Why United Way | United Way of Steele County

Why United Way

I get this a lot: “United Way, aren’t you just a clearing house for funding for local nonprofits?” or “you just fundraise and give money out to local charities, right?” The short answer is no – we have evolved from our humble but effective-at-that-time beginnings. I’m always frustrated by that question because we are doing SO much more than that.

United Way of Steele County started out like that in 1953 but since then we have advanced into a community force which gathers people and organizations around a common vision to support the cornerstones of community excellence: financial stability, good education and access to healthcare for everyone.

Our work happens two ways: through our traditional United Way funding of local nonprofit organizations - I wrote about this a couple of months ago - and through the new model which we locally call Opportunity Programs but other United Ways call Community Impact. These are the programs we build internally through UWSC board and committee work or through broader community collaborations.

Our largest responsibility to Steele County is to look out for gaps in services in our community, and barriers to living wage jobs, participation in education and adequate healthcare. We continually talk with community members and update our community assessment. We ask service providers about the needs they see with their clients and recipients of service about the challenges they personally experience. In this way we can see trends in our community, know when conditions have changed and respond accordingly.

If our Partner Agencies do not have programs addressing these gaps, or are not able to take on additional services, United Way of Steele County seeks out other partners whose missions fit and we build programs from scratch with them.

A great example of this is our community’s new Preschool Transportation program. It was discovered that getting kids to and from preschool was an issue for families. The schedules of most Owatonna area preschools required one parent or caregiver to either arrive at work late or leave in the middle of their work shift to transport children. United Way joined SMIF and their Early Childhood Initiative in a year-long exploration and at the end decided to make preschool transportation a key priority. While all partners have a role in executing the program, UWSC manages the applications process and provides ride scholarships to more than 30 low income families, many of whom the transportation costs would have been prohibitive. (Please see our website for a full list of partners and an excellent overview of this program written by Jessica Beckman www.unitedwaysteelecounty.org/toddlers-go).

The Preschool Transportation program is an example of how seemingly simple programs affect multiple community conditions. This helps education – attendance at preschool aids in children’s academic success. It helps income – the scholarship helps low-income families better afford preschool and the service itself helps all families whose employers might not accept a parent leaving work to pick up or drop off kids (in this way it helps the employer as well). It helps health – by reducing parental stress.

This is just one example of the many collaborations UWSC is either joining or leading.

Because of United Way’s Opportunity Programs:

95 community members were able to accept living wage jobs because their steel-toed boots were provided for them
158 High School students had a chance to explore a potential local job and create a plan for after graduation
1,723 children received a book each month at their home to get them excited about reading and ready for Kindergarten
36 people were able to learn about how to cook nutritious food on a budget, and
68 families had transportation to pre-school.

None of these opportunities would have happened this year without the United Way.

These new United Way processes are vital to our community success and well-being. And this is why United Way of Steele County is worth supporting. Because we aren’t just a pass through organization. Having engaged and professional staff at the United Way means we are closely watching and reacting to local conditions. United Way of Steele County fights for the education, health and financial stability of every person in our community.

Kim Schaufenbuel is the Executive Director of United Way of Steele County. She can be reached at 507-455-1180 or via email at kschaufenbuel@unitedwaysteelecounty.org.