United Way of Lancaster County

Grants, designations & allocations to agencies:united Way is moving Lancaster County forward to make bold, systemic improvements in people's lives by addressing the root causes of chronic problems plaguing current Lancaster County residents. It is aligning community investors, nonprofit agencies, schools, healthcare providers, faith-based organizations, businesses and government to achieve goals that will improve the education, financial stability and health of individuals and families across Lancaster County.

Collective impact:responsible for the allocation of funds to, hands-on support of, and qualitative/quantitative monitoring of the not-for-profit community who are working throughout Lancaster County to achieve United Way's goals - addressing education, financial mobility, health and wellness. This newlevel up and launch model emphasizes collaboration among multiple agencies within a unique relationship all working towards at least one of the bold goals to achieve systemic community change, along with the newly included focus on diversity and equity within each partnered organization. Collective impact also includes advocacy efforts to further advance these particular issues.

Pa 2-1-1 east:provides comprehensive health and human services information and referral assistance to connect people with appropriate resources that include food, housing, healthcare, employment assistance, and other areas of need.

Volunteer income tax assistance program (vita):provides free tax preparation services to low-to-moderate income individuals and families in Lancaster County. Vita has a team of roughly 275 volunteers who complete a vigorous training and certification process to become qualified to prepare tax returns through the vita program. Vita does not charge anything for the service and usually a tax refund is issued, based on the current situation of each client. The money being saved by vita clients would otherwise be paid to a for-profit tax preparer. The vita program ensures that clients claim all of the credits available to them, such as the earned income tax credit (eic) which is an economic stimulus to low-income wage earners. Volunteer tax preparers have the highest accuracy rate in the country. By providing free tax preparation, vita helps to increase the financial stability of lower-income taxpayers in Lancaster County. Vita is implemented locally by United Way of Lancaster County.

Marketing and communications:educates the community about the United Way mission, goals, programs, and activities to increase involvement and support through giving, advocating, and volunteering.

Volunteer center:mobilizes volunteer resources from companies and the community-at-large, connecting them with health and human service agencies and other organizations seeking donated talent. Provides consultative and technical assistance to organizations for volunteer programs.