Welcome to community m@tters™, your online update of what matters in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. This newsletter highlights United Way for Southeastern Michigan's Agenda for Change work along with upcoming events, volunteer spotlights and Kurt's Corner, UWSEM demographer Kurt Metzger's look at key regional trends.

In this issue:

• Top Stories
  • Groups Unite to Fight Foreclosures in Macomb
  • Summer programs improve student readiness
  • DaimlerChrysler’s community work earns national honor
• Upcoming Events: Leadership Next
• Volunteer Spotlight: Tax refunds connect thousands to financial stability
• Kurt's Corner: Financial Stability Slipping Away From Region?

In response to the alarming rate of foreclosures in Macomb County, United Way for Southeastern Michigan joined community groups, public and private organizations and financial institutions to host a free event to provide information and guidance to residents in need.

The June 9 forum, promoted as the “Keeping Your Home in Troubling Times” foreclosure fair, featured  16 workshops on selling a home when faced with foreclosure, negotiating with mortgage companies, emergency services and other related topics.

“This fair is part of United Way’s ongoing effort to develop a unified approach in educating the community about the root causes of a financial crisis,” said Michael J. Brennan, president and CEO of United Way for Southeastern Michigan. “We believe that collaboration is a key component to preventing foreclosure, and we remain committed to addressing the underlying causes of our region’s most pressing issues.”

About 100 individuals attended the event, held at Warren City Hall, and 45 counselors, legal professionals and lenders were on hand to assist with financial literacy and foreclosure prevention resources.

Macomb County Michigan State University Extension and Lighthouse Community Development offered 40 individual foreclosure counseling sessions to attendees.

“We’re finding that many individuals are not only facing foreclosure, but struggling to manage a number of other issues at the same time,” said Greg Sterns, manager, financial education counseling, Lighthouse Community Development.

Another dozen agencies, including the Legal Aid and Defender Association, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Michigan Department of Human Services and the Internal Revenue Service had booths at the event. 

Sterns said that the community rallied around the event, and organizers aimed to help consumers feel empowered, and realize that there are solutions and valuable resources available to them.

Poverty rates are up across the region since 1999, and nowhere has that percentage grown as dramatically as in Macomb County (see Kurt’s Corner). The number of poor people in the county grew more than 60 percent from 1999 to 2005, according to the Census Bureau. The surge in poverty has been accompanied by disturbingly high foreclosure rates.

Statewide, Michigan experienced an overall increase of 141 percent in its foreclosure rates over the past year. Locally, Wayne County saw a 143 percent increase and Oakland County, a 64 percent increase. During that same period, the foreclosure rate in Macomb County shot up 234 percent.

As part of our new Agenda of Change, United Way is committed to improving financial stability (along with educational preparedness and basic needs) across the region, a major focus of which is increasing and sustaining home ownership.

Program sponsors: C & G Newspapers, Central Macomb Credit Union, Fifth Third, First State Bank, Flagstar, Huntington Bank, Metro Credit Union, National City, Paramount Bank, United Way for Southeastern Michigan and Warren Bank.

Community Partners: the city of Warren, city of Roseville, Department of Human Services, IRS, Leaps and Bounds, Legal Aid and Defender, Lighthouse Community Development, Macomb County Asset Building Coalition, Metropolitan Consolidated Association of REALTORS, Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development, Macomb County Community Services Agency, Macomb County Habitat for Humanity, Macomb Care Connect and Macomb County MSU Extension

The temperatures are rising and students are finishing another school year, which signals that summer is nearly upon us. But with the warmer temps and freer schedules come worries. Many parents are concerned about making sure their children continue to develop learning skills once school is out, and United Way for Southeastern Michigan is working to provide them with options.

Studies show that children who do not read during the summer months show signs of a loss in reading ability when they return to school. United Way hopes to log 50,000 hours of literacy activities through a collection of summer programs and help youth stem the decline of reading and literacy skills in the process.

United Way is partnering with more than 30 programs throughout metro Detroit this summer to better prepare students to return to school prepared to excel in the classroom. Since 1967, United Way has been collaborating with local programs to provide safe, fun and educational summer experiences for our community’s youth. The various programs get underway beginning June 13 and will focus on improving reading skills, school attendance and nutrition.

