United Way Elgin Middlesex • 15th June 2023

2022-23 Impact Report

United Way supporters care about changing the story. They care about investing time, money and expertise in making this a better community for all. In this annual report, you'll see how United Way generates lasting impact where it’s needed most. And we never do it alone.

United Way Elgin Middlesex • 24th March 2023

Equity intern helps prioritize community voices

As part of its commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and Indigenous Collaboration, and to strong community partnerships, United Way Elgin Middlesex became a participant in Western’s Black Leadership University Experience (BLUE) program. Fourth-year student Jessica Brown joined for a paid, five-month role as an equity strategy intern, with a goal of helping us improve how we operate and create impact. Can you briefly describe the project you’ve worked on at United Way Elgin Middlese

United Way Elgin Middlesex • 9th June 2023

Volunteers spring into action

Volunteerism and community transformation were words of the day as more than 500 volunteers from 31 workplaces rolled up their sleeves at 33 agencies across London and St. Thomas and in Middlesex and Elgin counties.

United Way’s Day of Caring, presented by sponsor Libro Credit Union, made its enthusiastic return on June 8 after a three-year absence.

Volunteers tackled everything from sprucing up camp cabins to gardening and yardwork, painting, neighbourhood clean-up, building birdhouses, creat

United Way Elgin Middlesex • 31st May 2023

Mark Egbedeyi-Emmanuel leads Campaign

A Q&A with the new chair of the 2023 Community Campaign - how challenge mobilizes positive change.

United Way Elgin Middlesex • 18th May 2023

Summer camp builds leaders

Joe Douglas was nine, maybe 10 years old – trying to find solid footing amid the shifting sands of family life and learning how to get along in a rough-edges neighbourhood that rewarded bravado more than bravery.

“I was a good kid but it wouldn’t have taken much for me to have taken a completely different path,” he says today.

Gameday London • 17th February 2023

Getting into the swing of softball

The school gym echoes with a syncopated thud-thud-thud as half a dozen girls toss spongey balls against the wall and then scramble for the rebounds. Soft arcs and errant bounces make it obvious this could best be described as a starting point.

United Way Elgin Middlesex • 10th February 2023

Double-digit surge in 2-1-1 calls

Local queries to Canada’s 2-1-1 information hotline have soared so far in 2023 – with call volume 24-per-cent higher than this time last year, and more callers than ever with multiple needs. Housing, health and mental health/addiction needs together account for almost half the inquiries. Across Canada, the picture is similar, with double-digit increases year-over-year in the number of people seeking guidance to find basics such as food, housing and help with government assistance programs. Some

YouTube - United Way • 16th December 2022

Love for Dinner, with artist Andrés Garzon

Andrés Garzon's art shows what it means to be reunited for the holidays. Story here: https://unitedwayem.ca/holiday-local-love/

United Way Elgin Middlesex • 19th October 2022

Pay-it-forward meals bring street-level caring

One lunch guest at the London Coffee House remarked that this was the best food he’d had in a week – and his first hot meal in three days. Through the generosity of United Way supporters this fall, more than 2,400 neighbours in need got access to nutritious locally sourced meals.

Western News • 9th September 2022

Melanie Peacock 'purple-and-proud' alumni president

Human resources professional Melanie Peacock, MBA’90, has become an international expert on finding and keeping the right people in the workplace.

But she also knows first-hand how important it is to make that a priority in her personal life.

Western News • 21st June 2022

Learning bundles a gift of Indigenous knowledge

Indigenous peoples affiliated with Western have created six teaching modules instructors can use to share Indigenous knowledge and worldviews in their classrooms. “We carry these gifts of knowledge, and we want to share them so instructors can share Indigenous perspectives in an ethical way,” said teaching

Western News • 30th May 2022

Western's bee garden hums with volunteers

The short strip of rich earth that's newly cradling 1,300 plants – including hyssop, aster and three species of milkweed – is an ambitious beginning for Western's pollinator garden.

Western News • 25th May 2022

$10M gift gives rise to entrepreneurs, innovation

A new entrepreneurship centre, with a $10-million gift is built on a bold idea, says donor Ron Schmeichel: "When you invite ideas, enthusiasm and skills to come together you create and build innovation.” The 100,000-square-foot building is located at the heart of campus and will be named the Ronald D. Schmeichel Building for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Western News • 26th April 2022

Hearing-aid tech wins Governor General medal

A team of researchers at Western’s National Centre for Audiology (NCA), led by director Susan Scollie, has won a Governor General’s Innovation Award (GGIA) for developing the world’s first paediatric hearing aid prescription software.

Western News • 6th October 2021

Community campaign ‘united in local love’

Each additional supporter, and each additional dollar, brings the community one step closer to pandemic recovery. As Western began its annual campaign Oct. 7 in support of United Way Elgin Middlesex, the university is working to strengthen its generous role as the agency’s largest employee-led contributor. More importantly, said Western campaign co-chair Erika Chamberlain and Faculty of Law dean, the campus community is committed to showing its support for city and county neighbours.

Western News • 10th May 2022

Downtown campus site builds core connections

Western’s new downtown space at 450 Talbot St. in London, Ont. will soon become a hub of activity, with community-focused programs and events ranging from Indigenous art exhibits to free legal aid to medical outreach and mental health counselling for children.

Western News • 2nd May 2022

Western’s new provost shares first impressions

Florentine Strzelczyk, a seasoned administrator, acclaimed scholar and avid kayaker, is already expertly navigating the waters of her new role as Western’s new provost and vice-president (academic).

Western News • 20th April 2022

Prof helping save planet from plastic pollution

When she was a kid, Patricia Corcoran would examine interesting little stones that lined the gravel road near her home. “I always wanted to become a geologist,” she recalled. These days, the Western professor of sedimentary petrology is focused less on pebbles and more on plastics. But she was dismayed to discover these two materials are often fused together into technofossils, a rock-hard legacy of profligate consumerism.

Western News • 16th February 2022

Bell-Western 5G network enables real-world solutions

Imagine a rush-hour intersection where a cellular network analyzes vehicles’ motion, speed and direction and, in real time, helps drivers avoid collisions.
Or, picture yourself beaming into an online lecture, with a 360-degree interactive view of the classroom and lab that’s so real you almost forget it’s virtual.

Western News • 13th April 2022

Western power plant marks 100 years

One hundred years after Western fired up its first two boilers, the university’s power plant remains at the heart of new and planned innovations to support Western’s shift towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Its operators are so committed to being green, they even travel campus on toolbox-equipped bicycles.