United Way Visit

Two directors from United Way of the River Cities presented the new direction of United Way to Marshall University’s journalism 201 class.

Burnis Morris, Carter G. Woodson Professor, invited Laura Gilliam, the executive director of United Way, and Cassey Bowden, director of resource development and marketing, to Marshall University on Tuesday, Sept. 28. The two women said that their main focus is to go beyond just raising money; they want to specialize on specific areas of improvement. The 12 students of the Journalism class actively asked questions on the topic and the women provided a great amount of information.

United Way of the River Cities is a non-profit organization that aims to better the local community by joining with other non-profit organizations, raising money, and hosting local events. United Way has been active in the community since 1922.

“The initial intent and what we got really good at was going into businesses in the community and asking for money on behalf of these (non-profit) organizations…the hallmark of United Way’s work is the workplace campaign. Since 1922 we’ve put millions of dollars back into this area and we still are seeing the same problems,” Gilliam said.

The money United Way has put into the community is for safety-net services, she said. These services provide people with food, shelter, medication and other basic needs. She said she wants to be able to help people before they reach this crisis point; she wants people to feel secure by helping them obtain employment and the skills that they need to provide for themselves.

In early 2000 United Way participated in Community Needs Assessment. United Way partnered with other organizations to poll service providers, residents and people who are recipients of services to find out what the major problems in the community are, Gilliam said. The results of the survey led United Way to the decision to focus on four major areas of improvement in the community: learning and earning, health and wellness, families and children and basic needs and unforeseen hardships.

Learning and earning, for example, focuses on critical issues such as adults who don’t have basic skills to gain employment. Before these people lose their independence or end up on the street, United Way wants to help them gain the skills they need to live securely.

            One of the ways United Way has begun the shift from fundraising to community improvement is a survey the substance abuse prevention partnership conducted. She said the survey was about community awareness of substance abuse that was ranked one to 10, one being in denial of abuse and 10 being active and assertive to fix the problem.

“Cabell County was at a two. One of the things they (substance abuse prevention partnership) have done is raise the awareness and readiness of the community. Last year when they did the assessment it was up to a five,” she said.

Although United Way seeks to improve life in the community by new means, the fundraising events and monetary donations still impact the work. United Way Worldwide is practicing a one-on-one fundraising strategy she said. An individual relationship with the donor is becoming more popular. She said United Way can find out what each individual’s passion is and give them opportunities to invest in the work.

United Way hopes to raise $1.25 million and increase their donor base by 15 percent as their goal this year, Bowden said.

“The gift truly doesn’t matter; obviously we would love to see everyone come forth with $10,000, but the reality is if we all give a little it will come together to be a lot,” she said.

She said they would rather people focus on their goals in community work as opposed to the dollar amount.

“Our work is in community outcome and community change; our goal is to move away from band-aid fixes and to lasting changes in the community,” Bowden said.