 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
John's Story Help for a Grandpa who rescued his two grandsons ... MORE |
 |
 |
|
Community Vision Council |
Strong Families = Successful Children |
Senior Success
Learning and Earning for Life | Health and Caring for All | United Way Program Search | Indicators Project Outcome Measurement | Vision Council Forum | What Your Donation Buys
How United Way Investment Clusters are Organized, Second in a Series Within the different investment committees are sub-categories under which individual programs and specific initiatives fall, which are called clusters. For Strong Families=Successful Children, there are four clusters: Youth Development; Child and Family Services; Basic Needs, and the largest of the four, Mental Health Counseling. Over 85,000 children or families received assistance last year through United Way funded programs, with most of those programs falling under the Strong Families=Successful Children investment committee. Mental Health Services United Way has always been a volunteer led organization. Donors, community leaders and experts lead the allocation and oversight efforts of the various investment committees. In the case of Mental Health Counseling cluster the co-chairs are Marcia Levine, a community volunteer, and Joan Osborne of Ernst and Young. The mental health counseling cluster supports a total of 17 programs with an annual distribution of over $4.5 million dollars last year. Among the goals of the supported programs are the early intervention and treatment of mental illness; treatment for youth and young adults; counseling; support for outpatient and psychiatric day treatment and sexual assault counseling. "I was particularly touched by the work of the Rape Crisis Center, where they provide free and confidential support, counseling, education for rape survivors and those supportive of them" says Ms. Osborne who also observes that "The work they do is so necessary… where would young women go to learn about rape prevention? Who would counsel those who have had this experience… and what would the center do without the support of United Way? We play such an important role in our proactive support of these kinds of programs." And yet the needs of programs are ever increasing, with Rape Crisis seeing a 20 percent increase in demand for their services over the past five years. Another example of a United Way mental health partner agency is Beech Brook which provides early intervention services to preschoolers and their families facing social/emotional challenges. Last year they screened 205 at-risk children and provided intensive services to 43. By preventing developmental problems and helping children and their families avoid much more severe problems later, United Way yet again made a difference in our community and in the lives of individuals. For a complete listing of the over 175 United Way programs and 130 agencies which administer them, please go to www.uws.org/community/programs.asp. Link to How United Way Cares, First in a Series: An Overview Link to How United Way Cares, Third in a Series: Health and caring for all Link to How United Way Cares, Fourth in a Series: Learning and earning for life Link to How United Way Cares, Fifth in a Series: Senior success Link to How United Way Cares, Sixth in a Series: Capacity building |
|