LancasterOnline.com:News:United Way funds arriving

United Way funds arriving

Oct 20, 2009 06:04 EST

By LORI VAN INGEN, Staff Writer

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United Way of Lancaster County changed the way it invests its pledge money, and that led to a delay in approving allocations.

That delay is over. Last week the board of directors approved the 2009-2010 fiscal year funding of 84 programs at United Way agencies.

More than $5 million was devoted to five issues as prioritized by the community during a 2005 assessment.

Housing and homelessness received $1.1 million; early care and education got $1.2 million; lifelong learning and high school completion received $1.1 million; primary and preventive health got $1 million; and safety net for vulnerable populations was allocated a little over $900,000.

Five new programs were funded this year, but they were with agencies that had previously received funding. Twenty programs received an increase in funding, while two programs were dropped.

The dropped programs didn't align with the priority areas or have sufficient outcomes to meet the solution council's criteria for funding, said Joan Paxton, chair of the community impact cabinet.

The funding will be effective as of Dec. 1 and will run through June 30, catching up to the original schedule. Allocations for the 2009 campaign funding will be decided in the spring and be distributed on July 1.

Paxton said the United Way made a "total overhaul" of the allocations process that was "thoughtfully, deliberately and transparently" done.

That total overhaul was six years in the making, she said, as the local United Way looked at how it could measure positive outcomes.

With the measurement, the United Way can show donors what is being accomplished with their investments in issues that were identified by the community itself, according to Steve Stockwell, chair of the United Way of Lancaster County board of directors.

"We thought a year ago we'd meet the deadline for spring (allocation)," Paxton said. The organization could have had a process in place to allocate funds at that time, but it would not have been the best process, she said.

"We wanted it to be right, not fast," Paxton said. "There is no time when it is more important than when resources are most scarce that we must make the most effective investment."

"Our (120) volunteers spent over 1,200 hours evaluating research, making a list and checking it twice to be assured that they would make the most effective decisions possible," said Susan Eckert, president of United Way of Lancaster County.

While the decisions were being made, the agency programs were still being funded.

"We didn't turn the spigot off. Money still came to them," Paxton said.

The 2009-2010 program allocation of the funds pledged in the 2008 United Way campaign is as follows:

Housing and Homelessness
YWCA of Lancaster residence — $131,181
Clare House transitional shelter — $37,791
Neighborhood Services representative payee — $93,508
Spanish American Civic Association housing development — $27,417
Neighborhood Services Pioneer House — $15,609
MidPenn Legal Services homeless advocacy — $28,670
Neighborhood Services guardianship — $47,620
Community Action Program bridge housing — $54,487
Urban League integrated employment — $56,262

Early Care and Education
Lancaster Day Care Center parent alliance — $9,206
YWCA of Lancaster early care and education — $103,514
Lancaster Day Care Center early care and education — $195,138
Luthercare mentoring — $26,250
Luthercare childcare scholarships, Reamstown — $12,000
S. June Smith Center preschool, Ephrata — $8,633
Community Action Program early care and education — $28,690
Luthercare early care and education — $18,378
Elizabethtown Child Care Center early care and education — $55,817
Schreiber Pediatric Rehab Center preschool program — $50,688
Jewish Community Alliance JCAL Academy preschool — $5,945

Lifelong Learning and High School Completion
Big Brothers/Big Sisters college program — $17,349
Pressley Ridge pregnancy/parenting center — $78,219
Big Brothers/Big Sisters community-based program — $96,395
Big Brothers/Big Sisters school-based program — $20,581
Spanish American Civic Association youth/adult education — $11,747
Lancaster Family YMCA youth center — $149,450
Literacy Council of Lancaster/Lebanon English as a Second Language — $9,000
Literacy Council of Lancaster/Lebanon basic literacy — $29,883
Literacy Council of Lancaster/Lebanon literacy connections — $21,120
Boy Scouts of America learning for life — $29,700
Crispus Attucks Community Center intervention prevention — $19,683
YWCA of Lancaster youth — $35,790
Neighborhood Services urban debate club — $36,722
Urban League teen elect parent — $28,244
Boy Scouts of America outreach — $74,414
Salvation Army social development — $29,942
Adamstown YMCA youth programs — $10,795
Boys & Girls Club Hill Clubhouse — $69,916
Boys & Girls Club Columbia Clubhouse — $119,562
Boys & Girls Club Walker Clubhouse — $28,196
Boys & Girls Club King Clubhouse — $36,372
Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania scoutreach — $87,546
Urban League youth services — $8,494
American Red Cross youth services — $15,001

