Community Impact Plan 2007-2008

United Way of the Midlands (UWM) uses a Community Impact model to ensure your gift is used effectively. There are four key components to the model:
  • We address 14 priority issues identified in the community assessment, Facing Facts.
  • Over 150 volunteers, organized through four community councils and other committees research effective program strategies, monitor changing community conditions and identify opportunities for community improvement.
  • We work with strong community partners—our 80 partner agencies meet 22 standards for nonprofit performance.
  • Ultimately, Community Impact represents community results. UWM annually evaluates Community Impact funded programs to gauge and improve their effectiveness.
Community Impact is about lasting results. The proposed impact plan shares strategies for addressing community issues at different levels.
  • At the first level, strategies focus on meeting basic needs and helping individuals and families in crisis.
  • At the second level, prevention and development, strategies focus on helping individuals and families develop skills and obtain resources to become self-sufficient.
  • At the top level, strategies are developed to take care of the problems before they arise. The longterm result is an improvement in community conditions that allows individuals and families to live healthy, productive lives.
Long lasting change in the community requires several approaches and our Community Impact model employs several:
  • United Way of the Midlands brings people and resources together to find new solutions to problems—from helping to create an eye care initiative that provides exams and glasses to the people who are uninsured for a $35 fee to developing and starting a volunteer-driven reading initiative to ensure third graders are reading at their grade level—UWM brings partners together to solve problems.
  • Community improvement also depends on community understanding of issues and solutions. UWM brings focus to issues through educational forums like the discussion on homelessness we will have this morning. We also partner with others to engage in policy work—from quality child care centers to affordable housing.
  • Finally—we target the resources you provide us to programs that can make a difference.
Funding priorities for 2007-2008 include meeting basic needs, providing healthcare, fostering early childhood development, encouraging effective parenting, developing youth, increasing literacy, supporting seniors and building and sustaining community capacity.
 
To review 2007-2008 funding, visit the following pages.
  1.     Building Strong Families, Individuals and Children
  2.     Creating Quality Education, Job Preparation and Life Skills
  3.     Promoting Health & Recovery
  4.     Securing Food, Shelter, Safety & Transportation 
  5.     Organizational Impact Grants
 
To see how this work began review the Community Impact Plan.   This plan, developed by our community councils and community resource committee, reviewed by the Community Impact Committee and approved by our Board, represented the ambitions of United Way of the Midlands and its corps of volunteers for improving our community in 2007-2008.  Requests for proposals were developed from this plan that led to the 2007-2008 grants that were awarded.