Thank you! We can make a difference
EDITOR:
The past two years were very busy years for the United Way of Anderson County, and it looks like 2022 will continue that trend.
In 2021, we made 2,000 feminine hygiene bags for teenagers in middle/high school, restocked the local food pantries 42 times, served 23,000 meals, helped 3,000 people sustain housing, assisted almost 3,000 clients in crisis, and provided help to more than 6,000 children and 3,400 adults.
To ensure we continue to serve those with the greatest needs, during the summer we completed a full community needs assessment and hosted a community roundtable. From the assessment and the roundtable, we were able to narrow down the priorities for service to the community.
The roundtable included agency partners, government representatives, school counselors and more. The areas most discussed were substance misuse, mental health, physical health, the “ALICE” (asset limited, income constrained, employed) population and child well-being.
After collecting the data and having the community conversation, we dove even deeper into each area. We found most common community needs are lack of period supplies among female youth, the cost of getting and maintaining employment, continued food insecurity, rent and utility assistance, and transportation.
Once again, the United Way of Anderson County is hosting VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) in our office to offer free tax assistance. This began this week, Tuesday-Friday from 1:30-6 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Also happening in February, our community impact panels will be doing fund-distribution reviews. During the week of Feb. 14, local volunteer community members will serve as panelists to review United Way partner agencies’ grant applications, listen to agency presentations, and then ultimately make the decisions as to who will receive United Way funding and at what level.
This is where the rubber meets the road for our agency, and we are so thankful for the 30 community members giving their time and energy to do this important work.
The United Way staff has set goals for 2022 based on the data from the community needs assessment.
This year, we have plans to host a job fair with resume assistance, recruiters and computer support on site. In addition, there will be the usual needed clothing items for interviews or to begin work: business attire, steel-toed boots, scrubs, and non-slip shoes — items that can often interfere with the ability to obtain and maintain employment.
We are working on finding local mechanics who would be willing to offer discounted vehicle maintenance for our clients or set up a car clinic to provide some basic repairs. We will continue to pack and deliver emergency period packs to school-age girls throughout our communities. One of the local school counselors had this to say about the emergency period packs: “I just wanted to make sure you knew how helpful all those bags with feminine products have been for us. We give them out all of the time. I know I’ve given out at least three just in the last 24 hours. I love being able to give girls a cute bag and explain that it has everything in it that they’ll need, even a piece of chocolate. It makes what can be an awkward moment way less awkward, and girls have been so appreciative. I just wanted to make sure you knew that it has met a very specific need and that it has absolutely been put to good use.”
Lastly, United Way of Anderson County is launching a new program providing volunteer case managers to families struggling to maintain housing or consistently pay their bills. Often, the clients requesting assistance have ongoing needs that aren’t able to be addressed. Our goal is to pair clients with volunteers who will walk alongside these families to help them with budgeting, bill negotiation and more. Ultimately the goal will be to end the cycle of frequently needed assistance.
With so many projects and initiatives in the works here at the United Way, we often get asked how someone can help. We are asking for you to consider a few things this year. We need case-manager volunteers.
If you think this is something that would be a good fit, please call or email Debbie. If you don’t have time right now but want to help, please consider donations of gas cards, VISA cards, Uber gift cards, and grocery store gift cards. Lastly, please advocate for the work we are doing and ask your friends, your mechanic, or others to get involved.
If you would like to read more about period poverty, ALICE population, the cost of obtaining and maintaining a job, our fund-distribution process, and so much more please visit our website and read our blog posts at uwayac.org/blog/.
As always, when we come together as a community, we make a difference for those needing help the most. Thank you for your continued support.
Naomi Asher
Executive Director United Way