Primary and Preventative Health
Southeast Lancaster Health Services dental — $63,596
Southeast Lancaster Health Services medical — $141,903
Welsh Mountain Medical and Dental Center dental — $58,830
Welsh Mountain Medical and Dental Center Amish outreach — $15,170
Compass Mark skills for life — $24,311
Urban League project hope — $34,729
Compass Mark elementary youth — $37,792
AIDS Community Alliance HIV prevention and education services — $22,481
Compass Mark alternative community intervention — $33,161v
Spanish American Civic Association Nuestra Clinica — $83,603
AIDS Community Alliance HIV care and supportive services — $18,568
Visiting Nurse Association community care — $63,237
Pressley Ridge counseling — $100,761
Schreiber Pediatric Rehab Center physical therapy — $41,644
Schreiber Pediatric Rehab Center occupational therapy — $5,459
Mental Health America in Lancaster County client/family — $40,299
Catholic Charities counseling services — $99,037
Mental Health America in Lancaster County community education, system monitoring and advocacy — $17,501

Safety Net for Vulnerable Populations
YWCA of Lancaster sexual assault prevention — $50,119
S. June Smith Center early intervention — $19,499
Pressley Ridge Deb''s House — $125,385
Catholic Charities Hope House — $42,294
Schreiber Pediatric Rehab Center social skills — $11,906
Community Action Program legal advocacy — $87,069
Community Action Program emergency protection shelter — $77,671
American Red Cross disaster services — $190,669
Spanish American Civic Association Centro Hispano — $26,784
Ephrata Area Rehab Services transportation — $12,071
American Red Cross services for seniors — $54,702
MidPenn Legal Services domestic violence — $69,418
The ARC of Lancaster County advocacy — $18,368
Schreiber Pediatric Rehab Center respite — $2,174
Arch Street Center socialization and recreation — $37,891
Salvation Army emergency assistance — $39,077
Deaf & Hard of Hearing case management — $44,988
Salvation Army Extension Units community welfare — $7,804

lvaningen@lnpnews.com

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Showing 5 most recent comments out of 38 total TalkBack comments about this article
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My husband gives to United Way through his employer. I do not; we give directly to the charities of my choice. If you believe the United Way approach is not the way to go, please remember to donate directly to charitable organizations you deem worthy or which hold special importance for your family.

BeingReal

QUOTE (citydweller @ Oct 22 2009, 12:23 PM)

This statement kind of floors me, but it explains your attitude and that of other in this area.

Not to put too fine of a point on it, but United Way doesn't own all rights to charitable funding in Lancaster County.

But folks like you seem to think that it does. You seem to assume that everyone should give all their charitable donations to UW, and UW should be the sole arbiter in doling that money out.

The real problem, though, is that UW thinks this is how it should be. And so they will blatantly claim ownership of the plans, programs and results of others, with no thought of the fact that they lie. After all, they should be in charge of everything, so it's a good lie.

The winter shelter program has no need for funding from UW, or any other of their resources, so we would never even ask. The Council of Churches, the city and the county provide leadership and management. Houses of worship provide facilities and volunteers. LGH, Red Cross and local business provides bedding, food, hygiene kits, hat and gloves, backpacks and more. CHOC (Community Homeless Outreach Center) coordinates shelter moves and population monitoring. People like myself and Why? provide training and volunteer management.

It all works very smoothly, invented, funded and managed by the community, with zero need for United Way's management or largesse.

And yet they feel the need to claim ownership, management, yea the very invention of our hard work over the last five years. And they do this to many other organizations and programs as well, on an ongoing basis.

That kind of arrogance and hubris speaks to the heart of United Way as it exists today. Wasteful, boastful, arrogant, and long past its shelf life.

You take me wrong. I actually give mostly to charities directly myself these days. That said I still feel the UW is a valuable resource for many charities who do not have the budget, the clout(so to speak) nor the people with the ability to sell the cause like the UW does.

I think the county would be in sad shape if the UW up and dissapeared like you wish it would.

FDR06-10

People, in my environment, are willing to give far more when it is NOT forced on them. We live in the most charatible nation on earth, unfortunately some of going to our enemies.

grieker

I found an interesting little parallel with UW's current role in charitable affairs today. I'm taking a "seasonal" job at the local liquor store. Being "seasonal", the job by definition has a start and end date. I don't have to take the civil service exam and I get no benefits.

But I still have to pay the union, to the tune of $10 every other paycheck. "Why?" I asked, "when I am not a member of the union, am not asking for their help, and already know that my job is temporary?"

"Because the union is protecting your job." was the answer.

Silly me for even asking, but the encounter made me think of UW's self-imposed role in the charitable world today,

They are the union, according to them.

citydweller

QUOTE (citydweller @ Oct 23 2009, 12:13 AM)

First of all I'd have to say that you should look for another part time job. Pying a Union is a waste of your time and it would be that last job I'd think even you would pursue on the planet.

As for comparing UW to the union, to say your stretching is a bit of an understatement.

Just say you hate the UW and everything about it. Others disagree with you and I find it odd that you take the stance that the UW is worthless and does nothing for the good of people. At least that is what you seem to be stating?

FDR06-10

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