20/20/20K Dream Challenge

April 22, 2017. The game is tied with seven seconds on the clock. The Spurs were doing their best to keep the Grizzlies from scoring, but the Memphis team had a dream: win the game. Z-Bo passes the ball to Conley. Noticing he’s blocked and needs a helping hand, he drives the ball to Marc Gasol, the 71 Center standing in the paint, near the rim. Gasol grabs the rock, spinning around LaMarcus Aldridge and drives the ball to the hoop, winning the game. Dream Come True.

Memphis has a history of fighting poverty on the defense, reacting to the impact of poverty on its residents and community. Now, however, United Way of The Mid-South is taking the steps to better our team’s offense.

Over 200,000 people live in poverty in Memphis, and not one organization nor individual can solve the problem alone. It will take a team effort. A team of nonprofits, services, and agencies like Conley and Gasol- that work together to help an individual drive their dream until their game is won.  

We all have the liberty to define what The American Dream looks like for each of us. Driving The Dream allows people living in poverty that chance to define their dream and how they would like it to manifest into a reality.

United Way... -

• partners with nonprofits and other groups
• addresses poverty and quality of life issues
• grows a network of professionals and agencies serving individuals and families in poverty

All Driving The Dream partners-

• are trained to employ the Transitions to Success ® care model
• utilize the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Inventory learn more & see the index at http://bit.ly/2q3FWPQ
• centralize information, access client data, track client progress, and make/receive referrals through CoactionNet (a local, shared, web-based database)

Nearly 200,000 people are living in poverty in the Mid-South. It hasn't been a lack of effort that keeps them from achieving their goals, but rather a lack of access to resources and services. The city of Memphis has a poverty rate of 26.2% which is 15% of the national average. Even more alarming, 43% of the city's children live in poverty-the nation's highest child poverty rate. 

Poverty reduction not only transforms the lives of individuals and families, moving them from crisis to self-sufficiency; it also has the potential to be an economic engine. Instead of high poverty rates being a drag on the local economy, efficiencies in services and your targeted investment can boost economic growth.

A growing income gap and the presence of persistent poverty in our communities constrains economic opportunity for everyone. The economic gains of the past several years have not reduced poverty. The key to our economic prosperity is poverty reduction.