United Way awards $70,000 in safety net awards to community organizations

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Terre Haute – The United Way of the Wabash Valley announced its Safety Net Grant awards to organizations in our community providing vital emergency assistance. Earlier this year, the United Way solicited applications from community organizations whose focus areas of safety net services, described as immediate and emergent assistance such as food, shelter, and/or clothing services. From the application process, volunteers evaluated and selected 6 programs, to receive a total of $70,000.

The awardees include:

• $5,000 for Catholic Charities of Terre Haute– support for food bank

• $15,000 for Kid Kare Project, Inc. - direct assistance to children for essential needs

• $20,000 for Reach Services– Independent Living Program will provide day services to the increasing homeless population in our community

• $5,000 for Samaritan Food Pantry St. Joseph University Parish – support for food pantry assistance

• $15,000 for Terre Haute Meals on Wheels – meal delivery service and wellness checks to elderly and disabled individuals

• $10,000 for Wabash Valley Habitat for Humanity – the Neighborhood Revitalization program to provide immediate critical home repairs to low-income individuals and families

Safety net programs have always been a staple of the United Way’s investment into our community. These programs provide a critical service to many struggling individuals and families in the Wabash Valley. The United Way is currently transitioning to an impact model that is utilizing a focused long-term approach in the areas of education, health, financial stability, and overall community engagement to address the root causes of generational poverty. Richard Payonk, Executive Director of UWWV explained, “When the organization developed our new impact model, it was to focus more of our resources on solutions to long-term challenges we face. Still, we realized that even while solving problems, these safety net services are critical and so we pledged to keep 20% of our community investments devoted towards these types of programs.”

“The United Way is working to take a comprehensive approach to address generational poverty in our community. Programs like this play a role in working towards the overall community goal to move 10,000 families out of financial struggles and into stability,” explained Stuart Powell, a Community Impact Committee member, and Safety Net Review Chair. “While Safety Net services generally provide short-term solutions to help people move toward prosperity by creating opportunities and removing barriers, they are a vital first step on that pathway to success.”

Payonk also explained that during a three-year transition to their new Impact Council funding model, United Way also continues to provide annual “transition funding” to long-time Member Agencies. As part of their commitment to keeping 20% of their community investments toward Safety Net Services, earlier this year, they also awarded nearly $80,000 to long-time Safety Net programs with familiar agencies like the Dental Clinic at Wabash Valley Health Center, the Salvation Army, CODA’s Emergency Client Shelter, Disaster Response Program at the American Red Cross and more. “Today’s additional $70,000 investment was open to all organizations in our 6-county service area, and brings United Way’s total investment in our communities safety net services to nearly $150,000 in 2020.”

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