On April 4th, 2024, United Way of Treasure Valley (UWTV) joined a distinguished circle of organizations and businesses in the Treasure Valley who uplift women in the community at the Empowering Women awards, hosted by the Idaho Business Review. Our group (consisting of female UWTV staff, board members and community partners) joined colleagues across multiple sectors at The Grove Hotel and were able to highlight the incredible work we do to promote the education, health, and financial stability of every person in the Treasure Valley.
At this year’s awards, community leaders Cindy Suffa (Idaho Business Review), Jake Walter (KeyBank), Thy Tran (Micron), and a panel of Idaho business leaders discussed the importance of empowering women in the workplace, creating and sustaining healthy workplace cultures, and incorporating DEI strategies as a key tenet of company values to ensure continued success.
At United Way of Treasure Valley, our work centers on ensuring children and youth thrive in school and life, promoting mental and physical wellness for all, and empowering individuals and families toward financial stability. We support the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) community – the growing number of hardworking individuals and families who are living paycheck to paycheck and need additional supports.
To support these objectives, our key initiatives include:
(A) Leading findhelpidaho.org, which links individuals with free or low-cost programs in Idaho.
- 71% of users of findhelpidaho.org are women.
- This resource navigation tool supports the ALICE community, offering over 2,300 local Boise/Treasure Valley resources to help those in need, including single moms who disproportionately experience financial hardship (82% of single mothers, according to the United Way ALICE report).
(B) Providing funding and technical assistance support to 41 (and growing) Community Schools.
- United Way facilitates the Idaho Coalition for Community Schools (ICCS), promoting the Community School strategy statewide, and is overseen by several women leaders in our organization who are committed to enhancing the educational experience for children and families across the state.
- The Community School Coordinator position is a predominantly women-led field and is now further supported by the transformational $46 million Full Service Community Schools State Scaling grant from the U.S. Department of Education, a proposal and project led by UWTV and the ICCS.
- Through managing our Community School Pantry, participating in "social + service" events, and supporting the overall UWTV mission, Women United (an affiliate volunteer group of United Way) elevates the voices of women to contribute to agency goals.
(C) Making Grant Investments in an average of 35 area nonprofits each year.
- Our recent Grant Investment in WICAP (Western Idaho Community Action Partnership) made the following possible for a single mother in the Treasure Valley:
- “I would like to thank you for granting me and my family the United Way Grant Scholarship. In August of 2022, I came upon a very difficult situation in my life and at the time I was not financially able to pay for daycare. As a single mother of two children, a 5 year old and a 2 year old, I was struggling to find ways to make my payments until I applied for this scholarship.”
“This scholarship has helped me and my family in so many ways. Mainly, giving me the opportunity to be at peace so that my kiddos have a safe and loving place to go to while I am at work. WICAP is an amazing atmosphere that my children have been excelling in, it warms my heart knowing they were able to help families like mine. I truly appreciate being considered for this scholarship, thank you!”
Thanks to our generous donors and partners, we have been honored and able to do this important work for our Treasure Valley community. We recognize the inequities that women, particularly single mothers, face in today’s society and we hope that you come alongside us in supporting causes such as this. We are committed to serving our most vulnerable populations and helping them to move toward self-sufficiency so they can live and thrive right here in the Gem State.
