National Bank, and Cathy Martine, president and CEO of the Midwest Region, AT&T.

Amy Fahey assists teams of professionals who serve clients with $10-500 million in annual sales across Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri for the Chase and JPMorgan brands. Born and raised in Chicago, she works with several education-related organizations, including Maria High School and Immaculate Conception School. Amy was selected to serve out the remainder of the term for outgoing United Way board member, Bill Daley, vice chairman and chairman of the Midwest Region, JPMorgan.

Arlene Kowalczyk, who resides in Lisle, is responsible for retail banking, operations marketing and the trust area of the bank. She is no stranger to the United Way system, having served as president of United Way of South DuPage and of United Way of the DuPage Area. Arlene joins the metropolitan Chicago board with knowledge in volunteer recruitment, growing revenue and increasing community investment. Last year United Way honored her with an Outstanding Volunteer of the Year award. This award is presented to a United Way volunteer whose time and expertise have led to measurable progress in strengthening the region.

Cathy Martine is responsible for an over $11 billion profit-and-loss statement and an employee base of over 31,000 that spans six states. The scope of her position includes all local company operations in the region including network, and consumer and business sales and service. She has extensive experience in AT&T core operations in enterprise business, consumer and international markets throughout her 27-year career with AT&T. She is also serving out the remainder of the term for outgoing United Way board member and her predecessor at AT&T, Cathy Coughlin.

The United Way of Metropolitan Chicago board of directors is responsible for setting policy and making the critical funding decisions that affect the network of programs and services that address metropolitan Chicago’s greatest needs, including access to health care, economic self-sufficiency, educational development and crisis support. Last year, the board approved $56.5 million for investment in community programs that improve lives and strengthen communities.

Updated from Families Need Your Help: Adopt-A-Family is Back for 2007.

When Calla, an annual workplace contributor, began giving to United Way years ago, she never realized she might find herself one day coming to United Way for help.

But after an illness that left her unable to work for a year, her bills were tightening up and she didn’t know how she would be able to provide Christmas gifts for her family. Luckily, her sister told her about the United Way Adopt-a-Family program.

Thanks to the generosity of an Adopt-a-Family donor, she was able to pick up new sweaters and gift cards to buy presents for her children to unwrap on Christmas morning. Once again healthy and with a new job, she looks forward to being caught up with her bills soon.

Calla’s family is one of more than 80 families (including 282 children) who were able to have a holiday meal, presents for their children and warm clothing for the winter, thanks to the generosity of United Way Adopt-a-Family sponsors.

In total, we raised $5,491, plus $1,878 worth of winter apparel. United Way used the cash donations donations to purchase $25 gift cards redeemable at community partners such as Target and Jewel, allowing the families to secure exactly what each member needs.

From all the families and everyone at United Way, thank you!

The annual United Way Awards honor outstanding donors, volunteers, businesses and agency partners for their hard work and commitment to our community. The 2007 winners will be unveiled next spring, and recipients will be honored at our annual Community Celebration on June 27, 2008. Please note that the applications are due by February 1, 2008.

Complete award descriptions & applications can be found here »

United Way of Metropolitan Chicago has issued its first-ever comprehensive report card on a three-year collaboration with Exelon Corporation that created enhanced after-school programs targeting three Chicago communities where dropout and truancy rates are among the highest in the city: Austin, Bronzeville/Grand Boulevard and Humboldt Park/West Town. The findings reinforce that at-risk students can achieve academic success with the right mix of attention and activities.

 
The Exelon-United Way Stay in School program was launched in 2004 to increase the success rate of at-risk students. At that time statistics showed the citywide dropout rate had reached critical levels, especially for young males: 61 percent for African-American males and 49 percent for Latino males.

Stay in School has served more than 5,000 students, ages 10-20, since its inception. The report card captures data and testimonials from 329 students who participated most intensively in the program. It measures the program’s impact across a broad spectrum of data that are tied to student attendance, academic performance, graduation rates and the development of pro-social behaviors.

Key Report Card Findings

Promotion and Graduation

• For Stay in School students, 92 percent were promoted to the next grade level. Eighty-five percent of the program’s seniors graduated from high school or obtained a GED. Only 54 percent of CPS students who were 13 years old in 1998 graduated from CPS by age 19 in 2004.

Attendance

• In the first year of Stay in School data collection, 75 percent of the students had at least a 90 percent school attendance rate. Attendance is a major challenge for schools in these communities, with some schools experiencing average daily attendance rates as low as 68 percent.

  The University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research released a report in July 2007 that named attendance, particularly in the freshman year, as a key indicator for staying on-track to graduate. (Report title: What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public High Schools: A Close Look at Course Grades, Failures, and Attendance in the Freshman Year. Authors: Elaine M. Allensworth and John Q. Easton)

Pro Social Behaviors

• Sixty-eight percent of students increased their pro-social behaviors (participation in out-of-school and leadership activities, involvement in the community, relationships with peers, parents, and program staff—all of which are indicators for positive achievement in school).

  This information was collected through student evaluation surveys in which students were able to report progress in areas such as being able to talk to staff about a personal problem, getting along better with family members, making better decisions for themselves, and being able to control anger. Additionally, the Stay in School participants noted the program has taught them the relevance of academic achievement and completing high school for their future.

About the Program

The program serves students from Ames Elementary, Burr Elementary, Chopin Elementary, Frederick Douglass Academy High School, Jose de Diego Elementary Community Academy, Kelvyn Park High School, Orr Campus (Aasta, Excel and Mose Vines Preparatory Academy), Roberto Clemente High School, Wells Community Academy and Wendell Phillips High School.

Stay in School also partners with United Way health and human service organizations (B.U.I.L.D., Inc., Centers for New Horizons, and Youth Guidance), Chicago Public Schools and students under the leadership of Exelon Corporation to deliver sustainable, local academic programs to strengthen students, their families and their communities.

Exelon has contributed $1 million to United Way to fund the Stay in School Initiative with the goal of delivering a holistic menu of after-school programming that promotes student achievement. Stay in School includes tutoring, college readiness, life skills and prevention workshops, parent and family activities, and a reward and recognition program for students.

“Exelon has made education a signature focus of our corporate citizenship because we believe educational achievement is the dividing line between economic isolation and economic opportunity,” said Ruth Ann Gillis, president of Exelon Business Services Company. “We wanted to focus new resources into these communities to address the escalating problem of student dropout. These findings indicate that we have created another vital public-private partnership that is achieving the Mayor’s goal of improving education.”

Exelon also created Learning for Life, a seven-month, employee-led job readiness and mentoring workshop series that focuses students on business basics and interview/presentation skill development, to support the Stay in School Initiative. Students compete for five Learning for Life paid internships at the conclusion of the workshops.

“United Way works to know the best programs that can create positive change in our community,” said Lester McKeever, managing principal, Washington, Pittman & McKeever and United Way of Metropolitan Chicago board chair. “But that work is lifted to new heights when business leaders like Exelon get involved and bring their wealth of experience, resources and ingenuity to the team. The Exelon-United Way Stay in School Initiative is an excellent example of corporate leadership rolling up its sleeves to improve lives in the Chicagoland area.”

“This program taught me basic life skills, time management, networking and responsibility. Exelon volunteers helped me understand how to prepare for my future,” said Sade Meeks, a student from the Beverly/Morgan Park community who participated in the Stay in School program and is now a senior at Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences in Mount Greenwood. “It’s good to know people out there are trying to help the younger generation, making sure we are making the right decisions and keeping us on the right path.”

For more information, click here to download the full United Way Stay in School report card fact sheet or visit Exelon’s website. The report card itself can be downloaded here.