Community Priorities
Together we can build a better community for everyone:
Communities where we ensure our children and youth are growing up great with the opportunities to learn grow and thrive.
Communities where all people in our community are living well with stability and independence, safe affordable housing, access to nutritious food, and access to mental health and other services that allow individuals to participate fully in our community.
Social challenges like poverty, homelessness, family violence, and low graduation and literacy rates affect us all. When someone in our community has no shelter or a child goes hungry to school, the strength of our entire community is weakened.
Thompson Nicola Cariboo United Way is at the core of a movement. It is a movement inspired by a genuine passion for social change. We power this movement by recruiting the people and organizations that bring the influence, expertise, and resources needed to improve social conditions in our communities.
We invite you to be a part of the change our communities need.
Give… Advocate… Volunteer… That’s what it means to live united
Growing up Great
BC has the highest child poverty rate in Canada for the sixth year in a row. 18.8 per cent of children in our region live below the poverty line without the financial, health and educational supports they need to reach their full potential.
In 2009, we invested $325,100 to help enrich the lives of children and families facing challenges, such as living with poverty, dealing with physical, mental and developmental disadvantages, and living in rural communities.
Thompson Nicola Cariboo supports front line programs, services and initiatives that are aimed at helping children and youth to reach their full potential. Our involvement in Success by 6 and our Youth Engagement are examples of initiatives that enable children and youth of all ages to succeed.
Success by 6
29% of children entering kindergarten are considered developmentally vulnerable. There are far too many children behind where they should be: socially, emotionally, and/or physically.
When we invest in our young children, we all win. Research shows that childhood early learning prevents youth aggression and violence, school drop-out and reduces the burden on our health care system.
Youth Engagement
It has been an exciting year of growth for United Way’s youth engagement initiatives. The dedicated and active group of leaders on our Youth Advisory Council played a key role in organizing the 2nd Annual Region-Wide Youth Day of Caring during BC Youth Week in May. 180 students from 7 high schools participated at 6 non-profits across the region. Our youth teams were able to come together, support our community and learn about the services available.
The Youth Advisory Council provides youth an opportunity to be heard in the community and make a difference through United Way. Through Youth Initiative Grants, members of Youth Advisory Council will be allocating funds to support local youth in developing and undertaking their own projects that benefit their peers in the community.
Living Well
For many in our community, just getting through the day can present serious challenges. Poverty, mental illness, homelessness, and lack of critical support services take their toll. To give all our citizens the opportunity to live a full and meaningful life we work with others to address the underlying causes. When these causes are treated the benefits ripple out to the community as a whole.
Whether it is funding agencies that provide support services or convening the table for the community plan to address homelessness in Kamloops, we are focusing our efforts to improve lives.
