There is no debate that we have had a year of severe disruption. If you are lucky enough to be 100 years old, then that is obviously 1% of your life. However, if you are a 10-year old, that means a full 10% of your life has occurred during this odd and challenging time. I wrote a few weeks ago about significant, documented learning losses among students, particularly in math, and particularly for middle school students. We also know there have been increased feelings of depression and anxiety among our youth. The good news is, kids bounce back quickly, but they need our help to do it.

A group of educators and nonprofit leaders started meeting in December to talk about providing extra support to our kids this summer. They have been doing the tough work of developing summer programs for academic, social, emotional, and physical health support and connecting those together so that more kids can be served in more ways.

At our United Way, we have been working to find resources to help this effort and we are pleased to announce a huge one today. We have secured funding to provide 39 AmeriCorps Members to serve at schools and nonprofits across southwest Colorado to help with teaching, tutoring, and all forms of student engagement and enrichment. Some members will serve mid-May until the end of December. Most members will serve from mid-May until mid-August. Members will receive a living allowance (roughly equivalent to $15/hour, will be eligible for health insurance, and can receive an education award to help pay for college tuition, loans, etc.). In addition, they will be stepping up to serve our kids during a time of rebuilding. The services of these members will be at no cost to our schools and nonprofits.

Now we need your help! Do you want to serve or know someone who might be a great fit? We are looking for people 18 or older who want to work with kids K-12. You can learn more at www.teamupforsummer.org . The recruitment window is short and we want to fill all of the slots!

If you can’t serve, please help us recruit! Thanks for Living United with us. 

Lynn Urban, President & CEO

United Way of Southwest Colorado

lynnu@unitedway-swco.org | 970-903-3815 cell

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