Minnesota Compass  (launching Tuesday, January 26, 2010 ) gives everyone in our state - policymakers, business and community leaders, and concerned individuals who live and work here - a common foundation to identify, understand, and act on community issues that affect our communities.

It does this by:

• Providing unbiased, credible information
• Tracking trends and measuring progress on issues that impact our quality of life.
• Identifying disparities by including trend data by race, age, gender and income whenever possible.
• Providing additional resources for addressing issues.

Using Compass

Get facts that matter. Compass gives measurable information in each topic area that shows trends over time. The indicators generally are put into two categories: Key Measures and More Measures.

Key Measures were chosen by topic advisory groups as the most credible and compelling based on criteria developed by a technical committee.

More Measures provide additional data in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of the issue, to improve our quality of life.

Learn how others have tackled an issue.  In each topic area, there is an Ideas at Work section, which is a compendium of local and national strategies and initiatives, backed by research and evaluation, that have been implemented to reach goals and improve quality of life.

Dig deeper . Delve into the virtual library, which contains reports and studies on a wide variety of topics. Don’t see something you think would be of value to others? Recommend it to us.

The United Way Services Building  at 903 West Center Street in Rochester got a new look recently with the addition of three panels featuring the LIVE UNITED calls to action - GIVE. ADVOCATE. VOLUNTEER.

The signs feature members of the community who “don’t just wear the t-shirt.”  Sierra and Constance are two neighborhood youths who volunteer with us frequently after school. Laura is active in Emerging Leaders in Giving. John serves on the Education Solution Team.

The 5′  x 10 ’signs were sponsored by Paramark Real Estate Services, the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce, and IBM. The photos are all courtesy of Rochester Magazine.

We appreciate the contributions of all involved.

Younger children will continue to receive board books.

The Imagination Library estimates the change will result in a 18%-20% reduction in costs to local partners like United Way of Olmsted County.

The inclusion of the soft cover books anticipates major changes in the USPS postal rates for items like books. These changes will classify books as parcels incurring higher mailing rates. Not only does this change avoid substantial rate hikes in the future, it brings significant reduction in current expenses for mailing and books.

The books will have the same interior pages and the new covers will retain the same color quality and clarity as the old covers. The flexibility should reduce some of the damage that has occurred in the past with the more rigid covers.

In November, 5,949 books were shipped to Olmsted County children at a cost of $13,623.21. In 2009, the total cost of the Imagination Library in Olmsted County was $154, 429.47.

The Imagination Library is one of our major investments in early childhood . Our own local research has tracked with other local and national findings of the benefits of providing children access to books early in life in general and the positive impacts of the Imagination Library in particular.

The program was immediately popular with parents, volunteers, and donors. Even without the data, they all knew it just made sense. Since its launch in June 2006, over 172,000 books have been delivered to registered children.

The Imagination Library is available through us to any child under five residing in Olmsted County and registered by a parent or guardian. With this reduction in costs, we will be able to achieve our 2010 growth targets at a cost below that of 2009. That’s a good thing.

We  hope to reach 75% of the eligible children by 2015.

McCray

Everyone loves to get mail. I don’t mean ‘a bill’ or ‘a notice’, but an honest to goodness card, letter or package. My kids are no exception. The day the Imagination Library book arrives in the mail is a very big day.

I signed my son up for the Imagination Library out of curiosity about the program, not really considering what it would be like to actually get the book in the mail each month.

It’s a very big deal!

From birth to 5 years old, children that have been signed up for the the Imagination Library receive a book in the mail each month that is appropriate for their reading level. The day the book of the month arrives, my son Andrew comes running into the house shouting , “My new book is here! My new book is here! Open it Olivia!”

His sister Olivia helps to tear the plastic wrap off the book and then into the big, snuggly chair in our kitchen they climb. “Read it! Read it!” he begs, as if she may have forgotten this was the monthly routine. It’s one of those parenting moments you dream about when imagining what your kids will be like when they grow up. In this dream, they love to be together, never argue and take turns snuggling and reading to each other. It is a wonderful sight to see.

Each month when the books arrive, there are quite a few gifts that come with it. The love of reading that is being born right there in my kitchen is obvious, but I also see the pride my daughter feels when she ‘helps’ her brother out. When they are grown, I wonder if they will have a memory of snuggling together in the reading chair.

