United Way of Southeastern Connecticut

Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center:The Gemma E. Moran United Way/Labor Food Center is making a difference for the families facing hunger and food insecurity in southeastern Connecticut. Almost 17% of children are food insecure in the southeastern Connecticut region, meaning, they lack consistent access to enough food to live a healthy, active life.The Food Center provides food and basic needs items to sixty-five food assistance programs and a mobile food pantry program throughout New London County which support over 23,500 people every month. These sites include food pantries, after-school programs, day care centers, domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, community meal sites, HUD housing complexes, and targeted programs for the elderly, veterans, and young families with children. Last year, the Food Center distributed the equivalent of 2 million meals, at no cost, throughout New London County. Fifty percent of the food was received through the Food Centers food rescue program, where high-quality food that would otherwise go to waste is procured, inspected, and safely delivered, stored, and distributed to the community. In addition to providing operating expenses, United Way also mobilizes volunteers to inspect, sort, and organize food at the Food Center throughout the year as well as encourages local businesses and organizations to run food drives and ensure culturally preferred product is available at the warehouse.

Promoting Independence:UWSECT supports the Eastern Coordinated Access Network (ECAN) through fiscal management and partner collaboration. The ECAN is primarily funded through the Connecticut Department of Housing. UWSECT bolsters the ECAN by providing the overall management of the Department of Housing funds and coordinating the use of a portion of those funds for client assistance. Client Assistance is meant to help keep families and individuals housed in their current home or to help them access new housing if they were experiencing homelessness. UWSECTs role in providing this service is integral in coordinating the effective and efficient use of the funds. It also allows for all agencies engaged in the ECAN to have access to funds for their clients. For example, one agency, was working with an individual that was residing in their car. The agency was able to find an apartment unit for this individual and utilize the client assistance funds to help them with the security deposit. Once this individual had a home, they began working on getting their graphic design certificate that would increase his income and provide even more stability. Housing options are already limited and with the high cost necessary just to enter an apartment, flexible funding assistance is imperative. This story is a prime example of how safe and stable housing is the first step to becoming financially independent.

Community Wellness: United Way of Southeastern Connecticut supports programs located in New London County that promote and provide Community Wellness. The outcome for these programs is to ensure that individuals/families have access to healthcare and improve their health. These programs improve the physical, mental, and emotional health of individuals and families, eliminating personal barriers and improving the quality of life. United Way serves as the backbone agency on behalf of the Eastern Connecticut Health Collaborative (ECHC), a thirteen-town collaborative, including both Tribal Nations, joined together to focus on equitable outcomes, working collectively to remove barriers and improve access to healthcare and nutritious food, and striving to minimize negative childhood experiences to ensure a healthier community and decrease healthcare spending. ECHC consists of thirty-two organizations representing human services, local public health, federally qualified health centers, state, and municipal agencies.ECHC works to achieve these goals through the following initiatives:1. Coordinated Outreach: Developed to support and enhance the work of our region's Community Health Workers (CHW's)and various outreach workers in a strategic and coordinated approach to reach low access, vulnerable communities, and address barriers. The anticipated impact is an increase in culturally relevant case management and the expansion of the geographic/ demographic reach of Community Health Workers and outreach staff reducing the duplication of services. Coordinated Outreach also provides CHW's the opportunity to share strategies, best practices, and resources to better service their clients to minimize the level and frequency of healthcare and social service needs. Nine agencies have participated to date with an average of thirty CHW's attending each session.2. Mobile Health Hubs: An innovative approach to bringing mobilized health-related services to undeserved communities in New London County and the Town of Windham on a monthly basis. This is a coordinated effort to partner agencies with existing mobiles to offer more comprehensive, wrap-around resources at each of these locations. Mobile Health Hubs have served approximately 19,000 individuals across nearly 100 events annually.3. Family Bridge: ECHC is the second region selected by the CT Office of Early Childhood (OEC) for a new universal nurse home visiting program for all birth mothers. Family Bridge Eastern CT includes a proven, evidence-based nurse home visiting program with a Community Health Worker (CHW) support component that will be tailored to our community. The pilot phase will offer services to Tribal birthing moms and those living in Norwich, Windham, Lisbon, Griswold and Montville. Eventually the goal is to offer Family Bridge Eastern CT services to every birthing family living in all 13 town's in ECHC's catchment area.