CRADLE TO CAREER
United We Fight.
United Way fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in every community. In Greater Lafayette, that means equipping people with tools necessary to live their best life possible from cradle to career. The Cradle to Career Commitment is a community wide effort to help people develop the necessary skills for a lifetime of good decision-making. We raise our hands not only to lead the fight, but to reach out to people who need help. And hope. We take on the complex challenges; the ones that are difficult to talk about and bring people together to create lasting solutions.
United We Win.
We win when we Live United®. By forging unlikely partnerships. By finding new solutions to old problems. By mobilizing the best resources. And by inspiring individuals to join the fight against our community’s most daunting social crises.
So who are the hand-raisers, the game-changers? They’re people who know that at the core of every human being is a desire to do good. Who recognize the power that comes from a shared purpose. Who understand they’re always stronger together than they are alone. In Greater Lafayette, it means people like you. United Way of Greater Lafayette needs you to join the fight, because your passion, expertise and resources will help the fight become a win. A win that’s not just a short-term contribution, but a long-term solution.
We are part of a network of 1,200 United Ways in 41 countries and territories. But the place that need you most is right here in Greater Lafayette. So raise your hand if you’re ready to be that game-changer. Because United we fight, United we win. We have one life. To live better, we must Live United®.
Our Programs
KINDERGARTEN COUNTDOWN CAMP
Kindergarten Countdown Camp is a free summer camp. This camp is designed to prepare children with little to no preschool experience for their new roles as kindergarten students. The camps are taught by licensed, experienced teachers and take place in a school setting.
“I think it’s a wonderful way for students to become more comfortable in the school environment and to make new friends before they come to school. It gives them that emotional support that will make it a lot easier to transition to a full day kindergarten class.” – K Camp teacher
“I feel camp gave parents a better idea of what they can help their children in preparing for Kindergarten such as writing their name, letters/numbers writing, sight words,etc.” – K Camp Parent
READ TO SUCCEED
Read to Succeed is a reading program that invites community members to spend one hour per week in local classrooms helping children develop and improve literacy skills. This effort is led by United Way of Greater Lafayette, Greater Lafayette Commerce and all three local public school corporations.
We all have a stake in local students’ success. Improving student reading skills can lead to increased school achievement. The strength of our future workforce depends on students becoming successful today. We know poor early reading skills are clearly linked to high school graduation. In fact, students who excel at reading by the end of third grade and demonstrate regular school attendance are 90 percent more likely to graduate from high school. Our community recognizes the opportunity to support our local schools and students. Will you join us?
To learn more contact Kelci Fox at kfox@uwlafayette.org or call 742-9077×233.
vita (volunteer income tax assistance)
United Way’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA) allows working families and individuals prepare their tax returns at no cost, either through free self-prep services or at in-person appointments with IRS-certified volunteers. Households with an income of $78,000 or less can visit myfreetaxes.com to file their own taxes for free, or they can make an appointment to come to United Way and have their taxes filed with the help of a volunteer (some limitations apply). Appointment scheduling begins each year in January.
Each year, the program has grown to serve more and more members of our community. Since our program began in 2010, our volunteers have prepared more than 25,000 tax returns for 14,000 clients. Those clients have saved an estimated $3.2M in tax fees. Overall, our tax preparation program has brought more than $22.4M million in refunds back to Tippecanoe County.
Sound like something you’d like to try? YOU can help put dollars back in the pockets of Greater Lafayette residents. Volunteer opportunities range from schedulers to tax preparers. No experience is necessary and FREE training and resources are provided.
If you are a Purdue International Student looking for tax preparation services you must file your federal taxes through Purdue’s Glacier system. You can find information on that process here.