Andy’s Imagination Library is very important to him. For mailing purposes, the books are basically all the same size, so they stack together ‘just right’ on the bookshelf. He is proud to show off ‘his’ books to anyone who will read to him.

Last week Andy celebrated his 5th birthday. The week before that he received his final book in the mail. I think we were all a little sad to see this fun family tradition come to an end.

Thanks to Dolly Parton, the Imagination Library and the United Way of Olmsted County for making this such a wonderful part of our family.

Tracy McCray writes the “Talk of the Town” column for the Rochester Post-Bulletin.

ON NOVEMBER 17  - GIVE TO THE MAX DAY -  PLEASE SUPPORT UNITED WAY OF OLMSTED COUNTY AT GIVEMN.ORG

Give to the Max Day is a giving stimulus plan created to increase giving to nonprofits across Minnesota on November 17, 2009.  $500,000 in matching contributions and $8,500 in cash prizes for non-profits with the most donors!

A great opportunity to support the LIVE UNITED Community Fund, Imagination Library, or “Canned Goods” of your choice!

United Way of Olmsted County understands that philanthropy is changing. These changes demand options and flexibility - a range of opportunities to give and various means of doing so. GiveMN.org addresses need for one-stop online giving platform

The goal of Give to the Max Day is to raise as much money as possible for Minnesota charities in 24 hours. The Saint Paul Foundation, Minneapolis Foundation and Bush Foundation have committed $500,000 in matching contributions to support community needs in Minnesota and to cover transaction fees so that 100% of all donations go to the nonprofit organizations.

Give to the Max Day is from 8:00 a.m. on November 17, 2009 until 8:00 a.m. on November 18, 2009.

Any individual may donate. Donations through GiveMN.org to nonprofit organizations are tax deductible and irrevocable (donations will not be refunded).

The minimum credit card donation on GiveMN is $10. There is no maximum donation limit on GiveMN. There is no maximum to the amount an organization may receive.

Every donation made during Give to the Max Day will now receive a portion of the $500,000 match. * 

In addition to the $500,000 match, we are offering two other exciting incentives for your donors:

• The three nonprofits that receive donations from the most individual donors will receive cash prizes: $5,000 for first prize, $2,500 for second, and $1,000 for third.
• Transaction costs for gifts made on Give to the Max Day will be covered, so 100 percent of gifts made on GiveMN will go straight to nonprofits.

*Individual donation transactions greater than $2,500 will be eligible for matching gifts up to $2,500 only. For example, if a donor makes a $2,500 donation to an organization, the full $2,500 will be eligible to receive a portion of the matching funds. If instead she donated $10,000 to an organization, only $2,500 would be eligible to receive a portion of the matching dollars.

Examples of how the matching dollars will work: if Give to the Max Day inspires $500,000 in donations, we will provide $1 in matching funds per dollar donated to an organization; if Give to the Max Day inspires $2 million in donations, we will provide $0.25 in matching funds per dollar donated to an organization.

Rich Harwood will be the featured speaker at the annual Celebration of Caring and Giving, March 23, 2010.

“If we are to improve politics and public life,” says Richard C. Harwood, founder and president of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, “then we need to release ourselves from our resignation that public life and politics has to be the way that it is today, and declare that it can be better, that we can be better!”

Over the past 20 years, he has become a leading national authority on improving America’s communities, raising standards of political conduct and re-engaging citizens on today’s most complex and controversial public issues. Harwood, who has been called “one of the great thinkers in American public life,” has dedicated his life to helping people make good on their urge to do good.

Rich Harwood seeks to uncover answers to some of the most pressing questions of our time. He has worked with thousands of people in dozens of U.S. cities, spreading a vision for what American society should be, and putting innovative practices to use on the ground to turn that vision into reality.

Rich is the author of The Organization-First Approach Report (2009), Make Hope Real (2008) as well as Hope Unraveled (2005), and numerous articles, essays and op-eds.

A dynamic and inspirational public speaker, Harwood has been featured at hundreds of events and is a frequent keynote speaker for foundations and national organizations. He is a commentator and contributor on national and syndicated television, newspapers, radio and web sites, including MSNBC, NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, CNN’s Inside Politics, The Jim Bohannon Show, Special Report with Brit Hume, C-SPAN, and many other media outlets.

