Eliminating Future Needs

Establishing Key Issues to Create a Cycle of Success

For many people in Greenville County a stable life is increasingly becoming out of reach. One in five families does not earn enough money to provide for the basic needs of their households. In high school it is likely that more than 25% of those entering the 9th grade will not graduate in four years. And, three out of every ten children will not have the benefit of a high quality early childhood education. 

United Way is ramping up efforts to achieve sustained community improvement in the areas of school readiness, high school graduation, and financial stability. United Way’s long-term goals are to build strategies and mobilize partners and resources to ensure all children start school ready to succeed, all youth graduate from high school, and all individuals and families are able to provide for themselves and for their families.

In the next ten years, United Way, with your help, will focus on:

School Readiness. We will work to decrease the percentage of Greenville County children “not consistently demonstrating readiness” for first grade from 22.9% to 12.9%.  This means that children will enter the first grade on track developmentally in important social, physical, and academic areas.

High School Graduation. We will work to increase the high school graduation rate from its current level of 73.3% to 85% for all youth. BOOST (Building Opportunities in Out-of-School Time), an new program of Communities in Schools supported by United Way, will play a critical role.

Financial Stability. We will work to decrease the number of Greenville County households that spend more than 40% of total household income on housing costs from 32,000 to less than 22,000. This is a major determining factor in a family’s ability to plan for the future and weather a personal or financial crisis.