Education is the cornerstone of individual and community success. But with more than 1.2 million children dropping out each year, America faces an education crisis. The cost? More than $312 billion in lost wages, taxes and productivity over their lifetimes. These trends are reversible, but only when communities and public, private and nonprofit sectors work together.

EDUCATION

WHY IS EARLY LITERACY CRITICAL?

When children are born, they all have the potential to succeed in school and in life. But at some point, their circumstances will affect the opportunities they have and, ultimately, their chances in life. While many children have the support they need to get started on the right foot, prepared for school and ready to succeed, not all children are as fortunate. Too many children live in an environment that isn’t preparing them for a bright future. Brought on by their circumstances, the barriers they face shadow their belief in themselves and what they are capable of.

Most Americans wrongly believe that it is OK for children to enter school without basic literacy skills because they assume they will catch up. The reality is, 88 percent of first graders who are reading below grade level will continue to read below grade level in fourth grade.

Fourth graders who struggle to read are four times more likely to drop out of school as compared to proficient readers.

THE HIGH COST OF FALLING BEHIND

When students drop out of high school, it’s at great cost to themselves and our community. The student will likely not have the same career opportunities, and research shows that those without a high school diploma will earn 75 percent less than their peer that graduated. The social implications of a student dropping out are far-reaching, beyond any one student or any one family. Communities with higher dropout rates have more crime and poverty and less social and economic stability. The number of high school students who graduate impacts our entire community from our businesses, schools, and local government, to each of us as individuals.

UNITED WAY OF SLO COUNTY WORKS TO BREAK THE CYCLE

United Way is committed to help change these conditions by leading a comprehensive approach to improving early literacy in our region. United Way is launching our Early Literacy Initiative, bringing together the resources and the expertise necessary for real progress. Through partnerships and collaboration, United Way is uniquely positioned to lead an innovative, comprehensive approach to early literacy and deliver at a county-wide level. With the objective of sharing and reinforcing proven literacy development techniques, our vision for a successful, regional early literacy initiative requires a multi-prong approach. The Early Literacy Initiative will make a lasting change because it helps children build the necessary reading skills through parental engagement, volunteer mobilization, caregiver support, and community awareness.

• Early Literacy to ensure children surpass key school readiness and early grade-level reading benchmarks (ages 0 – 12)
• Youth Success to help ensure children graduate high school with the skills necessary to pursue postsecondary education or vocational training (ages 13 – 18)

UNITED WAY EDUCATION PROGRAMS

United Way of SLO County also directly manages specific programs to assist caregivers, providers, and community supports to help children in SLO County succeed:

Born Learning Academy

The United Way Born Learning Academy teaches parents, teachers and caregivers of children how to turn everyday moments into learning opportunities.  United Way strives to meet parents where they are. That’s the philosophy of the United Way Born Learning initiative, which has helped more than 15 million parents understand how to use everyday moments as learning moments. More than 600 United Ways and partner organizations have used Born Learning’s materials to help parents, families and caregivers to promote school readiness and literacy, and to enlist business leaders and decision makers in the cause.

The United Way Born Learning Academy uses the best of those proven tips, tools and resources to help families take a more active role in preparing their children for kindergarten. These free work- shops are for parents and caregivers of children, from birth to age five. For United Ways, it’s a low- cost investment in family engagement and school readiness, without having to create a new curriculum. Wherever you are in your early education work, United Way Born Learning Academy can add momentum, help leverage partnerships and deep- en your community impact work.

Through a series of six to twelve workshops held in local schools, the Born Learning Academy provides families and caregivers with practical, user-friendly ideas to turn everyday activities into learning moments.
The Born Learning Academy can do more than strengthen your community’s school readiness efforts—it can also help your school partners
engage families before kids start kindergarten. Founded on an evidence-based curriculum established by early childhood faculty at Northern Kentucky University, the workshops are led by trained professionals—usually teachers, principals or other education staff—and focus on the following topics:

• Building Relationships
• Building Your Child’s Language Skills
• Nutrition and Health
• How Children Learn
• Routines and Learning on the Go

Learn more

Imagination Library

Since we started the Imagination Library program in SLO County, more than 12,000 books have been mailed to local children!