In October of 1999, Harwood was a featured speaker along with Colin Powell and Doris Kearns Goodwin at the White House Fellows 35th Anniversary Program. He is a faculty member of the Public Affairs Institute and also has lectured at the prestigious Poynter Institute, a national school of journalism.

Rich did his undergraduate work in Political Economy at Skidmore College. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was a Harry S Truman Scholar. He received his M.A. in Public Affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Rich lives in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife Jackie and their two children.

Harwood’s “The Top 10 Ways to ‘Live United’ “ is featured in our LIVE UNITED: A User’s Manual. Number nine on his list, “civic parables,” is the inspiration for the section of the same name appearing in this blog.

Influenza-like illness is now “widespread” across Minnesota, using CDC’s classification system and reports of influenza-like illness continue to be sent to MDH. In particular, an increasing number of schools are reporting influenza-like illness in students. Thankfully, the severity of the illness caused by novel H1N1 does not currently appear to have increased, however this could change.

The groups at highest risk for serious illness from novel H1N1 include:

• pregnant women
• people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age,
• health care and EMS personnel,
• persons between the ages of 6 months through 24 years of age, and
• people from ages 25 through 64 years who have chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.

H1N1 Vaccine

A vaccine for novel H1N1 is arriving in Minnesota in a series of shipments that will continue through the end of the year. The first shipment arrived the week of October 5, 2009. The H1N1 vaccine will be available in two forms - either a shot or a nasal spray. The first shipment will be weakened live virus vaccine in nasal spray form (”Flumist”) and can only be given to people 2 to 49 years of age.

The initial shipment will be relatively small, so we are targeting health care and emergency medical workers for the initial round of vaccinations in order to safeguard our healthcare system. The CDC estimates over 250 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine will be available, so eventually, everyone who wants to be vaccinated, should be able to do so. It is not known how many doses will arrive and when, or in what form.

Only one dose of the H1N1 vaccine will be needed for most people. Children under age 10 will need two doses.

You can get vaccinated for both kinds of flu at the same time if:

• You get shots for both kinds of flu.
• You get a shot for one kind of flu and the nasal spray vaccine for the other kind.
• You cannot be vaccinated for both kinds of flu at the same time using only the nasal spray vaccine. The two doses of nasal spray vaccine would need to be given at least 4 weeks apart. Like all vaccinations, vaccination against novel H1N1 is completely voluntary - but it is highly recommended for people at high risk of complications.

Should large enough quantities arrive to justify mass vaccination clinics, they will be organized and staffed by Mayo, OMC and Public Health at locations and times convenient to most.

Influenza signs and symptoms

Be aware of the symptoms of H1N1 flu - which are generally the same as those for seasonal flu. H1N1 symptoms include:

• fever of 100 degrees or more with sore throat and/or cough
• runny or stuffy nose
• body aches
• headache
• chills
• fatigue
• in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea - which are not typically symptoms of seasonal flu.

If you have flu symptoms

• Don’t go to the Emergency Department, Express Care or your primary care provider if you’re generally healthy and you develop influenza-like symptoms. Healthy individuals with flu-like illness do not require treatment with antivirals, and you risk exposing other patients.
• Do call your doctor if you are pregnant, have a chronic health condition; or if children under 5 or older than 65 have flu-like symptoms.
• Do stay home from school or work until your fever is gone for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medicines.

Seasonal Flu Vaccine

Supplies of seasonal flu vaccine should be ample - sufficient to vaccinate anybody who wants it. However, due to delays in vaccine delivery, many providers are temporarily out of flu shots, including Public Health Services.

Although getting vaccinated early for seasonal flu is a good idea this year, there is still plenty of time to get vaccinated. Seasonal flu doesn’t usually appear in Minnesota until November, and doesn’t typically peak until late January or February. You can get vaccinated anytime during flu season.

Novel H1N1 and Schools

As many experts predicted, we are now seeing a “second wave” of illness caused by H1N1. Many schools are now reporting influenza-like illness in their students. Because young people are at high risk for novel H1N1, it is a special concern for schools and child care providers. Schools are helping MDH track the occurrence of flu across Minnesota.

