Happy New Year! We hope 2021 will prove to be a better year for everyone than the last.
With the changing of the calendar, many people are taking this time to examine their lives, make changes and reflect on the past year. And like many other organizations, those of us at the United Way are looking at our nonprofit with fresh, hopeful eyes and aiming to make our community a better place for everyone.
In doing so, we also examine what makes this nonprofit so special and unique, and we thought this was a great time to fill you in on some of the basics about United Way.
The first is right in the name: We support nonprofits and residents in two counties, Monongalia and Preston.
Each year, after a campaign is complete, our Citizens’ Review Committee gathers to review community agencies applying for grants and make recommendations on how those campaign dollars should be used.
In fact, our reach is so broad that it’s estimated that one in four people in our community will be helped in some way by a United Way-funded service or internal program. Those numbers may be even higher this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We and our funded partners are helping people in our community who have never needed assistance before, many of them because of the financial, educational and health issues caused by the pandemic.
We’re providing funding for 43 programs at these 24 agencies:
- American Red Cross
- Bartlett Housing Solutions
- CASA for Kids — Monongalia County
- Catholic Charities West Virginia
- Christian Help
- Food for Preston
- Legal Aid of West Virginia
- Literacy Volunteers of Monongalia and Preston Counties
- Milan Puskar Health Right
- Monongalia County Child Advocacy Center
- Morgantown Area Meals on Wheels
- Mountaineer Area Council — Boy Scouts of America
- Mountaineer Area Robotics
- On Eagles Wings Therapeutic Horsemanship
- Operation Welcome Home
- PACE Enterprises
- Preston County Workshop
- Rape and Domestic Violence Information Center
- The Salvation Army
- Scott’s Run Settlement House
- The Shack Neighborhood House
- Spark! Imagination and Science Center
- Visiting Homemaker Service
- WV Caring
But that’s not all. There are multiple ways United Way helps directly in this community through internal programming. These include:
Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library — This program mails children ages birth-5 a free book per month, regardless of socioeconomic status, to encourage early learning and literacy in our community. Parents can sign their children up for the program at unitedwaympc.org/dpil.
WV211 — This health and human service hotline is answered in our United Way office and helps people in need find resources in our community. The number one issue when the pandemic hit was food insecurity, followed closely by financial needs, such as rent/mortgage and utility assistance. If you need assistance, call 2-1-1, text your zip code to 898-211, or visit wv211.org.
Helpful Harvest Food Program — Thanks to a generous grant by the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust, Helpful Harvest helps feed about 13,000 people each month in Monongalia and Preston counties. It gets food into the hands of those who need it most, especially in the wake of the pandemic. Learn more at unitedwaympc.org/helpfulharvest.
Monongalia County Family Resource Network — Working as a coordinating and planning body for the county’s community service system, the Family Resource Network identifies needs, builds the capacity to address needs and promotes awareness of these issues.
Holiday Toy and Food Distribution — As a partnership between the United Way, Christian Help and the Monongalia County Humane Society, the Holiday Toy and Food Distribution helps those who need it during the holidays with food, gifts and even pet food.
While we can’t possibly share everything about United Way in one column, we hope this gives you a general overview of the programs we offer and funded partners we assist in this community.
As we prepare for the new year by examining the issues and services needed in our community, we hope you’ll make a resolution to learn more about the United Way and its abundance of programs, both internally and through funded partners. Here’s to a great 2021!
Amanda Posey is the director of marketing and communications for the United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties. She can be reached at amanda@unitedwaympc.org.
