United Way Of Southern Kentucky Inc

TO BE THE LEADER IN BRINGING TOGETHER THE RESOURCES TO BUILD A STRONGER, MORE CARING COMMUNITY.

FUND DISTRIBUTION:UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY'S FUND DISTRIBUTION PROCESS ALLOCATED $1,106,611 TO PROGRAMS SERVING THE 10-COUNTY SERVICE AREA. FUNDING WAS AWARDED TO MORE THAN 51 PROGRAMS IMPACTING UNITED WAY OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY'S SEVEN PRIORITY FOCUS AREAS OF EDUCATION: KINDERGARTEN READINESS, COLLEGE & CAREER READINESS; INCOME: WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT; HEALTH: ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE, SAFE HOME & COMMUNITY; SAFETY NET: ACCESS TO BASIC NEEDS AND TRANSPORTATION. THIS VOLUNTEER-DRIVEN PROCESS CONCENTRATES ON A PROGRAM'S ABILITY TO ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSE OF ISSUES RATHER THAN TREATING THE SYMPTOMS. IN ADDITION TO THE FUND DISTRIBUTION PROGRAM, A HALLMARK OF UNITED WAY, AN ADDITIONAL $35,814 IN DONOR DIRECTED CONTRIBUTIONS WERE PROCESSED AND DISTRIBUTED.

UWSK COORDINATES MANY DIRECT IMPACT SERVICES TO OUR COMMUNITIES. IN THE 2023/24 FISCAL YEAR $287,094 WAS DISTRIBUTED TO ADDRESS THE IMPACT OF DEVASTATING TORNADOS IN OUR COMMUNITIES IN 2021/22. ADDITIONALLY UNITED WAY HELD ANNUAL FEED THE NEED FOOD DRIVE AND DAY OF CARING EVENTS, AND WORKED TO CONTINUE PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION.

KINDERGARTEN READINESS:IN ORDER TO ENSURE CHILDREN HAVE THE SKILLS NEEDED TO ENTER KINDERGARTEN READY TO LEARN, UNITED WAY CONTINUED THE KINDERGARTEN READINESS CAMPAIGN THAT STARTED IN 2016/17 TO HELP EDUCATE PARENTS ABOUT HOW TO BETTER PREPARE THEIR CHILDREN FOR DAY ONE OF KINDERGARTEN. AS PART OF THIS EFFORT, UNITED WAY ENCOURAGES PARENTS TO READ, PLAY, COUNT, AND LOG OFF WITH THEIR CHILDREN. PARENTS CAN LOG ONTO THE UNITED WAY MICROSITE MYCHILDISREADY.COM TO FIND INFORMATION TO DETERMINE IF THEIR CHILD IS KINDERGARTEN READY AND IF NOT, HOW THEY CAN ADAPT EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES TO INCREASE THE LEVEL OF THEIR CHILD'S READINESS. ANOTHER CRITICAL COMPONENT IN UNITED WAY'S WORK IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IS THE EXPANSION OF AN ADDITIONAL BORN LEARNING TRAIL, AND UNITED WAY CONTINUES TO EXPAND ITS EFFORTS TO ENROLL ELIGIBLE CHILDREN IN THE DOLLY PARTON IMAGINATION LIBRARY PROGRAM. SINCE UNITED WAY BEGAN THE MANAGEMENT AND FACILITATION OF THE PROGRAM IN 2011, MORE THAN 689,533 BOOKS HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED; BETWEEN JULY 2023 AND JUNE 2024 A TOTAL OF 103,652 BOOKS WERE DISTRIBUTED.

SOUTHERN KENTUCKY 2-1-1:IN JULY 2023 SOUTHERN KENTUCKY 2-1-1 COMPLETED ITS EIGHTH YEAR OF INFORMATION AND REFERRAL SERVICES TO THE RESIDENTS OF THE ALLEN, BARREN, BUTLER, EDMONSON, HART, LOGAN, METCALFE, MONROE, SIMPSON AND WARREN COUNTIES. IN JANUARY 2021 TEXT SERVICES BECAME AVAILABLE, ADDING ANOTHER WAY THOSE IN NEED COULD REACH OUT TO 2-1-1. IN FY2024, SOUTHERN KENTUCKY 2-1-1 PROVIDED MORE THAN 7,362 CONTACTS WITH INFORMATION ABOUT UTILITY ASSISTANCE, FOOD PANTRIES, RENT ASSISTANCE, EMERGENCY SHELTER, CHILDCARE, EMPLOYMENT, TRANSPORTATION, AND CLOTHING, AND MORE. CONTACTS VIA TELEPHONE OR TEXT ARE ANSWERED 24/7/365, AND OUR ONLINE PUBLIC SEARCH ABOUT AVAILABLE SERVICES CAN BE ACCESSED THROUGH WWW.NAVIGATERESOURCES.NET/UWSK/. THE OPENING OF SOUTHERN KENTUCKY 2-1-1 IN JULY 2016 MADE INFORMATION ABOUT COMMUNITY SERVICES AVAILABLE TO MORE THAN 60% OF KENTUCKIANS, AND IN 2021, 2-1-1 SERVICES BECAME AVAILABLE STATE-WIDE. SINCE OPENING, A TOTAL OF 59,272 CONTACTS HAVE COME INTO THE CENTER.