United Way of Addison County

Community leadership & initiatives: this program includes initiatives that are developed and led by uwac to bring collaborative programming to meet unmet or under-met needs in the community that align with our impact areas: 1. Health (& education) - the organization continued its two multi-year federal substance abuse prevention grants. The first of which is named the partners for success (pfs) grant, and the second is the drug free communities (dfc) grant. Partners for success funding is used to inform and educate youth populations about the dangers of underage substance use, empowering youth to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing. Providing youth leadership opportunities and increasing youth protective factors through education, special trainings, evidence based programming, and policy change are key objectives of the new pfs initiative. Pfs grant year 3 funding totals 278,889, and overlaps fiscal years 2022 and 2023. Drug free communities funding is used to inform and educate parents and adult populations about the dangers of underage substance use, empowering them to more effectively influence and guide youth into better decision-making and an increased likelihood of positive outcomes. Media campaigns, events, special trainings, and policy change are the main strategies to achieve these goals under the new dfc initiative. Dfc grant year 3 funding totals 125,000, and also overlaps fiscal years 2022 and 2023. 2. Education - the organization purchased 494 backpacks with school supplies for distribution at partner sites in Addison County for local kindergarten, elementary, and secondary school students. 3. Financial stability - the organization made an additional 9,400 in emergency mini-grants to Addison County nonprofit partners to help mitigate various pandemic related necessities in the face of decreased community funding. The organization also received two community gifts totaling 35,000 to help launch a fund used to assist Addison County residents who have either experienced homelessness or are in immediate risk of it. A community collaboration was formed with our partner agencies who offer direct services to these at-risk individuals. This collaboration meets as a group at least monthly to confidentially discuss various funding requests for approval. Upon approval by the group, case managers then file the appropriate reimbursement paperwork with uwac after their organization has initiated third-party payments for items such as back rent, security deposits, overdue utility bills, and emergency motel housing. This funding is specifically targeted at requests that are otherwise ineligible for any other federal, state, or local financial assistance.

Volunteer programs: the organization resumed its annual days of caring in september 2021. 226 volunteers safely participated in direct service activities, contributing an estimated 1,130 hours valued at 33,844 in donated time served.

Organization development assistance: supporting the non-profit sector by providing technical assistance in areas such as board development, strategic planning and fundraising and results based accountability efforts. Support also includes acting as fiscal agent or managing funding streams on behalf of grassroots efforts in the community: child care consortium, Addison County readers, Addison County field service director funds, and Addison County foster camp fund.

Funding & agency relations: support the community through the community impact funding process and other grants. This includes efforts to develop and deepen relationships with funded partners (such as outcome measurement trainings and site visits) and efforts to support the community impact volunteers as they learn about community issues, the systems meeting those needs, and making grant funding decisions. Funding aligns with our community impact areas as follows: (1) health and independent living - funded 15 programs for 102,460. (2) life-long learning - funded 11 programs for 94,433. (3) immediate needs & financial stability - funded 8 programs for 121,335.