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Winners named earlier this month for Metro United Way’s Social Innovation Prize met today for the first of many planned discussions. WFPL’s Elizabeth Kramer has more.

Among the five winners are Breaking New Grounds, which works to create jobs through sustainable urban agriculture; The Stewards Staff, which works to develop leadership skills among young people; and the Americana Community Center’s family education project working with immigrants and refugees. Each winner was required to illustrate how they are working to creatively address social problems in the community.

Metro United Way is now working with these groups to mentor their development, says Howard Mason, the organization’s director of community building.

“We’re creating a learning community,” he says, “a community of practice to support these folks by connecting them to new knowledge, hearing how other people are solving problems that they may be facing, helping them learn new things that might make them better and more successful.”

Mason says all five have several common attributes.

“They have a very clear vision of what an issue is that they want to do something about; a very strong vision of what the solution is,” he says. “They also have perseverance. They know how to get people excited about what they’re doing. And they know how to see things through different eyes.”

Among those at this first meeting was April DuVal of the Council on Mental Retardation. It’s innovation was to establish The Weber Gallery this year in Old Louisville.

“We are committed to folks with disabilities being included in the broader community, so our gallery features both the artwork of well-known artists here locally and regionally as well as folks with disabilities,” she says.

DuVal says the council wants to use the gallery to create awareness about mental disabilities and some revenue for the organization through the sale of art. She says the gallery has helped the organization forge partnerships with local visual arts groups including the Louisville Visual Art Association and Pyro Gallery.

Metro United Way will continue meeting with them through June to help them develop their organizations.

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Although the Louisville Metro United Way’s annual fundraising campaign doesn’t wrap up until February, it’s holding a pep rally tomorrow to spur giving. WFPL’s Elizabeth Kramer reports.

The rally starts at 7:45 a.m. on the Old Male High School campus on Brook Street.

United Way president and CEO Joe Tolan says it’s a way to re-energize the annual campaign, which has a goal to raise as much as last year’s campaign — $28.5 million.

“We probably need about $1 million or $1.2 million in order to get to last year’s total,” Tolan says. “And the conundrum this year is when it’s harder for many people to give or to give as much as they’ve given, we have a real spike in the need for services that has occurred and continues to this day.”

Tolan says the campaign has reached about 85 percent of its goal.

Tolan says the current campaign has been much harder than most because many companies participating in workplace giving activities have fewer employees and member agencies are seeking huge increases of need.

“If you look at things like emergency food, the jump in demand is in the neighborhood of 45 or 50 percent compared to a year or so ago,” he says. “And much of that demand is attributable to individuals and families who’ve never sought help before.”

Tolan says meeting the goal is even more important to member groups that also are coping with state budget cuts to social service agencies. He says this economic recession is causing member agencies to implement new strategies and pool more resources.

“All we have to do is look at what’s happening on state budgets, both Kentucky and Indiana, for the tightening of resources there,” he says. “And so realistically we have to look forward and say ‘OK, how do we do things differently than we’ve done them? How do we find efficiencies where we can?’”

United Way officials want to get 500 people to Tuesday’s rally so that it can cash in on a pledge by E.ON U.S. to donate $5,000 or $10 for every person who attends.

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