United Way Announces Campaign Shortfall in Midst of Troubled Economy

Emergency service funds will not be cut

Lehigh Valley, Pa. – The United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley kicked off this year’s annual fundraising campaign during the most dramatic economic downturn in 75 years. United Way Board Chair Dolores Laputka announced today that despite generous donations from many members of the community, to date it appears that this year’s fundraising campaign is approximately 10 percent ($1 million) short of last year’s efforts. The funding deficit is occurring primarily from lower than expected workplace campaign pledges.

United Way continues to support and has not made any cuts to the nearly $1 million in funding for crisis services, including emergency food and shelter for families and children and other basic needs assistance.

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Local media coverage

WFMZ:
http://wfmz.com/view/?id=601793

The Morning Call:
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_5unitedway.6735209jan07,0,1661472.story
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-united-010609-cn,0,7073174.story

The Express-Times:
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/index.ssf?/base/news-0/123130473481770.xml&coll=3

Affordable Homes for Sale in Bethlehem

Please pass this information along to your coworkers!

HOM, Inc., a nonprofit affordable housing developer in Bethlehem, has partnered with the City of Bethlehem and KNBT to offer two new townhomes located in the 600 block of Montclair Avenue in South Bethlehem. Construction is currently underway with an anticipated ready date in the spring of 2009.

Each unit will contain a one car attached garage, living room, dining room and kitchen area, one and a half baths, three bedrooms, a laundry. Each property is gas heated and centrally air conditioned. Floor plans are available in .pdf format and can be obtained by calling Dan or Bob at the numbers listed below. The cost is $174,900, less a $75,000 home subsidy on each.

Prospective homebuyers must meet income eligibility requirements. For further information on these properties, please contact Dan Brady at (610) 868-9809 or Bob Ross at (610) 217-2630.

United Way Needs Your Help!

For many people in our community, making ends meet is simply wishful thinking.

There are many families in our neighborhoods - families who you may know well and not even realize are struggling - whose bread-winners work full-time, only to leave at the end of the day and head over to our local food banks... or may work full-time and frequent homeless shelters as a place to rest for the night... or have to make a choice between paying bills and putting food on their family's table.

The staff and volunteers at United Way are headed for a tough campaign this fall, hoping for the best for thousands of Lehigh Valley residents most in need. We know, through the generosity of people like you, we can continue to meet the needs of our children and families throughout the Lehigh Valley. However, we are learning every day that the needs are drastically increasing.

Consider these statistics over the last 12 months:

• Since 2007, requests for housing assistance through Valley Wide Help have increased a whopping 30% (almost 500 more calls!);
• Energy assistance calls have increased 64%;
• Food assistance calls have increased by 11%;
• Transportation assistance calls have increased over 33%;
• Financial assistance calls have increased by 17%.

Both your support and the support of your coworkers during this campaign is critical to making sure programs are available for local families when they need it most. Through your contribution to United Way, you help play a role in the health and vitality of our community... a health and vitality that is at risk for many of our neighbors, friends, and relatives.

For more information on how you can help or get involved, questions or concerns, please email sarahb@unitedwayglv.org.