A considerable number of youth across the region qualify for a state program that provides free or reduced price lunches to students from low-income families, according to experts. The meal initiative is administered through the schools, but is unavailable to eligible youths during the summer months. This is notable because research shows that poor nutrition contributes to students' developmental delays.

To address this problem, each of United Way’s partners in the effort are being encouraged to enroll in the USDA Summer Food Service Program for Children, which would provide a nutritious mid-day meal to participants.  Increasing awareness among students and their parents about proper nutrition and its impact on school readiness is also a major area of emphasis.

Improving school attendance is a priority as well, so organizers will be stressing the dangers chronic truancy presents. By promoting regular attendance during the summer programs, United Way hopes to positively influence students’ overall views on attendance and to motivate more of them to attend class regularly during the school year, which aligns with United Way’s new Agenda for Change work.

The agenda focuses on educational preparedness, financial stability and basic needs. The educational preparedness strategies include making sure students enter school prepared to learn, helping them read at grade level and keeping them on track through graduation so that they are ready to succeed after high school -- in post secondary education and in life.

Longer-term, United Way is interested in extending some of the summer programs into the academic year by working with school districts, and engaging volunteers and the community to keep students reading on pace.

Look for exciting results from this initiative as the programs launch this month.

United Way of America (UWA) recently honored DaimlerChrysler Corp. with its 20th Annual Spirit of America® Employee Community Investment Summit Award, recognizing the commitment of the company and its employees to supporting United Way and its work to improve lives and communities.

The Employee Community Investment Summit Award is one of four Spirit of America accolades recognizing United Way National Corporate Leaders (NCLs) for exceptional work in the areas of community investment, engagement and leadership. The awards were presented in May at the 2007 United Way Staff Leaders Conference in Pittsburgh.

"DaimlerChrysler is establishing a new standard for excellence in community investment, and I commend the employees and retirees for their generous efforts," said UWA President and CEO Brian A. Gallagher. “Their steadfast collaboration with United Way and tremendous investment in the workplace campaign demonstrates a spirit of volunteerism and a commitment to helping all members of their community.”

Thanks to the dedication of campaign co-chairs Tom LaSorda, president and CEO Chrysler Group at DaimlerChrysler, and John Franciosi, senior vice president Employee Relations, along with that of hundreds of DaimlerChrysler and UAW campaign volunteers, company employees and retirees contributed $8.5 million in 2006. Combined with its corporate gift of nearly $5.7 million, DaimlerChrysler contributed more than $14 million into communities across the nation through United Way.

Campaign leaders said monumental success of the effort was due, in part, to the many fun-filled activities used to teach employees about United Way, including dunk tanks and pie eating contests. The dedication to serving the areas in which the workers and retirees live played the largest role.

"The employees and retirees of Chrysler Group are dedicated to acting as responsible, actively engaged members of society," said LaSorda. "United Way programs are critical to many charities and organizations that improve the quality of life for our employees, customers and neighbors. Our partnership with United Way is an important part of our commitment to helping our communities, and we are pleased to be honored with the Spirit of America Employee Community Investment Summit Award."

The Summit Awards represent four categories within the Spirit of America recognition program honoring the exceptional work of corporate partners in the areas of community investment, engagement and leadership. Award recipients were evaluated and selected based on their strength in promoting, volunteering, investing in, connecting with, advocating for and partnering with their respective communities.

The Spirit of America program is open to all NCLs, which includes national and global corporations that partner with United Way to deliver positive results. A panel of NCL peers and local United Ways determine award recipients.

In keeping with a renewed commitment to sustainable business practices, the 2007 Spirit of America honors – to be awarded in 2008 – will feature a new corporate social responsibility component in addition to the traditional criteria.

For more information on Spirit of America or NCLs visit unitedway.org/ncl or e-mail Amanda.ponzar@uwa.unitedway.org.

Since joining with United Way of Oakland County two years ago to create United Way for Southeastern Michigan, we have been committed to addressing regional problems with regional solutions, and through our new program for emerging leaders, we are working to nurture the brain trust that will carry on that mission in the decades ahead.

The program is called Leadership Next^SM, and it will officially launch on June 20 at an event in downtown Detroit. The evening program will feature special guest, Troy Clarke, president of General Motors North America, who will offer his thoughts on what today’s executives are looking for in tomorrow’s leaders. 