This year, schools will report to MDH when : the number of students with flu-like illness rises above five percent of all children in the school  -or- three or more cases of flu-like illness are reported among students in a single elementary school classroom.

If three or more cases of flu like illness are reported in a single classroom, parents will be notified. Parental notification is especially important for children at high risk of severe illness or complications from the flu. Children with chronic health problems are at higher risk.

Information about the number of schools reporting influenza-like illness will be posted weekly to the MDH flu website at www.mdhflu.com. Schools are not recommended to close because of H1N1 activity; schools may have to close in the event a high number of student and staff are absent on an individual schools basis.

Influenza Prevention

Taking a few simple, common-sense precautions is still the most important thing you can do to keep from getting the flu - or spreading it to others. That applies to both seasonal flu and novel H1N1.

• Stay home from work or school - and generally avoid going out in public - if you are sick with symptoms of the flu. 
• Cover your nose and mouth with your sleeve or a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
• Clean your hands frequently and thoroughly - with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand-sanitizer solution. 
• Get vaccinated against the flu.  Avoid contact with others who may be ill. 
• Clean your hands after shaking hands or having other close contact with others and before eating or preparing food, or touching your eyes, nose or mouth.

Flu viruses - seasonal or H1N1-can be spread through any activity that may involve the sharing of oral secretions (saliva).

Those activities include the sharing of :

• community food items 
• drinking cups or glasses  water bottles 
• beverage cans or containers 
• smoking materials 
• cosmetic products used on the lips

Flu viruses can survive for a time on environmental surfaces. However the length of time they survive can vary greatly - and can’t be reliably predicted. It depends on factors like the type of surface, temperature and humidity.

Because you can’t really tell when an object or surface might be contaminated, attempting to fight the flu by cleaning these surfaces isn’t really practical. The best defense against flu viruses that you might pick up from objects or surfaces is frequent handwashing.

Masks

The CDC and MDH do not recommend the use of simple face masks - or “surgical” masks - as an effective protective measure for healthy members of the public. It is recommended that people ill with flu-like symptoms wear masks in situations where they might expose others to the flu. N95 respirators (when fit-tested) - may provide some protection for health care workers who have close contact with patients who have flu symptoms.

Use of N95 respirators or facemasks generally is not recommended for workers in non-healthcare occupational settings for general work activities.

For specific work activities that involve contact with people who have ILI (influenza-like illness), such as escorting a person with ILI, interviewing a person with ILI, providing assistance to an individual with ILI, the following are recommended:

• workers should try to maintain a distance of 6 feet or more from the person with ILI;
• workers should keep their interactions with ill persons as brief as possible;
• the ill person should be asked to follow good cough etiquette and hand hygiene and to wear a facemask, if able, and one is available;
• workers at increased risk of severe illness from influenza infection should avoid people with ILI (possibly by temporary reassignment); and,
• where workers cannot avoid close contact with persons with ILI, some workers may choose to wear a facemask or N95 respirator on a voluntary basis.

Amy Dickinson will be the featured speaker at the 5th Annual Power of the Purse luncheon, June 15, 2010.

Dickinson’s syndicated “Ask Amy” column appears in over 200 newspapers nationwide. She is a regular panelist on the popular radio current events quiz show, Wait,Wait, Don’t Tell Me, heard on 400 NPR stations.Dickenson is also an occasional guest on such programs as The Today Show, The Rachel Ray Show, NPR’s Talk of the Nation and CNN’s American Morning. 

Keynote Address:

Ask Amy: An Afternoon with Amy Dickinson
How and why was Amy Dickinson chosen to replace Ann Landers? How does Amy Dickinson know how to answer the hundreds of questions that come in to her “Ask Amy” column? Where does she get her ideas and how does she know what to say to people in distress?

Dickinson relies on techniques learned as a reporter, speaking to experts in various fields. She also relies heavily on her own life and experiences.

From 1999-2002, Dickinson wrote a column for TIME magazine focusing on family life and parenting, often drawing from her experiences as a single parent and member of a large, extended family. For the past ten years, her commentaries and radio stories have been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered. She also has provided commentary to CBS Sunday Morning.

