United Way of Muscatine - January 2020 Newsletter

" Not only must we be good, but we must also be good for something.”

― Henry David Thoreau

Welcome to the first newsletter of the year! This will be a big year for United Way of Muscatine as we begin to shift our strategy to make the biggest positive impact on the community. For years, United Way has invested in programs in the areas of education, financial stability, and health in the community. While there has been a lot of success throughout these programs, many in our community are still struggling.

Do you remember ALICE? ALICE stands for Asset-Limited Income-Constrained Employed. ALICE represents all of the people in the community who are working hard, sometimes in multiple jobs, but still aren’t able to meet a basic needs budget each month. In Muscatine County, that represents 37% of households, and in the city of Muscatine, that number rises to 42%.

United Way of Muscatine wants to increase the number of self-sufficient households in our county by 20% by 2030. By focusing our resources on affordable housing and education and job training, we hope to improve the area’s ALICE trends. You’ll read more about this over the course of this year and we’ll begin investing in this new focus in 2021. Keep watching for ways that you can get involved and support this important work.

Thank you for reading.

Shane Orr

Executive Director

Upcoming Events

Tech Night

Jan 14, 6-8pm

Pancake Breakfast

January 17, 7-9am

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For volunteer opportunities, please visit volunteermuscatine.org

Disney Ticket Winners!

In November, several families helped out with our Day of Action by raking leaves, cleaning yards, and helping get holiday decorations put out at senior's homes. Everyone that volunteered for more than 2 hours were put into a drawing for Disney tickets! Over the holidays, the 2 families that won stopped by for their tickets and a photo. Little did the Oliva family know, but the Brunson family gifted their tickets to the Oliva family so each member of their family would have a pass!

Day of Caring Shirt Contest Winner

Julia Moravec is our winner for the Day of Caring shirts for 2019/2020. She came by for her winnings and a photo while she was home for Christmas break. The shirts were worn for our Fall Day of Caring and will be worn again in the spring for the Student Day of Caring.

What's Happening?

Middle School Christmas

Another Middle School Christmas success! We always have such a fun time hanging out and eating lunch with the kids, watching them open gifts and telling Santa what they want for Christmas. A huge thank you to Bayer for sending lunch bags filled with goodies and, of course, making sure Santa and Mrs. Clause made it safely!

As we ring in the new decade of 2020, most of us want to improve our health, therefore improving our community well-being. Where people live, learn, work, and play affects a wide range of health risks and outcomes. These conditions are known as social determinants of health (SDOH).

At Trinity Muscatine Public Health our Community Care Coordinator, Patty Lawrence, assists individuals in addressing their social determinants of health barriers by connecting them to resources. These connections help to improve a persons’ situations, decrease barriers and helps to improve their overall well-being. This effort encompasses utilizing many of our community partners. Questions such as having concerns about your current living situation or household members needing health and dental insurance or need for a primary care provider are examples of how we assist individuals become healthier and in control of their living situations by connecting them to resources that can address that particular SDOH.

We’ve had many successes in connecting individuals to establishing care with a primary care provider at UnityPoint Health, University of Iowa Health Care Muscatine, Mercy Family Medicine or Community Health Centers. Unitypoints’ vision is “Best Outcome for Every Patient Every Time”. For our organization, this means we utilize our resources in the community or surrounding communities to connect individuals and their families to healthcare when they are most vulnerable and in need.

Trinity Muscatine Public Health

Community Care Coordinator

563-264-9159