United Way Is in It for the Children
By Kiera Hay
Journal Staff Writer
They're huddled together, talking not-so-quietly among themselves. A ballerina in a red silk dress. Three doctors. Even a princess.
It's Halloween in Joan Jamison's pre-kindergarten class at Agua Fria Elementary School.
"Here we go. Boy, we have a lot of kids here today," Jamison tells the 15 or so mostly Hispanic and Latino 4-year-olds settled into a circle around her.
Jamison begins to move around the loop, asking each child about his or her costume, an aide nearby to translate for those who speak only Spanish. For the handful of children who aren't dressed up, Jamison has colorful animal hats. "What kind of cat are you?"
"A nice cat."
"What does a farmer do?"
"Ride a horse."
"What if I fall down?"
"We three doctors help you!"
Jamison pulls out a book to read and the kids squirm. Though they don't realize it, they're part of a network of services that might, one day, open the way right into a real pre-med program.
Spearheaded by United Way of Santa Fe County, the web, for now, includes pre-K classes, infant and family support, and home visits for new parents. In the future, it could include college mentoring, tutoring and internships.
"The idea here is really to create a scaffolding of support and services to families, beginning prenatal when we can, that will ensure success in school. The overarching goal is breaking the cycle of poverty," CEO Katherine Freeman said recently.
The faltering economy has more or less halted United Way's plans for greater expansion, but the nonprofit's leaders say existing programs are sustainable. The organization also says there's no chance of it being among the 100,000 nonprofits that one New York University professor has predicted will cease to exist by the time the economy begins swinging upward.
United Way officials cite disparate funding sources that include a long-term federal grant; a steady, though not expanding, flow of state funding; and a private donor base, which the nonprofit's officials say remains strong.
"My feeling is right now we're very stable, we're very financially responsible, and we have a pretty good strategy going forward into the next four or five years that likely isn't under any threat," chief operating officer Brian Dineen said .
Big bang for bucks
United Way of Santa Fe County started its Santa Fe Children's Project earlier this decade with Jamison's class at Agua Fria. The program, originally called the Agua Fria Children's Zone, was modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone, and funding initially came in the form of pre-K money from the federal government.
The decision to concentrate more on early childhood education and intervention, then branch into direct services, was something of a radical departure for the organization.
"Traditionally, United Ways have been pass-through fundraisers," Freeman told the Journal in 2005. "It has become important to us to have more of a return on the investment. Our focus is now more on making lasting change in the community, to invest in a way that makes it possible to solve chronic problems."
In 2008, United Way of Santa Fe County announced that it was directing all of its resources to early childhood initiatives — a decision not all in the community were pleased about.
But Freeman, Dineen and others point to research that they say shows investment in young children offers both short- and long-term social benefits, and a big bang for the taxpayers' buck.
"The analyses are not touchy-feely or based on our affection for children. They're actually saying, of any investment strategy, the highest return is probably early childhood," Dineen said.
For now, it appears to be paying off. In the past year alone, Dineen estimated that United Way of Santa Fe County has probably tripled its capacity.
"We've gone through an incredible expansion in the last year in terms of our staff and the programs we provide," he said.
Programs in United Way's Santa Fe Children's Project now include seven pre-K classes at Kaune, Agua Fria and Cesar Chavez Elementary Schools, along with a support program for pre-K families; a new "community school" at Kaune aimed at making the institution more of a neighborhood center; after-school programs; Baby University, which provides support to parents and children under 3; and Baby University's offshoot, First Born, a home visiting program designed to help first-time parents.
"We were really looking at: 'What are the benefits practically? What's the cost? Is it sustainable?' We looked at those questions before starting expansion and decided to go for it," Freeman said.
One of the organization's biggest boons came last year, when it was named a recipient of an annual, five-year $732,673 federal grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, awarded through the New Mexico Department of Health.
"That has given us an advantage over a lot of nonprofits who, like most of us, scramble from year to year," Dineen said.
United Way also received $543,912 in state funding, much of it from the Children, Youth and Families Department, in the 2010 fiscal year, comprising roughly 21 percent of its nearly $2.5 million cash influx. The nonprofits's early childhood education programs have benefited from New Mexico officials, such as Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who have taken up the cause.
Tipping point
Freeman and Dineen are confident that state money, though not currently increasing, won't decline or be yanked away.
"Although we've kind of stalled on funding levels this year, we don't anticipate there is any political will to cut the programs back," Dineen said.
Leaders also say their private donor base, including workplace giving, has remained strong this year. Donations amounted to about $845,000, making up the organization's single largest source of income.
"We're really fortunate and really grateful for the amount of support in all those areas, which tells me it was a good idea to do this," Freeman said.
For now, Freeman said, the expected cash flow means priorities lie in serving a greater number of people within existing programs, rather than launching new initiatives, such as new services for teenagers, or expanding horizontally, including more pre-K classes and home visits.
As for real expansion, "I have no idea until the money starts flowing, until the state's budget is balanced," Dineen admitted. Additional pre-K classes, he said, could maybe start rolling out in a couple of years.
"We think we can create a tipping point in Santa Fe area kids' success in school if we can involve 50 percent of each cohort in our program," Freeman said. "If we can raise half, we'll raise the boat for everybody."
Visit www.uwsfc.org for more information on the Santa Fe Children's Project.
