Trident United Way (TUW)

Community impactthe community impact team of Trident United Way works to strengthen our community by taking an integrative approach with three key areas of impact: education, financial stability and health . Trident United Way works proactively and collaboratively to create positive, long-lasting change in berkeley, charleston and dorchester counties through collective impact. Trident United Way leads two community-wide networks, supporting local, systems-level change that no one organization can do alone. These networks, the safetynet assistance network and healthy tri-county, each have goals that are determined by the network through data and agency feedback. Additionally, Trident United Way's grants to local nonprofit organizations seek to align with the network priorities to ensure continuity between funding and other Trident United Way initiatives and areas of focus.trident United Way's community change efforts are supported through hundreds of local workplace giving campaigns, individual giving, corporate and foundation grants, federal and state grants and fees for service activities. Major funding initiatives included the reopening of the community engagement grants, announced on january 5, 2023, which awarded up to $3,500 for community outreach activities to 18 agencies across berkeley, charleston and dorchester counties for a total grant pool of $50,000. These grants were intended to supplement one-time or episodic community engagement efforts in the tri-county area, helping organizations to build capacity, strengthen partnerships and improve systems with outreach events, volunteer engagement and trainings aligned with Trident United Way's areas of focus in education, financial stability and health.trident United Way's barriers to employment fund provides community members with tools, supplies, funds and other resources that might create barriers to beginning or sustaining employment. Examples of items provided to individual clients include short-term bus passes, medical uniforms and steel-toe boots.additional funding initiatives included a community garden initiative, in partnership with clemson extension and the usda, which provided funding to three applicant groups to build gardens in their communities.

Educationtrident United Way supports programs and leads collaborative partnerships that aim to improve educational outcomes for all students with a goal of supporting all children from birth to be prepared for school, meet grade-level standards and graduate from high school prepared for employment or higher education.additional initiatives included three annual volunteer programs: read across america day, the african american leadership council annual book drive and the young leaders United annual school supply drive. As this was a transitional year for the education impact area, other programs were paused until the following fiscal year.

Financial stabilityinitiatives that support the financial stability framework include the americorps financial stability project, resource connection centers in berkeley and dorchester counties, sc thrive-thrive hub online application tool , charitytracker and foodshare berkeley county . The integration of two impact areas, basic needs and income, into one began in 2010 resulting in a model of change - financial stability, which consists of interrelated steps that begins with addressing basic needs, followed by increasing basic skills, then increasing income and savings, and finally, gaining and sustaining assets. Highlights of the accomplishments for 2022-2023 include the following: 2-1-1 service: 2-1-1 is a free, confidential referral and information service that connects people from all communities and of all ages to a community resource specialist who will help them find local health and human services. The call center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to serve callers in over 100 languages via phone, text or online. 2-1-1 is committed to being an essential resource to anyone who needs help. An information and referral (i&r) specialist assesses callers' needs and helps the caller determine options and best course of action in a non-threatening, non-judgmental and confidential manner. Additionally, i&r specialists are trained to determine whether a caller may be eligible for other programs, to intervene in crisis situations and to advocate on behalf of a caller who may need further assistance. 2-1-1 is a free service to the community. Trident United Way contracts with the United Way of association of sc, which manages the call center and provides up-to-date, timely, local information about resources in the tri-county to tri-county callers. Highlights of services for the 2022-2023 fiscal year include 15,050 calls received (tri-county), 19,238 referrals made (tri-county) and 283,431 website visits (state-wide).berkeley and dorchester resource connection centers:the berkeley and dorchester resource connection centers are a collaborative partnership between Trident United Way and over 10 local nonprofit partners. The berkeley resource connection center is located at 500 s live oak dr, moncks corner, sc 29461 and the dorchester resource connection center is located at 115 devon rd unit #14, summerville, sc 29483. Services in the centers are provided through a network of community partners in an integrated service delivery system. Partners located in the centers include dorchester adult education, sc works, vocational rehabilitation, salvation army, palmetto goodwill, palmetto cap, sc thrive, origin sc, accesshealth, lowcountry food bank and foodshare berkeley county. The centers are service hubs where low-to-moderate income individuals and families have access to programs and resources such as educational resources, basic needs support and resources to become financially stable. The resource connection centers take an integrated approach to service delivery, which includes bundling and sequencing of services, leading to long-lasting financial change for clients and their families. The centers operate using a continuum framework that begins with addressing basic needs and moves individuals along a path to achieve the goal of gaining and sustaining assets. Serving individuals collaboratively is a shared desire to create better financial outcomes for individuals and families in the tri-county area.the resource connection centers served 7,427 individuals, providing 13,514 total services during the 2022-2023 fiscal year. Americorps family navigators: the Trident United Way americorps program has been operating for a decade with a goal of building capacity for community organizations to provide services that help individuals and families become more financially stable. Further, the Trident United Way americorps program has developed a reputation in the tri-county for producing highly qualified, trained human services professionals. Notable results include :Trident United Way's seven americorps members connected 819 households, including 1,531 family members, to basic needs and crisis mitigation services. Charitytracker:charitytracker is a web-based tracking tool provided by Trident United Way to tri-county nonprofit partners at no charge. It is used by Trident United Way partner organizations including grantees, community partners and faith-based organizations to track and safely share confidential information on individuals receiving financial stability and other human services. The tool mitigates issues related to transportation and provides accountability for those being served, as well as agencies and partners working collectively to move individuals into financial stability. A bulletin board feature allows partners to post services provided, such as classes and events, and alerts allow partners to post emergency needs so that resources can be distributed quickly and efficiently throughout the community. The system is secure and only agencies and partners that complete a training certification can use the system. 308 local nonprofit partners used the system in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, providing 12,740 households, comprised of 24,104 individuals, with 99,094 services. The estimated value of these services was $1,263,092.

