Many Hands Make Light Work
By Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director – United Way of Charlotte County
If I had a magic wand that would allow me to single-handedly eliminate poverty for all of Charlotte County, I would have waved that wand by now. Unfortunately, my hands hold no magic wand.
At United Way of Charlotte County (UWCC), we know that we are better together. That is why our mission isn’t to single-handedly work toward solving the issue of poverty. As a single agency, we could never move the needle. But by mobilizing the power of our community, teaming up with others who share the same vision, we fully intend to break the cycle of poverty for Charlotte County residents.
To that effort, I am pleased to announce the annual allocations of funding to area health and human service programs. A combined $791,532 of community funding will be distributed to 22 local health and human service programs at 17 agencies. UWCC provides the process and oversight for distribution of these local government funds from both Charlotte County ($764,032) and the City of Punta Gorda ($27,500).
Much of the grant funding is directed at connecting residents to basic human services including emergency housing, quality afterschool programming, health care services and more. Beyond that, funding is used to support various programs aimed at family stability.
We truly look to the root causes of generational poverty and seek to fund programs that, when looked at collectively, focus on the whole family. This funding is spread across various programs because one program alone could not move the needle, but by mobilizing 17 partner agencies, we see collective impact.
Funded programs begin as early as prenatally and stretch across a lifetime. Healthy Start received funding for prenatal intake and infant care coordination. The Imagination Library was funded for their monthly book distribution program aimed at children ages birth through 5. Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast received support for their One-to-One Mentoring program for children through age 18. The Homeless Coalition was funded for their emergency shelter and Bridges Out of Poverty homeless prevention program. And Senior Friendship Centers received support for their meal programs, both congregate and home-delivery.
That’s just a snippet of the amazing work being done with this funding in Charlotte County.
Each applying program was vetted by volunteers who are asked to evaluate programs based upon community needs, measurable outcomes, financial transparency, and accountability. The volunteers reviewed agency financials, funding applications, and agency operations, and made allocation recommendations. Those recommendations were reviewed by the UWCC Executive Committee, which made its recommendations to the UWCC Board of Directors. The Board approved those recommendations at its meeting in August.
Sixty-four local volunteers donated their time and expertise to determine the 2021-2022 allocations. Community Impact Panel volunteers employed consistent, standardized methods to evaluate and ultimately fund those programs best positioned to meet the needs of our community and move the needle on reducing poverty. The volunteers, board and staff dedicated nearly 700 hours of service, vetting the organizations that applied for funding to determine the community investments.
Not only are we mobilizing our partner agencies to tackle big problems in our community, but we are also mobilizing volunteers who put their hands in to do their part to move the needle for Charlotte County. Each year I am more humbled and always grateful for the work that goes into these funding decisions and the individuals who give of themselves so freely to be part of that process.
UWCC has provided the allocation and oversight of human service grants at no cost to the county for more than twenty years. For this funding cycle, the Board of County Commissioners contributed additional support to UWCC for providing these services.
We can’t make big change single-handedly. But many hands make light work.
A complete list of funding recipients and their programs is available at www.unitedwayccfl.org/fundedpartners.
For more information about United Way of Charlotte County’s mission: Mobilizing the power of our community to break the cycle of poverty, please contact Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director. She can be reached at director@unitedwayccfl.org.