BRATTLEBORO — The United Way of Windham County (UWWC) recently established new Community Impact investment priorities. These priorities will guide the investment of all of its resources, such as staff/volunteer time, convening, data analysis, in-kind donations, and financial resources in partnership with Windham County's nonprofit community.
“These newly-established investment priorities are the culmination of hundreds of hours of volunteer effort,” said Executive Director Carmen Derby. “Moving forward, all local United Way investment decisions will now be based on these goals, or target outcomes.”
The Community Impact investment priorities are categorized in the areas of education, income, and health. United Way of Windham County worked with dozens of community volunteers to establish these goals by identifying the community needs, determining the priorities, and creating an online grant application.
“We thank everyone engaged in the process for their hard work and devoted service to Windham County,” continued Derby. “In addition, United Way would not be at this point in our transition to community impact without the support of our generous funders.”
The A.D. Henderson Foundation, the Crosby and Dunham Mason Funds of the Vermont Community Foundation, and the Thomas Thompson Trust provided funding to support the Community Impact transition.
This funding has underwritten a new part-time Community Investment Director to work with area agencies, an upgrade of technology and office infrastructure, and the purchase of software that will help agencies and United Way track progress in meeting community goals.
The United Way of Windham County will focus its community grants on nonprofit programs that align with one or more of the target outcomes in Education, Income, or Health. To help Windham County nonprofits learn about the target outcomes, new online application, and the grant application review process, UWWC will be holding a series of information sessions.
The dates for these Grant Seeker Forums are Aug. 11, at 9:30 a.m., in Bellows Falls; and Aug. 22 at 2 p.m. in Brattleboro. Attendance is not mandatory, but organizations are strongly encouraged to attend. The next community grant deadline is Sept. 15 and eligibility information and a grant timeline can be found on the www.unitedwaywindham.org.
The community impact process of identifying community needs, investing resources, and evaluating United Way's impact is ongoing and will continue to involve individuals and organizations serving Windham County. For more information or to volunteer, contact UWWC Community Investment Director Sue Graff at 802-257-4011, ext. 113, or [email protected].