Healthtrident United Way has partnered with musc health, roper st. francis healthcare and fetter healthcare to continue to serve as the backbone organization for the healthy tri-county network, a multi-sector, regional collective impact initiative with the goal of improving health outcomes in berkeley, charleston and dorchester counties in south carolina (www.healthytricounty.com). The long-term aspirational goal of healthy tri-county is to improve the health and well-being of every person and community within the tri-county region. The following are highlights of accomplishments: " food pharmacy partnerships in the tri-county brought fresh, healthy foods to pharmacies in "food deserts" where access to grocery stores and fresh foods is scarce. This partnership served a population of 11,941 patients over 1,255 pounds of food in mcclellanville, sc. "work was also done throughout fy 2022-2023 to prepare for the launch of foodshare berkeley county, which opened in july 2023. In partnership with foodshare sc, foodshare berkeley county offers fresh food boxes of fruits and vegetables at an affordable price with bi-weekly pickup at Trident United Way's berkeley county resource connection center.section 4e connecting the communityconnecting the community includes initiatives that provide community service opportunities and information about the work of Trident United Way across the tri-county region. The primary initiatives are strategic volunteer engagement and stakeholder and community communication as follows:1. Strategic volunteer engagement supports both internal and external volunteer engagement to provide impactful volunteer matching opportunities. Volunteers for Trident United Way are thought leaders on committees and councils, as well as decision-makers about community investments and support mission fulfillment. Trident United Way nonprofit partners and corporate partners create a pipeline of volunteers for the organization in all levels of engagement by offering tailor-made volunteer opportunities to corporate partners that may range from supply drives to home builds and can take place at an office or in the community. Additionally, Trident United Way supports the strategic growth of signature volunteer events such as read across america day in local schools and the community's largest volunteer event, Trident United Way's days of caring. In the 2022-2023 fiscal year, Trident United Way engaged more than 3,230 volunteers for over 10,000 hours of service. The time and skills contributed by the Trident United Way volunteers provided an estimated community benefit of over $320,480. 2.communication with key constituents and across the community includes year-round strategic efforts. Trident United Way distributes quarterly email newsletters to more than 30,000 recipients for each issue. The organization's website (tuw.org) and social media channels are updated multiple times each week with new information about impact and events. Trident United Way posts information and engages with followers daily on its facebook, instagram,youtube and linked in.. Through multiple communications tactics, Trident United Way aims to engage with audiences and report on its work to donors, potential donors, and the community-at-large, announce volunteer and grant opportunities and celebrate the impact of volunteer time. Strategic communications are also vital to raising awareness of the myriad community resources available to those in need and to seeking the support of those who can help. To that end, Trident United Way works with local media to share information and promote offerings and activities to the community. Donor designations:the purpose of Trident United Way's annual fundraising campaigns is to develop and enhance the resources available for Trident United Way's community impact mission. Community volunteers strategically invest those resources in the tri-county community to create lasting, measurable change on the most pressing issues facing families and individuals. Trident United Way promotes investing in the community impact work as the most effective Way to financially support the tri-county community above any form of designated giving.donors may elect all or a portion of their pledge/contribution as designated to 501(c)(3) organizations, other than Trident United Way. Requests are processed by Trident United Way and payments made to designated organizations is as follows:"trident United Way honors donor designations to any verified 501(c)(3) organization of $50 or more per organization. Verification consists of, on a quarterly basis, confirming the organization has an active 501(c)(3) status with the internal revenue service and completing additional verifications as may be required by United Way worldwide. No further oversight is provided by Trident United Way on the use of designated funds. "Trident United Way deducts fundraising and administrative fees at the rate of 15 percent (with a minimum of $5 and a maximum of $75) per designation. "Trident United Way sends payments to verified designated organizations (net of the fundraising and administrative fee) on a quarterly basis (january, april, july, and october). "gifts or payments made by cash, check, credit card, or stock will be paid out to the organization in the month following the quarter in which pledge payment(s) are received from the donor. For example, donor pledge payments received in january, february, or march will be paid in april; payments received in april, may, and june will be paid in july. "Trident United Way has a donor privacy policy and will not release the names of individuals without authorization for the release of such information. If a donor provides authorization, Trident United Way will send donor information to the designated organization.