United Way of Summit and Medina is working to achieve Bold Goals that will transform our community by improving the quality of life for children and families. For Summit County: - Raise third grade reading rates in Akron Public Schools to 65% at or above grade level - Boost high school graduation rates among Akron Public Schools Students to 90%, and college and career readiness rates to 60% - Financially empower 11,000 Summit County residents - Reduce Summit County emergency room visits due to drug overdoses to 1000 per year or fewer. And with the recent addition of Medina County, United Way volunteers and staff are working to identify Bold Goals that will guide us as we build a better future for Medina County. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the landscape of need in our community. United Way of Summit & Medina is working to meet the increased demands for basic needs support, support families with accessible wraparound services and leverage financial empowerment programs to jumpstart our economic recovery.

United Way provides several direct service programs to residents of Summit and Medina counties, including 211, free financial coaching and tax preparation services, free books to children under age 5 through our Imagination Library program, experiential learning through the College & Career Academies of Akron, homelessness prevention and more. We are committed to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion across our community by engaging a multitude of voices and a connecting with volunteers and leaders from every corner of our community. We develop programs and advance policies that increase understanding of longstanding structural inequalities and champion systemic change. In addition, United Way works with volunteer leaders and experts across our community to make targeted investments in programs and services that help local residents and drive real, lasting change.

United Way of Summit & Medina has more than a century of experience serving the local community. We have developed deep partnerships with organizations great and small from across the public and private sectors. We count on the support of leaders from every corner of our community.

Our Bold Goals are tied to measurable community statistics: For Summit County: - Raise third grade reading rates in Akron Public Schools to 65% at or above grade level - Boost high school graduation rates among Akron Public Schools Students to 90%, and college and career readiness rates to 60% - Financially empower 11,000 Summit County residents - Reduce Summit County emergency room visits due to drug overdoses to 1000 per year or fewer.

Since their announcement in 2017, we have made significant progress of all four of our Bold Goals: - The percentage of Akron Public School (APS) third graders reading at or above grade level rose from 38 percent in the 2015-2016 school year to 50 percent in 2018-2019. - Akron Public Schools high school graduation rates rose from 75 percent in 2015-2016 to 80 percent in 2017-2018 (the most recent year for which data is available). And APS high schoolers received 1,440 industry certificates in the 2018-2019 school year – a 1,500 percent increase in one year. - 1,226 residents are on the path to financial empowerment. Clients of our Financial Empowerment Center have increased savings by nearly $500,000 and reduced debt by more than $700,000. - In 2016, there were 2,431 ER visits due to drug overdoses. In 2019, there were 1,537.