United Way of Denton County

Community investment partner agency grants, agency relations:eighteen agencies serving Denton County were provided with funds to maintain a safety net of services for those residents most in need. All agencies that received funds provided services that fall under at least one of the following focus areas:children & families, veterans, homeless/housing, health/mental healthfunding decisions are based on recognized existing and emerging needs in Denton County through a lens of racial equity to ensure services are accessible and equitable. Community volunteers reviewed the community needs assessment and evaluated partner agency programming, outcomes and financials to determine the most effective use of funds.funding for this process comes from uwdc's annual fundraising campaign which is conducted with the help of hundreds of local companies and volunteers. The campaign includes workplace and individual solicitation and corporate donations and sponsorships. Uwdc also provides donors the opportunity to designate their donations to local agencies. Local agencies must annually verify they are an agency in good standing as an irs code section 501c3 non-profit organizations.during 2023-2024 funding year, uwdc distributed a total of $384,000 to 18 partner agencies. Through these partnerships, uwdc partner agencies were able to serve more than 47,000 individuals and families in Denton county.in addition to funded partner agencies, uwdc has developed an extended network of nonprofit partners, some of which may receive funding, all of which work collaboratively with uwdc to work across sectors of the community to tackle complex socio-economical challenges. Uwdc also provides leadership and management assistance, training and supportive services to Denton County nonprofit organizations to raise the level of performance of our Denton County nonprofit sector.information about uwdc's partner agencies and network of partners can be found at httpwwwunitedwaydentonorgournetwo... In 2023-2024, uwdc concluded mobilizing covid-19 stimulus funding in partnership with Denton County, to support covid-19 response and recovery nonprofit grants, eviction prevention direct client assistance for households financially impacted by the pandemic. Our collaborative work with nonprofits across Denton County prevented an increase in holelessness across Denton County during covid-19 and enabled our Denton County nonprofit sector to rapidly respond to the pandemic crisis.

Community education community needs assessment, board leadership institute:community needs assessment:our community needs assessment is a tool to help pinpoint unmet needs & gaps in services in Denton County. Population growth, changes in cost of living, have significantly changed the number of households that earn less than monthly expenses each month. The community needs assessment provides essential information to develope a long-term plan for health & human services. Uwdc grantmaking activities and program design activities are informed by ann in response to key findings in the needs assessment. Board leadership institute:uwdc's board leadership institute program is designed to train community volunteers to become qualified, quality board members of non-profit organizations in Denton County. The training consists of a series of meetings where the following areas are taught:parliamentary procedures, board operations & governance, board development, strategic planning, outcome assessment, resource development, marketing, advocacy, and finance.each module taught is presented by an expert in that field, with attendance requirements and group exercises. In 2023 uwdc graduated 14 community volunteers from this program.

Community capacity building dc homelessness leadership team, dc behavioral health leadership team, dc workforce success leadership team:uwdc has developed a strong network of partneships & collaborative programs provided by our community partners. This work is driven by the following principals:-alignment to critical unmet needs mainly: children & families, veterans, homeless/housing, health/mental health-alignment with our uwdc mission of improving and transforming lives-must produce measurable results that indicate the level of outcomes expecteduwdc's cross-sector partnerships include universities, nonprofits, local govts, faith-based organizations, businesses and school districts. Our efforts include utilization of elected officials & other governance leaders who can influence policy across the community to improve systems and break down barriers.financial initiatives:vitavolunteer income tax assistance: irs-certified volunteers help low & moderately-low income taxpayers e-file their federal tax reurns for free in an accurate and timely manner. In Denton County, United Way of Denton County has operated vita sites since 2008. During the 2024 tax season, ending april 2024, vita volunteers provided free tax preparation services in person at eight sites across Denton County. Volunteers filed 1662 tax returns, returning $1,318,821 to people in Denton County, and saving our community an estimated $520,206 in tax preparation fees. Mental health initiative:denton County behavioral health leadership team dcbhltdcbhlt convened as an appointed policy making team to improve the planning, coordination, oversight, and implementation required to create systems change for behavioral health services in Denton County. The team is comprised of appointees from Denton County commissioners court, municipal government, health care providers, health insurance providers, educational institutions, law enforcement, non-profits, housing, and other community organizations. Dcbhlt functions as a quasi-governmental team with guiding charter and bylaws under the backbone of United Way of Denton County Inc. uwdc collective impact model approach to system change. Dcbhlt vission: 2023-2024 achievements:1. Navigators a pilot porgram connecting residents with mental health professionals 2. Crediblemind an online platform that provides free, evidence based mental health resources 3. Substance use workgroup 4. Assisted in launching the first non-medical detox center for women in Denton County. Homelessness:denton County homelessness leadership team the Denton County homelessness leadership team dchlt is to convene as a policy making team to improve the planning, coordination, oversight, and implementation required to create a systems change, for homelessness and housing services in Denton County. The dchlt is comprised of: Denton County commissioners court, municipal government, health care providers, health insurance providers, educational institutions, law enforcement, non-profits, housing and homelessness agencies, and other community organizations. Dchlt functions as a quasi-governmental team with guiding charter and bylaws under the backbone of uwdc's collective impact model.dchlt vision: every person in Denton County has a place to call home that is safe, affordable, accessible & supported by commuity resources.in the 23-24 fiscal year the dchlt with uwdc backbone support achievd the following: 1. Created community events that recognized our system and providers for their work towards the goal of making homelessness rate, brief and nonrecurring and memorialized community members who had pass away while accesssing homelessness resources. 2. Renewed its strategic plan. 3. Completed the hud 2024 point in time homelessness census as well as gatered data to build upon other community-facing homelessness data dashboard.