United Way of Greater Mercer County’s Latino Vision Council held its 4th Annual Leadership Conference on Friday, November 2, 2007 at Carl A. Fields Center for Equality & Cultural Understanding at Princeton University. The conference brought together 145 Latino and non-Latino professionals from around New Jersey and Pennsylvania for a dialogue on the issues common to many individuals and organizations who work with the Latino community. The conference helped to build a solid framework that will enable community leaders to effectively address the needs of the Latino community.

Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, Professor at the Department of Urban Studies and Community Planning and director for the Center for Urban Community Leadership at Rutgers University, addressed the audience on “Developing the Strategies for Culturally Competent Leaders” and the techniques that are essential in helping to build culturally competent organizations.

The workshops included two renowned speakers: Carlos Ojeda, an educator, motivator and poet who addressed the group on the importance of developing the strategies that help individuals become culturally competent leaders; and Amie Parikh, Corporate Compliance Officer from MTI Residential Services, who provided the nuts and bolts on building structures that create culturally competent organizations.

From left to right:
Ely Mateo, UWGMC; Maritza Raimundi-Petroski,
LVC Vice Chair, Children’s Home Society;
Robert Martinez, Princeton University; Dr. Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, Rutgers University;
Ana I. Berdecia, LVC Chair, Thomas Edison State College; Ken Seda, Conference Chairman.

From left to right:
First row - Amie Parikh, MTI Residential Services;
Carlos Ojeda, Jr.; Maritza Raimundi-Petroski.

Back Row - Ken Seda, Conference Chair;
Ana I. Berdecia; Ely S. Mateo.

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Craig E. Lafferty

The promise of a New Year —
Each Day of the Year

Dear Friends,

How many times have you been wished “Happy New Year”? For most of us, it is dozens to hundreds of times over the course of the past month. Each of us have offered this wish to our families, friends, and of course, complete strangers. The promise in this offering is timeless – everyone wants to see others happy in the year that is beginning.

But, have you stopped to think about a year – it’s 365 consecutive days (except in leap year when you get an extra day) – and each day is new. It begins fresh and full of hope, just as the New Year begins in January 1. The beauty of a new day is you have another opportunity to make the most out of the time you have been given. How we use the 24 hours we have been given is purely voluntary. We can see the new day as hopeful or hopeless. We can apply our determination to make the most of what we have or to see all as lost. It depends on your perspective.

As you enter the New Year, I hope that you will make the most out of each day that you have – recognizing the fresh, new day that is followed by another fresh, new day – 24 hours later. And that each of these days will bring you the best that life has to offer and that you will arrive at the conclusion that each day begins a New Year. The Promise of the New Year is there each and every day, not just on January 1.

Best wishes,
Craig E. Lafferty
President and CEO

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On Tuesday, January 29, 2008, the Trenton/Mercer Continuum of Care will sponsor Project Homeless Connect at Shiloh Baptist Church, 340 Rev. S. Howard Woodson Jr. Way, Trenton, NJ, from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. The event is coordinated by community leaders and is designed to provide housing referrals, support services, medical services and hospitality in a convenient one-stop format for people experiencing homelessness.

Project Homeless Connect is being done in conjunction with the Point-in-Time survey count of the homeless. This is being conducted on January 29 in Trenton and Mercer County, in partnership with statewide efforts to help determine the number of homeless living on the streets, in emergency shelters and transitional housing programs. This opportunity can help the homeless to get off the street and be connected with both housing and the services that can help move them out of homelessness.

Over 125 volunteers will be needed on Tuesday, January 29, for the Point-in-Time survey street count from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm (at 3 hour intervals) throughout Mercer County — to help count the homeless, to guide homeless individuals to services and items, and to serve breakfast or lunch. In addition, volunteers are needed from 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. that day for Project Homeless Connect at Shiloh Baptist Church.

Training will be provided for volunteers for both events.

If you or your business would like more information, would like
to contribute time, services, or donations to Project Homeless Connect, or would like to volunteer to count the homeless on January 29th, please contact, Ely S. Mateo, Assistant Vice President, Resource Investment, United Way of Greater Mercer County at ely.mateo@uwgmc.org or 609.637.4918

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Golden Rule No. 1: Everyone’s time is valuable. Everyone’s. CEO. Newest entry level. Everyone.
Golden Rule No. 2: No Temper tantrums. You should never have to say that to anyone after pre-school. But we do.
Golden Rule No. 3: Get to the bloody point!
Golden Rule No. 4: Be candid. Again – both obvious, and hard to do. And requiring and understanding of the difference between communicatings and bragging.
Golden Rule No. 5: Just say thank you. And mean it.
Golden Rule No. 6: Integrity is everything. I don’t want to work with you if you don’t have it.
Golden Rule No. 7: “If you don’t know, who does?” In other words, vision. I’ll challenge you to figure out who supplies it if the leader doesn’t. Or won’t. Or can’t. The answer, of course, is nobody does. And you go round and round in circles. I’m going to try not to do that today.

These are the seven golden rules of leadership that keynote speaker Betsy Bernard addressed in depth at the United Ways of New Jersey Women’s Leadership Council Event on November 29 at the Bridgewater Manor. As Betsy explained in her talk, they are rules that are:

• Easy to agree with, because we’re human,
• Hard to live up to, because we’re only human,
• And at times scary to stand up for – because, as Nietzche observed, we’re “all too human,” when it comes to issues of status and power.

The Women’s Leadership Event was attended by over 120 women from all around the state of New Jersey. Women attended the event to network with other like-minded women, make business contacts, learn about leadership from Betsy, find out how to get involved with their local United Way and hear how Women’s Leadership Councils have taken off around the nation.