Dickinson attended Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts and graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. In the early days of the Internet, she wrote a weekly column for America Online’s News Channel. She also has worked as a receptionist for The New Yorker, a producer for NBC News, a lounge singer, and a freelance writer. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Esquire, Allure, O magazine and other publications.

Dickinson hails from the Finger Lakes region of New York and is a distant relative of poet Emily Dickinson. Her large family has lived in and around her hometown (pop. 450) continuously since the Revolutionary War. She often jokes, “Life in my hometown was like growing up in Lake Wobegon, only with worse weather and high unemployment.”

“My extended family is a collection of married and divorced parents, single mothers, step-relatives, adoptees, devoted siblings, cousins, aunties, uncles, and grandparents. I grew up hearing stories about my ancestors’ exploits. My great grandfather was warden of Sing Sing Prison and my great uncle ran off to Europe and joined the circus when he was 40.” Dickinson fondly describes her family as “hilarious, short-waisted Methodists.”

Her New York Times bestselling memoir, The Mighty Queens of Freeville: A Mother, A Daughter and the People Who Raised Them, was released in February 2009.

Dickinson has been a Sunday school teacher for ten years and is a substitute teacher at a local nursery school. She lives in Chicago with her teenage daughter. You can check out her website here.

The Power of the Purse luncheon and silent purse auction is hosted by the Women’s Leadership Council. Proceeds from the event support the Imagination Library.

Help ‘Fill-The-Truck’ with winter coats and accessories this weekend.

Do you have gently used winter coats or winter accessories that are taking up space in your closet? Are you looking for a good cause to donate these items? If you’d like to help 3,000 Olmsted County residents stay warm this winter, please help us Fill The Trucks this weekend!

Community Winter OuterWear’s Fill The Truck event will be held on Friday, October 9th from 3-6 p.m. and Saturday, October 10th from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. at the following locations:

• Hy-Vee Barlow Plaza - 1315 6th Street NW
• Rochester North - 500 37th Street NW
• Hy-Vee South - 500 Crossroads Drive SW

The Community Winter OuterWear Initiative provides winter coats and outerwear items to Olmsted County individuals and families who do not have the financial means to purchase them.

Last year 2,048 coats were collected and distributed through collaborative efforts of community members, businesses, service clubs, faith organizations, and initiative partners, including Cumulus Broadcasting (KROC AM/FM), Dison’s Cleaners, Mayo Clinic, The Salvation Army, and United Way of Olmsted County.

This year the need has grown to over 3,000 individuals who have registered to receive a winter coat and outerwear items.

Everyone is encouraged to participate in this important, community-wide initiative.

All you need to do is bring new or gently used and clean winter outerwear items including: coats, snow pants, snowsuits, hats, mittens, gloves, scarves, boots to the ‘Fill-the-Truck’ locations (Rochester Hy-Vee Stores) on Friday, October 9th from 3-6 p.m., or on Saturday, October 10th between 10 a.m. -1 p.m. Coats of all sizes are needed, especially infant, toddler and youth sizes.

To get a full listing of needed winter outerwear items and further information about the Community Winter OuterWear Initiative go to www.uwolmsted.org/winterouterwear. You can also call 507-535-5519 for further information.

   When children succeed, they are more likely to create successful futures for themselves, their families, and their communities. Because today’s children will become the next generation of workers, parents, and leaders, we can only create a prosperous future by giving them the developmental building blocks they need to succeed in those endeavors.
   The research points to what these “building blocks of success” are for children. They include nurturing families, early education, quality health care throughout childhood, nutrition, safe communities, and adequate housing. Successful children must have these building blocks as their foundation.
   Just as a house built on a faulty foundation cannot stand up to stress, children also suffer when their development is interrupted by the effects of poverty, unattended health problems, unsafe environments, or relationships that aren’t nurturing. These interruptions, known as “toxic stress” can permanently damage a child’s brain functioning and ability to fully develop.

  The Building Blocks for Successful Children

Access data on the status of Olmsted County children across key indicators in education; economic well-being; family and community; health; safety and risky behaviors at the Kids Count Data Center.

Download a copy of  The Building Blocks for Successful Children, the 2009 Minnesota  Kids Count data book.