WE ARE ENTERING INTO A NEW ERA IN OUR LEADERSHIP ROLE AS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE BY SETTING NINE AMBITIOUS TEN-YEAR BOLD GOALS FOR ADVANCING THE COMMON GOOD.


The BOLD GOALS focus on the interconnected areas of Education, Income, Health and Home. When they are achieved in 2020, more people in central Ohio will reach their full potential by having a quality education that leads to a productive career, enough income to support a family through retirement, good health, and a safe place to live. The current downturn in the economy and its negative effects on thousands of people in our community emphasizes the need for the kind of ambitious action these BOLD GOALS represent.


Why We Must Act Now

For many years, United Way has been addressing the root causes of some of the most persistent problems that we face in our community. We have made progress, but it is time to increase our efforts and create system-wide change.  These BOLD GOALS will enable us to achieve the kind of measurable, sustainable results that will improve lives in our community and create lasting change.

    How We Developed Our Goals

    Over 300 volunteer experts from the fields of business, government, health and human services and education worked with United Way staff to develop the BOLD GOALS.

    The nine BOLD GOALS are the culmination of the comprehensive set of strategies and performance measures laid out in the strategic framework that guides United Way of Central Ohio’s work.  The goals support the ten-year goals United Way Worldwide set in 2008 in the areas of Education, Income and Health. The progress made through the Bold Goals in central Ohio will strengthen progress made on a nationwide level.


      How We Will Achieve Our Goals

      We will use its extensive relationships throughout central Ohio to champion the Bold Goals and bring partners together from across the community to achieve them.  We will use the Bold Goals as key criteria for determining program funding in the future. 

      We will hold ourselves and our partners accountable for achieving the BOLD GOALS by using specific, concrete metrics, based on local, state and federal data to measure our progress. We will adjust our programs and approaches as needed to ensure that we are making the most effective use of our resources.

        We hold ourselves and our partners accountable for achieving measurable, sustainable results. So we’ve established 10-Year BOLD GOALS. They represent a way for us to build on our previous work, setting clear targets for broad-based change. They also allow us to track and demonstrate our progress along the way.



        Education

        Kindergarten Readiness:

        • Increase the percentage of young children entering kindergarten in Franklin County public school districts who score in the top two screening categories of the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment – Literacy (KRA-L) from 71% to 85%.

        High School Graduation:

        • Increase the percentage of students who graduate from high school in Franklin County public school districts from 87% to 95%.


        Income

        Financial Stability:

        • Reduce by 20% the number of households in Franklin County living below an income level that allows them to meet basic needs.

        Emergency Assistance:

        • Ensure that 100% of the people who access our community emergency support systems receive food, shelter or short-term financial assistance.


        Health

        Barriers to Care:

        • Reduce by half the percentage of people in Franklin County without a regular source of health care.

        Nutrition and Fitness:

        • Increase the number of people in the Columbus metropolitan area who achieve a healthy weight to rank among the top 5 comparable communities in the United States.

        Disaster and Emergency Preparedness:

        • Prepare one in three Franklin County residents to respond to community-wide disasters and individual emergencies.


        Home

        Safe Neighborhoods:

        • Reduce crime by 30% in five priority neighborhoods — Franklinton, King-Lincoln, Northland, Near South Side and Weinland Park.

        Safe and Decent Housing:

        • Reduce vacant and abandoned housing by one-third in five priority neighborhoods — Franklinton, King-Lincoln, Northland, Near South Side and Weinland Park.