When you give to United Way, your gift stays right here in Jefferson and North Walworth counties and is invested in areas identified by our community as being of the highest priority. The growth that United Way has experienced directly resulted from increased impactful support for LOCAL nonprofit partners, pillar grant projects, and community programs. United Way is focused on results to ensure that your gift will make the greatest impact possible.
10 Ways United Way is Creating Opportunity in our Communities:
- Through OUR MISSION: Our mission is to fight for the health, education and financial stability of every person in our communities. Every decision we make is focused on that mission. Every decision we make is focused on how we can be creating opportunity for as many people in our communities as possible.
- Through HIGH-LEVEL GRANT SUPPORT: Throughout 2019, our United Way is providing $274,004 in support to our communities – focused on thinks like literacy, after-school care, eviction prevention, transitional housing, job training, counseling, mentorship, domestic violence support, and so much more. Our 2019 grant support increased 14.6% from our 2019 allocations.
- Through STRATEGIC INITIATIVES: Any funding from United Way must directly impact the health, education or financial stability of our communities. But more specifically, we have focused our pillar grant support on three key areas that our community members have told us they see as our most pressing issues – early childhood education, mental health/AODA treatment and skills training/job readiness. In 2019, we are allocating over $75,000 to specifically address those issues.
- Through TRANSPORTATION SUPPORT: In 2018, our Ride United program provided 753 FREE rides to the food pantries in Fort Atkinson, Jefferson & Whitewater. As a result of increased program support, the free rides now also extend to the Community Dental Clinic, Rock River Free Clinic and Winther Counseling Lab.
- Through our VOLUNTEER PLATFORM: Our United Way hosts an online volunteer platform that is FREE for any community member or organization to use. The site helps connect volunteers to causes they care about and organizations that need them. Since launching in 2016, the site has had over 30,000 views by community members and local organizations.
- Through ADVOCACY: Our director participates in a number of local and state advocacy efforts throughout the year – including community collaborative meetings, state-wide initiative workgroups, and meetings with local and state legislatures. We understand the importance of making sure the issues facing our community members are being heard by those in positions to create policy change that can provide assistance.
- Through NEW PARTNERSHIPS: We added four new partner agencies in 2019 – Talk/Read/Play program, New Beginnings APFV, PAVE and Whitewater LEADS. We also built partnerships with new pillar grant recipients, the nonprofit department and UW-Whitewater, and the Watertown Area Health Foundation. We are always excited to find new ways to work together to continue to create opportunities for our communities.
- Through CREATING AWARENESS: It’s so important to our United Way to keep our communities informed. We utilize our Facebook page to share important updates, facts & statistics and success stories of our partners. We also use our monthly newsletter to share details about our support, bring awareness to our partners and their causes, and also to make sure our donors & supporters stay informed about the reality of those in our communities who are struggling.
- Through WIDE-RANGE IMPACT: We believe in providing as much support and creating as much opportunity as our resources allow. That’s why we are so proud that we supported programs and services last year that reached a total of 35,238 people (81% of our service population). Our 2019 support will continue to help those (if not more) people!
- Through COMMUNITY INPUT: Input from our community volunteers is crucial to our success. Each year, approximately 30 community members volunteer their time to assist with our fundraising efforts and grant review process. Their feedback is so important and directly aids our board in making their final allocation decisions about where we can best focus on creating opportunity!
There are a number of ways to support the United Way and our campaign – pledging a financial donation, advocating on behalf of United Way and/or our partner agencies, or volunteering with either United Way or one of the other local organizations currently registered on volunteermain.com. At United Way, they believe the strongest communities are built by focusing on all elements of support – giving, advocating, and volunteering.