Virtual Author Talk: Mike Rucker PH.D. Wednesday – June 7th @ 3:00PM Doesn’t it seem that the more we seek happiness, the more elusive it becomes? There is an easy fix, hiding in plain sight. Fun is an action you can take here and now, practically anywhere, anytime. Through research and science, we know fun is enormously beneficial to our physical and psychological well-being, yet fun’s absence from our modern lives is striking. Whether you’re a frustrated high-achiever trying to find a better work-life balance or seeking relief from life’s overwhelming challenges, it is time you gain access to the best medicine available. The Fun Habit: How the Disciplined Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life is the ultimate guide to reap the serious benefits fun offers. Grounded in current research, accessible science, and practical recommendations, Dr. Rucker will use The Fun Habit strategies to teach you: How you can build having fun into an actionable and effortless habit; and Why doing so will help you become a healthier, more joyful, more productive person. The Fun Habit is an inspiring and motivational guidebook that you will want to share with everyone in your life. About the Author: Dr. Mike Rucker is an organizational psychologist and charter member of the International Positive Psychology Association whose work has been published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management and Nutrition Research. His ideas about fun and health have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Vox, Thrive Global, mindbodygreen, and more. Named one of ten digital change makers by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, he currently serves as a senior leader at Active Wellness. Learn more at MichaelRucker.com.

At the end of March, UE announced the receipt of a $30 million grant to create the Evansville Promise Neighborhood. In partnership with 23 organizations, our community will be able to transform families in areas of concentrated need by providing wrap around care cradle to career. This page will serve as a temporary location for interested individuals to stay informed about how the effort is progressing, submit questions or ideas, and stay up to date on interesting developments from our partners. More detailed links, lists of partners and information will be posted as we have it.

Why Promise Neighborhoods?

Promise Neighborhoods is a $30 million federal grant program through the United States Department of Education, but it is also an approach driven by a vision, inspired by the Harlem Children’s Zone. The vision of the program is that all children and youth growing up in Promise Neighborhoods have access to great schools and strong systems of family and community support that will prepare them to attain an excellent education and successfully transition to college and a career. The goal of DOE with this funding: improve academic and developmental outcomes for children in areas of concentrated poverty, and to transform those communities by identifying and increasing the capacity of eligible entities focused on achieving results for children and youth throughout an entire neighborhood, cradle to career.

Why Evansville Promise Neighborhood?

Consistent with DOE’s goals, Evansville Promise Neighborhood was conceived to advance the following pipeline goals:

• Pipeline Block 1. –  Improving early health and kindergarten readiness
• Pipeline Block 2.  – Improving student achievement and success
• Pipeline Block 3. – Improving post-secondary education access, affordability, completion and success and workforce readiness
• Pipeline Block 4. – Improving neighborhoods and communities

Specific results expected from the Evansville Promise Neighborhood include kindergarten readiness, proficiency in core academic subjects, successful transitions from middle to high school, high school graduation, postsecondary education/credential attainment, health and safety, stable communities, family engagement, and access to 21 st century learning tools.

How will Evansville Promise Neighborhood achieve these goals?

While the grant will not fund all entities doing valuable work in the Evansville Promise Neighborhood, MOU partners will provide targeted, evidence-based solutions to advance the pipeline goals including the following:

1. Early childhood home visiting
2. High-quality early childhood education
3. Free early literacy resources for families
4. Free adult learning programs for parents and caregivers
5. Prenatal and early childhood medical care
6. Chronic absenteeism and dropout prevention programs
7. High quality, in-school academic support programs
8. High quality, outside-of-school-time programs
9. School social work services
10. High School Equivalency and job skill support
11. Post-secondary preparation, coaching, and exploration programs
12. Workforce readiness preparation, coaching, and exploration programs
13. Neighborhood-based employment and job skills assistance
14. Access to and distribution of health resources, nutrition education, and healthy food
15. Family stability programs
16. Neighborhood revitalization
17. Community Safety and violence prevention

EPN Partner Agencies

The following table lists all EPN partner agencies, the services they will provide, and their match committed to EPN initiatives. The grant application required at least a 1 to 1 match overall (not per partner). The match amount listed includes personnel, volunteer time and effort, as well as other in-kind support services the partners will provide to EPN residents. An organization may match more (or less) than it receives. Budget Allocations from the grant to the agencies cannot be shared at UE this time.

The hope of Evansville and Youth Build is also MOU partners but were not able to provide a match due to federal guidelines.

What does the grant fund?

The DOE is very specific on required outcomes for Promise Neighborhoods. There are 5 academic-focused results, 5 family and community-focused results, as well as Project Outcomes, Performance Indicators and 4 Pipelines to target. The grant does not fund all entities doing valuable work in an area. Interventions must be evidence-based, targeted at required outcomes, supported in the research as a best practice, and targeted at the identified neighborhood. There may be a non-profit in our community not presently identified as an MOU partner which could come on as a partner in later years. The grant has some funding built in for professional development for interested partners willing to target existing programming or build new solutions. In addition, as the continuous improvement plan unfolds, there may be services missed or new needs identified requiring us to bring on additional partners. There is some flexibility built into later years for that process to take place. The pipeline of services and outcomes chart is included at the end of this summary.