United Way of Metropolitan Dallas Inc

Uwmd builds, leads and supports collaborative programs and initiatives that ensure more students graduate ready to succeed, more workers become financially stable and more families live longer, healthier lives. examples include:1. the southern dallas thrives initiative, created in partnership with pepsico foundation and frito-lay north america, is a set of programs that invests in the communities of southern dallas and expands access to early education, nutrition, college and career readiness, and workforce development.(continued in schedule o) resource rooms at southern dallas high schools provide a central location for more than 3,650 students, parents, teachers and other community members to access technology, books, health resources and more.southern dallas thrives invests in childcare centers to improve the quality of early education and ensure kids thrive from a young age. in fiscal year 2024-25, the initiative provided 86,625 hours of childcare service to 183 southern dallas families.we also deploy creative solutions to support families dealing with food insecurity. in fiscal year 2024-25, we provided 25,409 southern dallas households with food resources and basic necessities and served 135,573 meals.education: 2. digital bridges is a targeted initiative that distributes digital technology to students and young adults across southern dallas to enable them to access education, further their learning and stay connected in the classroom and beyond. through our partnership with compudopt, the laptops come with two years of warranty and bilingual technical assistance. this program served 4,748 individuals in fiscal year 2024-25 and distributed 1,461 free laptops.3. our early childhood development and parent education initiatives include programs like healthy outcomes through prevention & early support (hopes) and the texas home visiting program. these initiatives provide families with hands-on instruction, community resources and skills that empower parents, encourage healthy child development and prevent child abuse. in fiscal year 2024-25, 3,113 families participated in a parent education program, and 98% of participants reported that they did not end up with an open cps case.4. once upon a month is an early literacy program that delivers free age-appropriate children's books and parental reading guides to families every month, stimulating curiosity, language development and learning skills all of which set kids up for success in kindergarten. in fiscal year 2024-25, we distributed 143,724 free books to 11,977 north texas children.income:5. community financial stability supports families seeking to increase savings, improve credit scores, reduce debt and avoid predatory lending products. in fiscal year 2024-25, our free tax preparation program enabled 19,151 taxpayers to file returns for free, resulting in $15.2 million in refunds provided to north texas clients. during our previous fiscal year, uwmd increased access to credit-building loans, adding 225 small-dollar impact loans and disbursing more than $225,000 in capital. 6. pathways to work is a workforce development program, facilitated in partnership with 36 community organizations, that gives hardworking north texans the training necessary to secure jobs in information technology, healthcare and more. in fiscal year 2024-25, the program served 25,390 individuals, resulting in 2,007 certificates or degrees earned by participants and 4,797 job placements secured for graduates.7. dollars for college enables uwmd support to seed college savings accounts for low-income students and incentivizes ongoing deposits, providing an easy, affordable and safe way for caregivers to build savings to cover future college expenses. in fiscal year 2024-25, the program opened 45 new savings accounts and resulted in more than $99,000 in new deposits.health:8. healthcare navigators is a collaborative program that provides a network of certified healthcare navigators for the north texas co