Oct. 12, 2023 (Racine, WI) — United Way of Racine County is currently looking for community members to serve on Volunteer Advisory Teams (VAT) and volunteer with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

United Way of Racine County’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program continues adapting and improving our services for Racine County taxpayers every year. The COVID-19 pandemic is a great example of this. During this time, our services had to be adjusted to serve our clients virtually. However, as of last tax season, VITA has returned to offering our full capacity in-person sites.

Last year, VITA returned more than $1,165,000 to Racine County residents through more than 740 completed tax returns.

Sept. 8, 2023 (Racine, WI) — To help combat transportation barriers to employment, United Way of Racine County, RYDE Racine and the City of Racine will be hosting a job fair on Wednesday, Sept. 13 that will feature businesses and organizations located on or near the RYDE Racine bus routes.

Sept. 1 marked the start of the 2023-24 academic year for our community school students at Knapp, Julian Thomas and The Academies of Racine at Mitchell. We are excited to continue our collaboration and implementation of the LIFT (Link and Inspire for Tomorrow) place-based strategy with Racine Unified School District.

All of our community school team members have many great ideas and plans for the fresh start of a new school year.

Youth as Resources (YAR) helps young adults in our community grow their leadership skills. The program was originally started in Racine County in 1996 and became a United Way initiative in 2007.

The importance of learning in early childhood development is crucial, as a child with poor early education is 25 percent more likely to drop out of school. Our goal is to help make educational opportunities easily accessible for parents and caregivers of young children. One simple activity to stimulate learning is to visit a Born Learning Trail. These pathways feature activities and games that make learning fun. Simply go for a short walk and help boost your child's language and literacy skills.

The ability to receive an education is critical in setting up children for success in life. The Walking School Bus, a partnership with Racine Unified School District, was designed to reduce absenteeism and get community school students to school on time and safely. Since the program started in October 2020, many students have received a safe and fun way to get to school. Currently, 25 students are enrolled in the program which runs routes to both Knapp Community School and Julian Thomas Community School.