Tag: United Way of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County
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Community leaders seek broad input to address central Valley’s key workforce concerns
Business leaders, nonprofit leaders and other community leaders from Harrisonburg and Rockingham County are already talking about ways to address transportation, affordable housing and childcare hurdles in the central Shenandoah Valley.
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$326K to go toward property to help homeless; Meanwhile Hburg residents at poverty level increase
The Harrisonburg City Council on Tuesday approved spending remaining federal CARES Act funds to buy property to help address homelessness in the community — a step some city leaders said they hope will lead to a year-round shelter. And housing insecurity was a theme at Tuesday’s meeting as council members learned more about the increasing numbers of residents teetering on the brink of or already in poverty.
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Pandemic intensifies struggle for Shenandoah Valley’s working poor, survey shows
Families who live paycheck to paycheck are having the hardest time making it through the pandemic, according to a recent United Way survey seeking insight into the pandemic’s impact on Shenandoah Valley families.
United Way releases new ALICE Report, into COVID’s shadow
According to the United Way’s just-released 2020 ALICE Report, 61% of households in Harrisonburg struggle to make ends meet. While that represents a 4% drop from the first ALICE report, published in 2017, it does not factor in the pandemic’s effects. In any case, Harrisonburg still has one of the highest rates of ALICE households in Virginia.
Parents and Hburg’s schools scramble to find childcare in preparation for fall’s online learning
Many Harrisonburg families are trying to figure out where their children will spend their school days now that the district plans to start the fall with online learning for most students. This has set into motion a massive revamping of not only how teachers will deliver lessons but of the entire school-day scheduling process. District leaders, such as the superintendent, have been negotiating with child care providers and non-profit organizations to find places — and funding options — for children of working parents to go and learn during the day while staying safe. Meanwhile, parents and guardians are having to get creative to ensure their children have structure and supervision during the school days.
The Friendly City gets some TLC
A flurry of activity started early Wednesday morning around Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. You may have spotted the volunteers in their red shirts, spreading new mulch around playgrounds, brightening up school swing sets and basketball goals with fresh paint and tidying up yards and flowerbeds at many non-profits.
Despite Harrisonburg’s status as a ‘childcare desert,’ day care providers’ expansion plans keep getting sent to time-outs
While two day care operators cleared a key hurdle in their effort to expand the number of spots for children of working families, their win was short-lived. And their saga has underscored the complex process day care providers must navigate to create more spots to for children, even as working families across Harrisonburg and beyond scramble to get on waiting lists for safe places to send their children during workdays.
