United Way Of Greater Lorain County

TO LEAD COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION, CREATING A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL, BY CONNECTING COMMUNITY PARTNERS THROUGH COLLECTIVE IMPACT IN HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND FINANCIAL STABILITY.

COMMUNITY IMPACT - INVOLVES THE PROCESS OF PLANNING, INVESTING AND EVALUATING RESOURCES TO ACHIEVE MEASURABLE AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY CHANGE IN THREE PRIORITY AREAS: EMPOWERING CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO ACHIEVE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL, HELPING WORKING FAMILIES BECOME FINANCIALLY STABLE AND INDEPENDENT, AND CREATING A HEALTHIER COMMUNITY. MORE THAN 150 ORGANIZATIONS HAVE PLEDGED TO WORK COLLECTIVELY ON ACHIEVING THIS HIGH LEVEL OF COMMUNITY IMPACT.UNITED WAY OF GREATER LORAIN COUNTY (UWGLC) PLACES A HIGH PRIORITY ON WORKING WITH SYSTEMS AND PARTNERS TO ENSURE THAT CHILDREN ENTER KINDERGARTEN READY TO LEARN AND THAT EARLY ADOLESCENTS HAVE THE TOOLS AND RESOURCES TO SUCCEED IN HIGH SCHOOL AND BEYOND. UWGLC IS INVESTING IN A VARIETY OF INITIATIVES, INCLUDING AFTERSCHOOL AND SUMMER ACADEMIC AND CULTURAL ENRICHMENT, IN-SCHOOL ACADEMIC SUPPORT, MENTAL HEALTH AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SUPPORT, EXERCISE AND NUTRITION IMPROVEMENT, PARENTING EDUCATION AND RESOURCING, AND RISKY BEHAVIOR PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION. MULTI-YEAR FUNDING HAS MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS TO MEASURE BASELINE DATA, PILOT TEST BEST-PRACTICE PROGRAMS WITH SMALL GROUPS, AND IMPLEMENT LARGER-SCALE PROGRAMS WITH PROMISING EARLY RESULTS. FOR EXAMPLE, LITERACY PROGRAMS ARE BRINGING AGE- AND LANGUAGE-APPROPRIATE BOOKS TO 53% OF ALL CHILDREN 0 5 LIVING IN ELYRIA, LORAIN AND OBERLIN EACH MONTH; AND AN ADDITIONAL 2,256 LITERACY KITS WERE DELIVERED TO PRESCHOOLERS. FURTHER, 78% OF PARTNER EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN ELYRIA HAVE ACHIEVED "HIGHLY-RATED" STATUS IN THE STEP UP TO QUALITY STATE RATING SYSTEM. 221 STUDENTS FROM MIDVIEW MIDDLE AND 150 5TH GRADERS FROM EASTERN HEIGHTS PARTICIPATED IN PROGRAMMNING TO BUILD RESILIENCE AND AVOID RISKY BEHAVIORS; AND 364 MIDDLE GRADE STUDENTS ATTENDED COLLABORATIVE SPONSORED SUMMER CAMPS IN ELYRIA AND LORAIN. ADDITIONALLY, 50 PARENTS IN LORAIN LEARNED TECH SKILLS TO SUPPORT THEIR CHILD'S EDUCATION. OVER 10,000 YOUTH ARE CURRENTLY PARTICIPATING IN COLLABORATIVE PROGRAMMING.UWGLC PLACES A HIGH PRIORITY ON WORKING WITH SYSTEMS AND PARTNERS TO ENSURE THAT WORKING FAMILIES LIVING IN POVERTY INCREASE THEIR INCOMES, BUILD SAVINGS, AND GAIN ASSETS TO IMPROVE THEIR FINANCIAL STABILITY. UWGLC IS INVESTING IN ACTIVITIES THAT ENSURE THAT FAMILIES SUFFERING A SHORT-TERM FINANCIAL CRISIS AVOID EVICTION, UTILITY TERMINATION, AND JOB LOSS AND ARE ABLE TO BUILD FUTURE RESOURCES. EIGHTH-YEAR COLLABORATIVE FUNDING HAS RESULTED IN THE UCAN PARTNERSHIP ASSISTING 350 HOUSEHOLDS (CLOSE TO 1200 PERSONS) AVOID EVICTION (207 HOUSING BILLS), UTILITY DISCONNECT (178 PAYMENTS), AND JOB LOSS (44 JOBS), WITH A LESS THAN 8% RECIDIVISM RATE. HEALTH CUTS ACROSS THE FINANCIAL STABILITY AND EDUCATION IMPACT AREAS OF THE AGENDA FOR COMMUNITY IMPACT. OUR AGENDA PROMOTES HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH DIET AND EXERCISE WITH AN EMPHASIS ON REDUCING RISK FACTORS FOR METABOLIC SYNDROME, INCLUDING DIABETES, OBESITY, AND HEART DISEASE. UWGLC IS INVESTING IN ACTIVITIES THAT INCREASE ACCESS TO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF ALL TYPES, INCLUDING THE WINTER MONTHS, ENSURE ACCESS TO LOCALLY GROWN HEALTHY FOODS, MAINTAIN HEALTHY WORKPLACES, AND IMPROVE NUTRITION. MULTI-YEAR FUNDING HAS ALLOWED COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS TO MEASURE DATA, CONTINUE TO PILOT TEST BEST-PRACTICE PROGRAMS ON A SMALL SCALE, AND IMPLEMENT LARGER-SCALE INITIATIVES. THIS INCLUDES FRESH AFFORDABLE PRODUCE PICKUPS IN NORTH RIDGEVILLE AND LAGRANGE, WITH 1,061 PRODUCE BAGS THIS YEAR; AND 71 SENIORS AND FAMILIES WITH DISABILITES IN THE WELLINGTON AREA RAISING, CONSUMING AND SHARING HOME-GROWN RAISED-BED VEGETABLES. ADDITIONALLY, KEY- AND H&S-SPONSORED OUTDOOR WALKING PATHS WERE KEPT CLEAR OF SNOW ALL SEASON AGAIN, ENABLING RESIDENTS TO WALK OUTDOORS IN ADDITION TO INDOOR WALKING EVENTS WITH A TOTAL OF 3,897 WALKERS. NEW PICKLEBALL COURTS IN WELLINGTON HAVE ATTRACTED 91 REGULAR PLAYERS OF ALL AGES. PARTNERING WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN LORAIN COUNTY, UNITED WE SWEAT WAS FORMED IN 2011 TO PROMOTE HEALTHY LIVING IN GREATER LORAIN COUNTY BY RAISING AWARENESS OF AND ACCESS TO FITNESS AND NUTRITION OPTIONS. 2,563 INDIVIDUALS ATTENDED IN-PERSON INITIATIVE-SPONSORED FREE FITNESS EVENTS THIS YEAR.