Each child enrolled in the program receives a new, age-appropriate book every month from enrollment through five years of age. From their first book, “The Little Engine That Could”, through the last book of the series, “Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come,” all books are reviewed and selected by a panel of experts.

With United Way covering the cost of enrollment for many children, Imagination Library is especially valuable to low-income families who may find books to be an unaffordable luxury.  However, the number of children we can enroll is determined by the amount of generous donations we receive. We enroll new children through a referral partnership with SLO County Department of Social Services.

Your donation to Imagination Library helps give the gift of literacy to local children. $50 will enroll a child for one year, and $250 enrolls them from birth until their 5th birthday! Will you help sponsor a child for the Imagination Library program?

One year enrollment = $50

Two year enrollment = $100

Three year enrollment = $150

Four year enrollment = $200

Five year enrollment = $250

To make a general donation toward the program, please visit our donation page or call us at (805) 541-1234.  

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Stuff the Bus 

Every year in August, United Way of SLO County partners with 5 local school districts and businesses to Stuff the Bus!

Each business partner location hosts a school bus which is parked in the business's parking lot over the course of 2-3 days so community members can buy school supplies to donate to students in need. The donations are collected, sorted, counted and boxed on each bus by more than 100 community volunteers. We also offer local businesses the opportunity to be "School Supply Donation Sites" where the businesses offer donation drop off sites to their employees and some even accept donations from the public. This important program helps parents with the cost of sending a child back to school each year. 

This much needed event continued online during Covid 2019 which resulted in thousands of school supplies distributed to your school district’s youth and families in need.

This year, we are back in person and very excited!  

In 2021: “Families with children attending K-12 plan to spend an average $848.90 per family in 2021. Spending is expected to total $37.1 billion, breaking last year’s record of $33.9 billion.

College students and their families expect to spend an average $1,200.32 per family. College spending is expected to total $71 billion, up from $67.7 billion last year.”

Source: https://nrf.com/topics/holiday-and-seasonal-trends/back-school/back-cla…;

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Youth Board

The United Way of San Luis Obispo County Youth Board is a unique volunteer experience that gives youth the control and responsibility of their projects.  Up to thirty-five students serve as a United Way Youth Board of Directors and are given the opportunity to make a direct impact on their peers by addressing the needs of their community and awarding grants to local organizations.  Each month, students from across the county meet to learn about SLO County and discuss community issues.  At the end of the year, the board awards at least three $1,000 grants to local organizations that are making a difference.  Members of the Youth Board represent the youth of the community, connect with community leaders and provide feedback about youth issues.  They also participate in United Way projects and events, manage fundraising campaigns, and learn about the community and other local nonprofit organizations.  Participating students are required to commit to at least one full term (September through June), and may miss up to FOUR meetings.  Call (805) 541-1234 for more information.

2021-2022 Youth Board

Youth Board would like to THANK our primary sponsor,

Wells Fargo, for their continued support!

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Our Strategy

High school dropouts are 12 years in the making, usually starting early childhood education behind schedule. United Way focuses on supportive communities, effective schools and strong families — strategies and approaches rooted in research. Tackling the education challenge requires reframing education on a birth to 21 continuum.

How you can help

To reach our goal, we need your help. The strategies proven to work are those that connect communities to their schools: parent involvement; literacy volunteers in the classroom; mentors for disadvantaged students; business leaders engaged in early childhood advocacy. Learn more about UWSLOC's programs in education:

• Born Learning
• Imagination Library
• Youth Board
• Stuff the Bus

^*Figure according to Communities in Schools, one of America’s leading drop-out prevention partnerships.