Attendees will also hear about the many opportunities United Way provides to get to meet and talk with other dynamic professionals from a variety of industries, as well as opportunities to improve their communities.

Leadership Next^SM is not for “the usual suspects.” We believe that today’s crop of up and comers are more regional in their thinking than any other demographic in Southeastern Michigan. They can be found in Dearborn, Sterling Heights, Royal Oak and other communities, and they understand that by addressing critical community issues collectively, they have an opportunity to truly transform southeast Michigan into a model region.

The members of Leadership Next^SM will help drive United Way’s mission to improve lives and communities by shifting the way that the region works together going forward. 

Attend the launch event and you will receive information on finding volunteer projects that fit your interests, professional development programs to help you build your skill set and ways to collaborate with other peers to create positive, tangible, lasting change in the region.  Join us …

Wednesday, June 20, 6-9 p.m.
McNarney's Public House
673 Franklin, Detroit, MI

To qualify as a member of Leadership Next^SM you simply have to be a United Way donor who identifies with our mission and registers online. Existing contributors who would like to receive more information about Leadership Next^SM should contact us immediately to ensure their invitation to the launch event.

Perks of being a Leadership Next^SM member include:

• Attending CEO luncheons
• Participating in skill-building workshops hosted by community business leaders
• Networking with peers across industries
• Influencing events, activities, and volunteer opportunities of Leadership Next^SM
• Transforming the community through volunteer activities

Thanks to some 600 committed volunteers from across the region, the Accounting Aid Society helped more than 8,300 metro Detroiters receive an average of $1,048 in tax returns and credits during the 2007 filing season.
 
The Accounting Aid Society is a United Way for Southeastern Michigan partner agency, and has provided free income tax preparation and counseling services to low-income residents, facilitating the return of over $146 million to taxpayers across the region since 1976. The organization connected its clients to more than $2.4 million in Earned Income Tax Credits this season – a 9 percent increase over 2006. The EITC is a federal rebate for low-income taxpayers.

For many working, low-income families, a refund or credit of $1,000 can provide the foundation for financial stability. Not only are families able to use the returns to buy food, pay bills or meet other immediate needs, for many the funds are a springboard to assets like home ownership, higher education or business ownership. The Accounting Aid Society’s work also resulted in the funneling of federal funds back into the local communities.

The society’s tax assistance program is a collaborative between local, state and federal governments, nonprofits, corporations and community volunteers.  The effort is funded entirely through philanthropic support, and is a nationally recognized leader in low-income tax preparation services, leveraging over 12,000 hours from more than 600 volunteers at 30 tax sites in southeast Michigan.

During the 2007 tax season, the Accounting Aid Society:  

• Assisted 8,354 households, which received an average $1,048 in tax returns and credits, totaling 8-10 percent of their average annual income
• Saved each client an estimated $150 in tax preparation costs and using free $130 in rapid refund loans – a total savings of more than $2.3 million
• Infused over $8.7 million in federal and state funds into the local economy
• Increased local economic activity by $13 to $17 million as monies returned to clients were re-spent in their communities.

The above 2007 tax season results were accomplished with the additional assistance of United Way for Southeastern Michigan through its EITC and Tax Assistance Initiative.  Through this initiative, United Way provided Accounting Aid with supplemental resources to increase the number of low-income residents who received the EITC and other tax refunds and to support Accounting Aid’s electronic filing services, which allowed the organization’s clients to receive their refunds in two to three weeks versus six to 10 weeks for paper returns. 

These supplemental resources included the recruitment of 100 additional volunteers by United Way, 38 of which became IRS certified Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) volunteers and prepared taxes at Accounting Aid tax sites.  United Way also provided additional funds to Accounting Aid to train those volunteers, purchase additional laptop computers, printers, copiers and supplies, and to pay for 10 seasonal tax assistants. 

The additional volunteers and seasonal tax assistants funded by United Way served 1,127 clients and returned $973,716 in tax refunds and credits to the community.  Moreover, Accounting Aid was able to leverage United Way’s supplemental funds even further by utilizing some of the paid seasonal help as tax supervisors and screeners at various tax sites. Although they did not directly prepare returns as supervisors and screeners, they significantly enhanced the tax preparation process by performing quality reviews of volunteer-prepared returns and by screening clients for eligibility and required documents. 