TRANSPORTATION INITIATIVES ACCESS TO RELIABLE AND AFFORDABLE TRANSPORTATION AFFECTS THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING OF PEOPLE IN ALL PARTS OF GREATER LORAIN COUNTY. UNITED WAY INVESTS IN EFFORTS TO LINK RIDERS WITH CRITICLLY NEEDED RIDES, SUCH AS TO MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH APPOINTMENTS, MAXIMIZING THE USE OF LOCALLY-AVAILABLE AND COORDINATED RESOURCES THROUGH MOBILITY MANAGEMENT. THIS PROJECT WILL CONTINUE TO BE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE TRANSPORTATION TO GROCERIES IN THE UPCOMING 12 MONTHS. 475 RIDES TO MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS AND 1,287 WOPRKPLACE RIDES WERE PROVIDED THROUGH JUNE 30.

INFORMATION AND REFERRAL REFERS PEOPLE TO SERVICES AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES AT LOCAL AGENCIES THROUGH UNITED WAY'S 2-1-1 FIRST CALL FOR HELP, A CONFIDENTIAL, FREE INFORMATION AND REFERRAL SERVICE. THERE WERE 11,556 CALLS AND 32,599 UNIQUE WEBSITE USERS.

DIRECT SERVICES - DIRECT SERVICES ARE PROVIDED BY UWGLC THROUGH THE LORAIN COUNTY FREE TAX PREP COALITION. INCOME TAX PREPARATION PARTNERS COORDINATED BY UWGLC COMPLETED 1,556 FEDERAL (AND A SIMILAR NUMBER STATE) TAX RETURNS FOR A TOTAL REFUND OF $2,056,921, OF WHICH OVER $500,000 WAS FROM THE EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT. THE FREE TAX PROGRAM SAVED TAXFILERS $424,788 IN PREP AND FILING FEES.UNITED WAY VOLUNTEER ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVES MATCH INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS OF PEOPLE TO VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNIES WITHIN THE COMMUNITY AND STRIVES TO INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND PARTICIPATION OF ALL SEGMENTS OF VOLUNTEER RESOURCES THROUGH RECRUITMENT, TRAINING, EDUCATION AND RECOGNITION. 446 VOLUNTEERS PROVIDED 1,393 VOLUNTEER HOURS DURING THE FISCAL YEAR.