SFTS Challenge…Link HERE to the challenge page…

Did You Know?

• The unemployment rate of post-9/11 veterans is over 6%
• Veterans make up 12% of the adult homeless population.
• Many homeless veterans end up living on the streets for 8-9 times the length of their deployments.
• 70% of homeless veterans suffer from substance abuse
• 50% of veterans experience mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Learn more and check out our Veterans Service Challenges!

Did You Know?

• The U.S. makes up less than 5% of the earth’s population, but consumes over 30% of its resources
• 110 million Americans live amongst such high levels of air pollution
• Using recycled paper for one day’s worth of newspaper would save approximately 75,000 trees.
• Americans dump 16 tons of sewage into their waters every minute.
• Less than 1% of plastic bags are recycled.

Learn more and check out our Environment Service Challenges!

Did You Know?

• Schools are the most common location for youth development programs to take place.
• 60% of effective youth programs use strategies based on family.
• 48% of youth development programs are community-oriented.
• Competence, self-efficacy, and pro-social norms are traits addressed in youth programs across the board.
• 76% of youth programs have an emphasis on bonding with family, peers and school
• Most youth programs focus on positive outcome measures as motivation.

Learn more and check out our Youth Service Challenges!

Did You Know?

• 28% of non-institutionalized people in the U.S. with a disability were living below the poverty line in 2012
• 22% of people with a disability in the U.S. had an educational attainment less than a high school education in 2012.
• There are 35.2 million adults with a physical functioning difficulty in the U.S.
• Roughly 650 million people live with a disability
• Diseases, stress and alcohol and drug abuse are some factors responsible for the rise in disabilities.
• Disability rates are higher among groups with lower educational level

Learn more and check out our Disabilities Service Challenges!

Did You Know?

• 7.6 million companion animals enter animal shelters nationwide every year
• 2.7 million animals are euthanized each year
• 90% of chickens that are bred specifically for meat production have trouble walking and standing
• Dogfighting has been reported in urban, suburban, and rural settings in all regions of the country

Learn more and check out our Animal Welfare Service Challenges!

Did You Know?

• Between 2.3 and 3.5 million people experience homelessness every year in the U.S.
• Families with children are the fastest growing segments of the homeless population. Of every 200 children in America, three are homeless and twice that number are at risk for homelessness.
• There are approximately 1.3 million homeless youth living unsupervised on the streets, in abandoned buildings, with friends or with strangers, and this number is growing.
• In the Chicago area alone, there are 9,000 youth who experience homelessness each year.
• About 40% of homeless men are veterans. On any given night, 200,000 veterans are homeless.

Learn more and check out our Homelessness Service Challenges!

Did You Know?

• Every year, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States alone. That’s a student every 26 seconds – or 7,000 a day.
• About 25% of high school freshmen fail to graduate from high school on time
• The U.S., which had some of the highest graduation rates of any developed country, now ranks 22nd out of 27 developed countries.
• In 2010, 71.4% of Latinx students received their diploma. However, Asian- American and white students are still far more likely to graduate than Latino & African-American students.

Learn more and check out our Education Service Challenges!

Did You Know?

• In 2013, 49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, including 33.3 million adults and 15.8 million children.
• In 2013, households with children reported food insecurity at a significantly higher rate than those without children, 20 percent compared to 12 percent.
• In 2011, 4.8 million seniors (over age 60), or 8 percent of all seniors were food insecure.
• Nearly 800,000 people in Cook County are unsure when they will receive their next meal.

Learn more and check out our Hunger Service Challenges!

Did You Know?

• 71% of students report incidents of bullying as a problem at their school.
• Nearly 30 percent of middle and high school students have been bullied at school, and 43 percent have experienced cyberbullying in the past year.
• 15% of all school absenteeism is directly related to fears of being bullied at school, and 1 out of every 10 students who drops out of school does so because of repeated bullying.
• More than 60% of bullying situations will stop when a peer intervenes.

Learn more and check out our Anti-bullying Service Challenges!