Betsy was terrific, the room was bursting with energy and a fabulous time was had by all. The next United Ways of New Jersey Women’s Leadership Council event will be a non-profit board training hosted by Merrill Lynch this coming Spring, date TBD. If you would like to hear more about United Way Women’s Leadership Councils please contact Carolee Kueller, Vice President of Resource Development at 609.637.4902 or carolee.kueller@uwgmc.org and ask to be added to our “evite” list.

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United Way’s New Business Development Committee finished 2007 on a high note with several companies reaping the benefits of teamwork, partnership and collaboration. Through company-wide participation in UWGMC’s annual Thanksgiving and Holiday drives, partners such as Waste Management, Cenlar, Amicus Therapeutics, Sean John, Randall Furniture and Comcast used the experience as an employee team building exercise.

Companies that launched company-wide annual employee giving campaigns included Sleepy’s Mattresses, Stop & Shop, The Bank, AJ Wright, Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, and Filene’s Basement.

Comcast did an amazing job of stepping up their annual giving campaign statewide from a 6% participation to 25%, while taking the initiative to educate and engage all Comcast employees through a series of UWGMC presentations.

Companies such as Cenlar, Novo Nordisk, Amicus Therapuetics and Miele really contributed to the quality of life of the workforce, environment and the community by making very generous, thoughtful end of year corporate gifts.

The new business partners list keeps growing thanks to:

• Randall Furniture
• Cenlar
• TJ Maxx
• AJ Wright
• The Bank
• Mercadien Group
• Waste Management
• Miele
• Peterson’s
• RCP Management
• Amicus Therapuetics
• Comcast
• Filene’s Basement
• Stop & Shop
• Sleepy’s Mattresses
• Tessara Restaurant
• RCP Management
• PA Consulting
• Sean John
• Novo Nordisk

For more information on how to participate as a new business partner, please contact Donna Wilson at 609.637.4907 or
donna.wilson@uwgmc.org

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The Family Education Collaborative (FEC) was developed by
HomeFront and its partner organizations Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, The Cherry Tree Club, Mercer County Library, and Educational Testing Service to meet the very special educational challenges of Mercer County’s homeless families. FEC will prepare homeless preschool children socially and academically for successful entry into the public schools and teach their parents to become actively involved in their children’s education, learn invaluable parenting skills, improve their own literacy, and thus become more economically stable and self-sufficient.

Starting in early 2008, FEC will serve homeless families who live
in emergency shelters and transitional housing programs in Mercer County. About 60 unduplicated client households will participate in the child and parent programs each year. This client population is mostly non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic single women and children who live at or below poverty level. This project will serve 23 family units on any given day and provide over 90,000 units of service annually.

FEC will address the issue of education, learning and literacy by developing and implementing free education and literacy services for all members of the homeless family. The project is designed to assist children in reaching their full potential as learners; train parents to become full partners in their children’s education; and provide training in literacy and parenting skills, thus increasing the parents’ capacity to support their children’s learning.

Services include:

• an early childhood component, in which homeless children 2½ to 5 years old will attend the Cherry Tree Club Preschool. The classroom is designed around Montessori–based principles and utilizes the evidence-based “Creative Curriculum.”
• a parent engagement component, in which parents will participate in a “Parent Engagement Program” that will assess their intellectual, emotional and social ability and their interest in participating in their children’s education. Monthly home visits will be made for 20 parents each year to reinforce their learning.
• a parent reading literacy component, in which Parents will participate in a “Reading Literacy Program” in which their skills will be assessed using the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE). Based on the results, parents will participate in one of the many GED programs in Mercer County.

Educational Testing Services (ETS) has offered its computer based literacy and life skills program tailored to meet the needs of adult learners. ETS will train and supervise staff on the implementation of its model.

FEC is one of four projects funded for 2008 under the UWGMC “Helping Children Succeed” impact area. Five other projects are funded under “Fostering Self-Sufficiency” and two are funded under “Caring for Seniors and People with Disabilities.” Each edition of this newsletter will highlight another project. For details, see our website: www.uwgmc.org.

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Thanksgiving 2007 was one of joy and promise for 384 economically disadvantaged Mercer County families who were recipients of a basket with all the fixings for a traditional holiday meal – including gift cards to purchase turkeys. We give thanks to all those who helped. Click here to view photos.

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UWGMC tries every year to make sure that every child in our county has something to unwrap during the holiday season. With all the help from businesses, corporations and individuals, we were able to provide gifts to 352 low-income families, totaling 831 children most in need. Enjoy the smiles! Click here to view photos.

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Young Leaders United Pack the Pantry with Love
January 28 - February 16
Help us pack the local food bank’s shelves with love and replenish their supply, by donating nonperishable items.
For more information contact Andrea Brobst 609.637.4905 or andrea.brobst@uwgmc.org

Project Homeless Connect
January 29
Shiloh Baptist Church
Volunteers are need. For more information, contact Ely Mateo at 609.637.4918 or ely.mateo@uwgmc.org.

D&R Canal Bike Ride hosted by Williams Companies, Inc.
May 2
For more information on how you can ride for UWGMC, contact Andrea Brobst at 609.637.4905 or andrea.brobst@uwgmc.org.

Annual Meeting and Campaign Celebration
May 7
The Conference Center at Mercer County Community College
Be sure not to miss this year’s campaign winners. For more information, visit our website at www.uwgmc.org or contact Rod Robertson at 609.637.4906 or rod.robertson@uwgmc.org.

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