The computers, printers and copiers paid for by United Way were deployed at tax sites where they were needed most, thus increasing those sites’ capacity to serve clients.  Finally, United Way funds helped pay for seasonal electronic assistance, enabling Accounting Aid to electronically file 5,566 returns, or 67 percent of those prepared.  Electronic filing speeds up the return of much-needed tax refunds and credits to clients and allowed them to directly deposit more than $3,162,000 safely into savings and checking accounts.

United Way’s support was instrumental in returning nearly $1 million in EITC and other tax refunds and credits to those most in need in southeast Michigan.  To learn more about United Way’s work around financial stability, click here. To volunteer your time and talents to a similar cause, please visit http://www.uwsem.org/volunteer .

Across Southeast Michigan, since 2001, the base of financially stable residents has been steadily eroding as more area residents end up jobless or lose their biggest asset – their homes.

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey reported in 2005 that the tri-county area had -- for the first time -- more individuals living below the poverty line in the suburbs than in the city of Detroit.  While the largest numerical increase in poverty occurred in Wayne County, outside Detroit, the largest percentage increase occurred in Macomb County.  Overall, the suburban population living below the poverty threshold increased by 36 percent from 1999 to 2005, while the ranks of Detroit’s poor increased by 7.5 percent. In both cases, the trends represent a significant reversal of what we experienced during the 1990’s.

Table 1.  Poverty Trends in Southeast Michigan, 1999 - 2005
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently revealed that the Detroit metropolitan area led the country in job loss from 2005-2006.

Figure 1.  Total Non-farm Payroll Employment Change, 2005-2006, in 13 Largest Metropolitan Areas
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Figure 2.  Employment Trends in the Tri-County, 2001 - 2006
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Figure 2 highlights the regional employment picture, comparing third quarter 2001 and third quarter 2006 counts of total private employment and total manufacturing employment by county.  The total loss for the region over that period was nearly 129,000 private industry jobs.  The manufacturing sector accounted for almost 88,000 jobs, or 68 percent of the total.

Foreclosure data reported by RealtyTrac.com has placed metro Detroit consistently near the top in foreclosures as a share of total housing stock.

The following excerpt is from a RealtyTrac.com press release covering the first quarter of 2007:

“Continuing a trend from 2006, Detroit documented the highest foreclosure rate among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas in the first quarter of 2007. The metro area, which comprises Wayne County, reported a total of 16,351 foreclosure filings during the quarter, a foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 51 households — more than five times the national average.

Las Vegas registered a first-quarter foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 57 households, second highest among the nation’s 100 largest metro areas and 4.6 times the national average. The metro area, which comprises Clark County, reported a total of 10,493 foreclosure filings during the quarter.

The Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area in Southern California reported a total of 17,499 foreclosure filings during the quarter, resulting in a foreclosure rate of one foreclosure filing for every 68 households — third highest among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas.

Other metro areas with foreclosure rates ranking among the 10 highest were Sacramento, Calif., Stockton, Calif., Atlanta, Denver, Bakersfield, Calif., Fort Worth, Texas and Dallas.”

A real measure of the extent of the financial stability problem comes from data collected by the Michigan Department of Human Services on the number of households and individuals who are receiving food assistance.  The following table provides snapshots of the state and each of our local counties from two points in time - September 2001 and September 2006.

Table 2.  Households and Persons Receiving State Food Assistance, 2001 - 2006
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Source:  Michigan Dept. of Human Services

Over the five-year period, more than 95,000 households and nearly 200,000 individuals were added to the food assistance list.  While Wayne County experienced the largest numerical growth, more than twice as many households and individuals in Macomb County joined the ranks.

This trend reflects the growing population of suburban poor reported earlier.  In fact, Oakland County residents were not immune. The need for assistance continues to grow and more than 13,000 Oakland County households, representing almost 29,000 individuals, have been added to the food assistance recipient rolls in recent years.

United Way for Southeastern Michigan is focusing its future work on helping individuals and families access the assets they need – education, a home, a business, etc. – to allow them to realize stability through its Agenda for Change. Through the agenda (to be officially launched in 2008) United Way will help more people lift themselves out of poverty, and will strengthen regional communities in the process. Read more about the agenda and some of the early results by clicking here.