Executive Director's Report Date: December 2006 From: Marjolijn Wijsenbeek, Executive Director Re: An overview of all that happened of interest during the past three months…

Special Events:

Weston Family Fun Day:

Pictured: Stein Family

Sunday October 15th we celebrated our first annual Weston Family Fun Day co-sponsored by Weston Cares! It was a great day, a beautiful fall day with a lot of families having fun. We had games, live music, magicians, great food by the Georgetown Saloon, an ice cream truck, pop corn machine and vendors. There was something for everyone! We decided to make the event free of charge since it was the first time we did something like this and the main objective was to raise awareness in the Weston community. So…we did not make any money on this event but we did get a lot of very positive feedback! We are grateful to all the people who volunteered: First Selectman Woody Bliss, the bands that provided the music, the photographer and most importantly, the committee that made it all happen! We thank Arlene Brody, Kassandra Strasmore, Barbara Levi-Berliner, Susan Seath, Charlene Chiang-Hillman, and Susan Shuck. We could not have done it without them! We will plan a similar Family Fun Day in Westport in the spring and hope that both will become ever more successful as an annual event.

Aging Successfully Forum:

On October 26th, we hosted our annual Aging Successfully Forum at the Westport Center for Senior Activities, with keynote speaker Dr. Robert Levine on the topic “Defying Dementia”. The forum, co-sponsored by the Westport Center for Senior Activities, was very well attended. Over 200 seniors heard Dr. Levine speak on what they themselves can do to defy dementia, helping to delay any onset and diminish the impact of this much feared disease. In addition to Dr. Levine, Douglas Werner from the Riverside Project, provided valuable information on the importance of physical activity and exercise. He emphasized the fact that it is never too late to start an exercise regime and that it may help improve and even reverse existing conditions. We are looking to sponsor a separate forum in Weston at their new senior center.

Westport and Weston Task Forces on Domestic Violence:

October was Domestic Violence Awareness month and both the Westport and Weston Task Forces had busy agendas. On October 4th, Westport’s First Selectman Gordon Joseloff read a proclamation on the steps of Town Hall declaring October DV awareness month. On October 14th, Woody Bliss, First Selectman of Weston, did the same at the Town Green in Weston. Both towns have purple ribbons tied around trees representing the number of calls reporting incidents of domestic violence. Our United Way ED sits on both task forces, both of which will be ongoing. In Westport and Weston a variety of events were scheduled to raise awareness and educate the community on the serious nature of the problem of domestic violence, which affects all of us.

Resource Development:

Campaign:

We started off on October 4th with a Signing Party at the United Way offices. Board members and other volunteers wrote personal notes on letters to friends and neighbors. We had good food, wine and fun!

Then, on October 12th, we invaded Toquet Hall and with the help of the Westport Young Women’s League a few thousand letters got stuffed, ready to be mailed.

As always, there were lots of babies, lots of talking and catching up while hands were flying! Even though we started the day with a little glitch, everyone stepped up to the plate, we solved the problem and got everything done. We are grateful to the WYWL and to Toquet Hall for helping us year after year with this task!

The big mailing to the community at large, people and neighbors, who have not donated to us in the past, was mechanically stuffed at People’s Banks Mailing Center in Bridgeport.

L to R: Gina Beranek ( WYWL Community Service Co-Chair), Lynn, and Kristin Ehrlich (WYWL Community Service Co-Chair).

The first donations came in and we are very excited! The responses we are getting are from our donors who have supported us in the past and many of them have increased the level of their donation. At this point we are almost $50,000 ahead of where we were at this time last year.

Community Impact:

The four Impact Teams have started their work for the year. Unlike previous years, where this is the time of year our volunteers would visit agencies with a set of predetermined questions, the teams with the leadership of their respective chairs have been busy going on fact finding tours and gathering as much information as they can to help us determine the future direction of our fund distribution.

Positive Youth Development
(chaired by Debi Rubel)

The team members have been meeting with various constituents and stakeholders and are working on developing new initiatives and taking a hard look at existing programs to determine whether they are consistent with our vision for this Impact area.

Aging Successfully
(chaired by Ed Marcantonio)

This team also is looking to identify unmet needs for seniors in our communities as well as reviewing and critiquing existing programs. The team will also be reviewing and visiting the “Beacon Hill Village” organization in Boston, which provides a wide range of services to seniors, to explore the potential for development of a similar concept here in our communities.

Inclusion for People with Special Needs
(chaired by Chris Corgel)

This team is particularly interested in expanding the range of programs that we fund. At the end of last year, when the funding recommendations were made, they made a strong case after reviewing some of the programs, to ask agencies to develop new and more innovative programming that would be more in line with the goals and objectives for this Impact area. Because this is an area of growing concern for town government and schools as well, the Westport Commission for Human Services and the United Way will be forming a joint Taskforce on Inclusion, to be co-chaired by Mickey Herbst, a former board member and currently a member of the Inclusion Team.

Family and Community Wellness and Support
(chaired by Lynne Minsky)

This group has been busy visiting and interviewing various people and organizations in the two towns, also reviewing and critiquing current programs. In their findings they already have identified transportation as a need for many, with no easily identifiable solution. They are keeping a close watch the impact of the merger of the Red Cross Chapters of Mid- and Eastern Fairfield County in our communities.

Venture/Impact Committee
(formerly New Needs and chaired by Tom Green)

The committee met November 3rd approved the following grant requests:

• Approved a request for $5000 toward the cost of a Red Cross Emergency Shelter Trailer for Weston.
• 2. Interfaith Housing Association was awarded $4,536.00 to enable their participation in CTHMIS ( Connecticut Homeless Management Information System).

Other News:

The Board approved our donating office space to the Fairfield County Collaborative for Affordable Housing. The Collaborative met it’s fund raising goal of $500,000 and in partnership with LISC ( Local Initiatives Support Corporation) has reviewed grant requests from not for profit developers and other organizations. Having made the in kind contribution of office space, the Westport-Weston United Way now has a vote on the steering committee and the ED was present at the meeting where the funding recommendations were made. The awards will be officially announced within the next two weeks.

The Collaborative is in the final stages of hiring the professional who will be working from this office. At this point it looks like as though they will be moving in early 2007.

Regional United Way Discussions:

Representatives from our Board of Directors have engaged in meetings with staff members and volunteers from neighboring United Ways to talk about ways that we can collaborate in order to operate more efficiently and effectively. Discussions are ongoing.

Wishing everyone a joyous holiday season and a happy and healthy New Year!

Marjolijn