United Way Reviews Education, Health and Finance Requests
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jordan Fouts-
United Way board members, community members and issues experts form groups called Vision Councils to look at programs divided into education, health and financial categories. They have close to 40 requests to consider this year, according to Executive Director Patricia Coy.
In February the agencies submitted information on the programs they’re seeking funding for, such as a logic model and budget, and on the agencies themselves showing their overall financial health. Coy said the interview process should wrap up by the end of the month, and the United Way board will make its decisions in mid-May based on the funding levels recommended by the councils.
“This part of the process is largely unknown. We’re trying to be good stewards of people’s money,” observed income council member Bill Hartman, with Zimmer Biomet, as his group was preparing to interview the directors of Fellowship Missions and the Beaman Home. In that interest, he said, the councils have to evaluate whether the programs “are making a lasting change, and not just an immediate handout.”
Fellowship Missions was seeking funding for its Catalyst program, formerly called Stewardship, a self-sufficiency program which helps shelter residents set longterm goals and assists them with transitional housing and eventually with employment. The program has received United Way funding in the past, but Executive Director Eric Lane told the council they are making a few changes beyond the name, such as focusing more on followup with residents.
Lane said they logged 7,000 hours in the program last year, 1,600 of that in followup activities alone. He said they’d like to hire more staff members to engage in followup because leaning on volunteers as they did in the past can create reliability issues – they don’t want a resident to feel abandoned if a volunteer stops showing up.
He also said they’re more proactive in introducing the program to residents toward the beginning of their two-week stay at the shelter “so we don’t hit them on day 14 with something ... We tell them what they’re getting into. We want to talk them into it, not out of it.”
Coy asked what they classify as a success for clients.
“When somebody really gets what it looks like to make healthy decisions, when a light bulb goes off,” Lane answered. “To see them have purpose and hope ... Not just that we’re making them do something, but that they’re part of something.”
The Beaman Home was requesting funding for a second year for its Rapid Rehousing program, which helps victims of domestic violence find a permanent home away from their abuser. The program provides six to 12 months of rental assistance, and continues to offer case management once the families are self-sufficient or find another source of assistance, according to Executive Director Tracie Hodson. They also provide education on skills like budgeting.
“What we’re trying to do is find people for whom this is their new start,” Hodson said.
Besides the pre-test and post-test they give the women served by the program, Hodson said they see progress simply in a changed demeanor – things like holding their head higher, sharing things important to them or even wearing makeup for the first time.
“It’s not necessarily something you can quantify, but I do see it,” she told the council.[[In-content Ad]]
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United Way board members, community members and issues experts form groups called Vision Councils to look at programs divided into education, health and financial categories. They have close to 40 requests to consider this year, according to Executive Director Patricia Coy.
In February the agencies submitted information on the programs they’re seeking funding for, such as a logic model and budget, and on the agencies themselves showing their overall financial health. Coy said the interview process should wrap up by the end of the month, and the United Way board will make its decisions in mid-May based on the funding levels recommended by the councils.
“This part of the process is largely unknown. We’re trying to be good stewards of people’s money,” observed income council member Bill Hartman, with Zimmer Biomet, as his group was preparing to interview the directors of Fellowship Missions and the Beaman Home. In that interest, he said, the councils have to evaluate whether the programs “are making a lasting change, and not just an immediate handout.”
Fellowship Missions was seeking funding for its Catalyst program, formerly called Stewardship, a self-sufficiency program which helps shelter residents set longterm goals and assists them with transitional housing and eventually with employment. The program has received United Way funding in the past, but Executive Director Eric Lane told the council they are making a few changes beyond the name, such as focusing more on followup with residents.
Lane said they logged 7,000 hours in the program last year, 1,600 of that in followup activities alone. He said they’d like to hire more staff members to engage in followup because leaning on volunteers as they did in the past can create reliability issues – they don’t want a resident to feel abandoned if a volunteer stops showing up.
He also said they’re more proactive in introducing the program to residents toward the beginning of their two-week stay at the shelter “so we don’t hit them on day 14 with something ... We tell them what they’re getting into. We want to talk them into it, not out of it.”
Coy asked what they classify as a success for clients.
“When somebody really gets what it looks like to make healthy decisions, when a light bulb goes off,” Lane answered. “To see them have purpose and hope ... Not just that we’re making them do something, but that they’re part of something.”
The Beaman Home was requesting funding for a second year for its Rapid Rehousing program, which helps victims of domestic violence find a permanent home away from their abuser. The program provides six to 12 months of rental assistance, and continues to offer case management once the families are self-sufficient or find another source of assistance, according to Executive Director Tracie Hodson. They also provide education on skills like budgeting.
“What we’re trying to do is find people for whom this is their new start,” Hodson said.
Besides the pre-test and post-test they give the women served by the program, Hodson said they see progress simply in a changed demeanor – things like holding their head higher, sharing things important to them or even wearing makeup for the first time.
“It’s not necessarily something you can quantify, but I do see it,” she told the council.[[In-content Ad]]
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