UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES

• The foundation for a strong community starts with investing in services and supports for people and families in need.
• 1 in 5 people will experience a mental illness in their lifetime. Healthcare practitioners stress that it is as important to take care of your mental well-being, as it is your physical well-being. Whatever the challenge you may be facing, everyone needs a shoulder to lean on.

Last year, United Way funding allowed more than 205,000 community members to connect to critical services and supports. Including more than 12,000 texts and calls to crisis support.

The United Way believes it is essential to connect those less advantaged to critical services they need, and as well helps to facilitate volunteer support. With us, “wrap-around” support is not a slogan: it is at the core of what we do.

Never hesitate to dial 211, or 1-888-340-1001 for TTY –

Services are available 24/7, there is no charge and your contact is confidential. 

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES

• Having a sense of belonging is a basic human need, just like food and shelter.
• The world is becoming increasingly connected through new technology and social media, yet many remain isolated.
• Many of our neighbours may also face specific social barriers related to age, physical ability, or language fluency.

Through our partner organizations, the United Way helps fund accessible activities such as after-school programs, language classes, seniors’ clubs, and more. The United Way also maintains a database of current volunteer opportunities in Durham Region.

Volunteering, neighbours helping neighbours, is the cornerstone of a strong community. Whether you’ve lived in Durham Region your whole life, or are brand new – everyone has value to add as a volunteer. How will you give back to our community?

SEARCH VOLUNTEER ROLES

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES

Behind thousands of doors in Durham Region, people are struggling with issues you can’t see. We often consider our homes to be safe spaces, but for individuals experiencing abuse or those with limited mobility – being at home can become a daily struggle not always readily visible to family members or co-workers.

In a moment’s notice, anyone can become in need of additional support. Everyone in our community deserves to live safely and in good health.

The United Way in Durham works with our agency and community partners to help those struggling by opening the door to possibility. Access to local services and support’s wether they be in food, counseling,

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES

1 in 4 children in Canada live in poverty. 1.3 million children across Canada live in poverty.

It is well documented that childhood poverty has a lifelong impact on kids’ mental and physical well-being and can adversely impact long term outcomes.

For example, in Durham, 15% of families do not have reliable access to healthy food. A lack of proper nutrition significantly weakens a child’s ability to learn and grow during critical early years. Other aspects of poverty, including substandard housing, are also linked to negative mental health and educational outcomes.

Access to food, affordable housing, career planning, and mentoring are all factors in lifting children from poverty. Your donations allow for..

• Children and youth to participate in mentoring, counselling, leadership, sports, and recreation engagement.
• Women and children to receive support emergency shelter, counselling, and outreach services.
• And a great deal more.

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES

It’s no secret that education is a great equalizer. Through education, children become leaders and develop skills to improve their lives and their communities. In the fight against poverty, and to mitigate its impacts, early childhood education preparedness is critical.

The United Way is committed to ensuring that all kids have access to learning opportunities, by partnering with organizations such as:

• Girls Inc. Durham to provide girls with in-school activities in reading and literacy, leadership development and bullying prevention, health and sexuality, and substance use prevention.
• Precious Minds to support programs for kids with developmental challenges, that help them build their communication, personal care, and work readiness skills.

Your donation allows kids to participate in programs that enable success at school. Some numbers for your consideration:

• $500 covers the cost of registration and books for two youth returning to high school
• $520 will allow 26 girls to attend an 8-week in-school lunchtime literacy program.

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES

Community programs are of tremendous value to the most vulnerable families in our community.

For kids, they are a safe and loving place to go when they get out of school or in the summer – a space to do their homework, have a healthy snack, and form lifelong friendships.

Kids who attend after-school programs have higher rates of school attendance, show more positive attitudes toward school, and — most importantly — are less likely to drop out of school. And those who participate in camp or similar activities have an opportunity to develop strong social skills from peers and adult mentors.

Although essential, extracurricular activities can be expensive. Without support, parents would be put in the position of paying for programs that they may not be able to afford. That’s why the United Way helps provide critical funding to organizations including:

• Firehouse Youth Centre, where kids age 12-18 can participate in free drop-in activities ranging from structured sports to video games, musical instruments, and games such as air hockey.
• BGC Durham, where kids age 4-8 can participate in social and developmental activities all year round. Drama club, sports club, and woodshop are just some of the many options.

What programs does your donation to the United Way help fund? Here are some figures for your consideration:

• $165 will send a teenager to Adventure Camp for a week in the summer.
• $364 will send a child to an After-School Program for the entire year
• $1,500 provides a one to one mentorship support for an at-risk youth for one year.

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES

Food security is a serious challenge in our community. In Durham Region, roughly 78,000 people are without regular and reliable access to healthy – that’s 15% of all households.

The impact of chronic food insecurity on mental and physical well-being can be devastating for an individual, their loved ones, and our community.

Last year, the United Way Durham Region helped more than 20,000+ individuals and families access to food banks, community gardens, and nutritious food preparation and budgeting training.

With your help this year, we can go even further. Your support of the United Way can help make sure that no one in our community has to go without food.

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES

Each day in Canada and across the GTA (and Durham Region) we are reminded of the issues of housing scarcity and the affordability crisis. The consequences are numerous and well documented. Increasing percentages of household income must be spent on housing, “owning a home” is for far too many something which is a forgotten dream, multi-generational households are on the increase. Neighbourhood and even interprovincial generational relocation is an expanding necessity.

The United Way is committed to helping mitigate (to the extent that we are able) the impacts of the housing and affordability crisis.

Last year, your support of the United Way helped provide 20,594 bed nights of shelter. Our support of food programs, programs for children and youth, and critical connection services to assists, all help to minimize the adverse impacts which the current housing crisis imposes on families and children.

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES

The world of work is rapidly changing. Compared to the previous generation, Canadians today change jobs 22% more often, and have 15 jobs in their careers on average. Job hopping is the new normal.

Navigating this new landscape can be challenging and, over time, employment insecurity has a negative effect on well-being and community connections.

That’s why United Way funding is committed to programs that empower individuals to find meaningful employment.