United Way celebrates successful programs

Sep. 5—OXFORD — Year-round fundraising instead of a single high-profile campaign.

A focus on "outcomes" rather than a burst of solicitations.

And no graphical representations of how the fundraising campaign is progressing.

Those are a few of the changes the United Way of East Central Alabama has incorporated in recent years in its effort to get money out to 17 agencies in Calhoun County and 10 in Randolph County.

Angie McVeigh, resource development director for the nonprofit, said the change has been implemented across the entire United Way structure in recent years, in part prompted by societal COVID changes but also as a reflection of what ordinary givers respond to.

"Typical workplace campaigns are going down," she said, "and we're finding that trend to be accurate here. COVID really did a number on some companies."

Instead of a few months of an intensely publicized campaign, United Way tries to reach out in what McVeigh calls "a year-round process."

That means some familiar markers of the campaign have gone by the wayside. For example, said Shannon Jenkins, the local United Way's president and CEO, fundraising officials haven't used the traditional thermometer as a guide for its progress for a number of years.

"The reason we haven't used that symbol is we really do not want the focus to be on the dollar so much as the results," Jenkins said. "When we focus so much on a fundraising goal it makes our work about that and our work is about so much more. We appreciate every single dollar and every dollar is put to work for a good outcome. Our focus is on the outcomes."

That means, McVeigh said, when partner agencies share stories of how United Way has helped them, those stories can be relayed to potential donors to show how their contributions benefit others.

"We can show how many students have been helped in our schools," McVeigh said.

The yearly campaigns remain important — fundraising efforts concentrated in August through December helps agencies whose fiscal years begin in October, McVeigh said.

But overall, the fundraising campaign has transitioned from the traditional fall campaign to year-round, thereby creating a more diverse revenue stream.

"We still raise about $900,000 a year in our campaign and those are dollars we need and we need the community to support us to provide all of the infrastructure to support our community partners because that is how they are funded as well," Jenkins said. "It takes it all to do this work."

Jenkins told a packed Oxford Civic Center recently the community support has been and remains strong and is "united in purpose."

Jenkins' remarks were part of the annual kickoff luncheon highlighted with the presentation of its top service award to Maudine Holloway and the announcement land has been secured for the construction of the Martha Vandervoort Center To End Homelessness in Anniston.

Prior to his year in review, board chairman Jacki Lowry spoke of how the United Way has morphed into a better and larger organization of service for the area.

"Over the last several years, United Way has become a whole new organization than what we knew pre-COVID," Lowry said. "We have been working very hard in expanding what United Way does in our communities and truly embracing the regional organization that we are."

"While we have expanded and changed, the mission of the United Way has always stayed the same — mobilizing the caring power of our communities to affect positive change," she said. "That is exactly what our staff and the board has done."

Jenkins said he is proud of the results the programs of the United Way have shown.

"We do a lot," Jenkins said. "We are connectors, funders, grant writers, fundraisers, excellent financial stewards, problem solvers, case managers, cheerleaders and sometimes burden bearers for those in need. My favorite title for us is 'givers of hope'."

"Many of our programs have the word 'hope' as part of their name and there is a reason for that," he said.

Jenkins reported since January, the 2-1-1 information line has received 1,854 calls for assistance and made 2,025 connections for housing, utilities, clothing and essential needs assistance.

During the 2023 tax filing season, the VITA tax sites provided free tax return service to 1,509 low-income households who received a total of $1.4 million in refunds.

The Helping Families Initiative provides a holistic approach to solving the chronic absenteeism issue.

During the 2022-23 school year, it worked with 4,504 students and made 456 referrals for assistance for essential needs including health and mental health needs.

"This was our first year in Oxford City Schools and I am proud to say they saw a 35.4 percent reduction in chronic absenteeism," Jenkins said.

Jenkins said there are currently 4,045 children receiving free books through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library program.

"That means we are delivering 48,504 free books across our region annually to our youngest residents ages 5 and below," he said.

Jenkins said through its partnership with the city of Anniston and Anniston First United Methodist Church, they have served 172 at its warming station and have served 100 in the cooling station.

The Workforce Connections program provides connections to careers and secondary education.

"In the past year through a special grant, our workforce students earned a combined $16,375 in incentives for obtaining their high school diplomas, participating in job shadowing and internships and earning certifications," he said. "The outcomes of this program are truly transformative."

More information about the services offered by the United Way of East Central Alabama and how to help can be obtained by dialing 2-1-1, visiting the website at www.uweca.org or calling 256-236-8229.

— With reporting from Bill Edwards of The Anniston Star

Staff Writer Brian Graves: 256-236-1551.