As the Women's Initiative for the United Way of Greenwich, the United Sole Sisters take their role as community representatives very seriously... although a little fun never hurt anyone.

A Sole Sister, first and foremost is dedicated to making a difference in the Greenwich community. Sole Sisters take the time to learn about the needs facing our town by visiting local non-profit programs and agencies. Then, Sole Sisters help meet those needs by raising money through Sole Sisters' events to support the United Way of Greenwich's efforts. And along the way, everyone has a good time.

Our group of more then 100 women is always growing, and we would be delighted to welcome new members. If you're interested in becoming a Sole Sister this year, please contact us via email.

Our Focus for 2008

This year, the Sole Sisters focused their fundraising and educational activities on Youth Services through the United Way of Greenwich. As a result of a United Way study several years ago, a Youth Services Coordinator was hired for the community, supported in part by the Town of Greenwich and State of Connecticut. Similar to the role played by the Town's Commission on Aging -- another project created years ago thanks to the United Way's initiative -- the Coordinator manages the delivery of services for the youth in town.

Now, the United Way has become the lynchpin creating connections between youth and service providers, the Police, non-profit agencies, and the like.

We have been instrumental in encouraging teens to be a part of the solution through the creation of Junior United Ways on every high school campus in town.

In addition, through a partnership with the Board of Education, the first Greenwich Parent Leadership Training Institute was created through which a group of 21 parents from varied backgrounds are being trained to be advocates and participants in their children's education and ultimately to become community leaders.

Finally, we launched a school readiness initiative with the Board of Education. Though the vast majority of local children enter kindergarten having had some type of pre-school experience, children begin their formal schooling at varied levels of preparation which educators indicate play a major role in creating the much publicized achievement gap. We are now striving to define what "school readiness" looks like, identify the "magic formula" of those programs that seem to result in a higher degree of "readiness" -- and use this information to improve services and help parents make informed choices.

In 2007

Last year, the United Sole Sisters were proud to raise and distribute $100,000 to Promote Self Sufficiency which helps people who are economically disadvantaged, physically or mentally challenged, or are dealing with other issues such as illiteracy. By supporting this important initiative, the Sole Sisters helped the United Way achieve the following:

• Provide support to hundreds of local kids with special needs through ARC, enabling them to demonstrate, every single day, that anything is possible.
• Help every member of our community's neediest families with social work, education and support through Community Centers Inc.
• Link local volunteers with hundreds of adults motivated by their desire to learn reading, writing and conversational English as a second language through Literacy Volunteers.
• Help our neighbors with psychiatric disabilities transition to a normal life through job training and placement coordinated by Pathways.
• Provide a safe haven through the Shelter for the Homeless for men so that they can take important steps each day in their journey toward self-sufficiency
• Open so many doors each year for the hundreds of proud graduates of the Urban League's Workplace Options training program.