Organizations designed to help the public in recent months have seen their resources and donations dwindle, but the Butler County United Way is doing its part to make sure community needs are met, officials said.
Nearly three dozen organizations and agencies around Butler County will see an influx of cash amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Butler County United Way will invest more than $638,000 into programming in communities throughout the county, which is a consistent amount it donated to organizations last year, said Butler County United Way Vice President of Community Impact Krystal Tipton.
“We want to make sure we are allocating funds to the appropriate programs that help in the areas of education, financial stability and health, and offer the stability that’s needed in the community,” she said.
COVID-19 has impacted the budgets of many community organizations. Fundraisers have been either canceled or delayed and donations have trickled.
The Butler County United Way and several organizations started a Regional Response Fund to the pandemic. In April, the Journal-News other partner organizations to the response fund included Greater Cincinnati Foundation, First Financial Bank, Hamilton Community Foundation, Meijer and Truist Foundation.
“This is a time we follow our tag line of how you Live United,” Tipton said. “We’ve all come together, pooled our resources together to make sure we can allocate whatever is needed during this critical and most unprecedented time.”
Various committees helped guide the United Way to its decision on funding which programs based on submitted proposals, according to the organization.
Funding will be allocated over the next fiscal year. Programs receiving support fall into one of three focus areas: education, financial stability and healthy lives.
In addition to the monetary awards, the Butler County United Way that nearly $1.2 million worth of goods and services, including volunteer work hours, were donated by community members, local agencies, organizations and companies. The amount of donated goods and services actually increased over last year, Tipton said. Donated items include hygiene, and baby care kits, community gardens, cooking classes, and Christmas care packages.
“There are plenty of people in need of these items so this year there was a higher request for providing (personal hygiene products), and we were able to make sure we got them to the most appropriate places that needed them the most,” Tipton said.
Between the cash support and the donated and in-kind services, the total impact to the county is nearly $2 million.
There are 11 educational programs serving children and adults that will split more than $280,000, seven programs will collectively receiving more than $126,000 to supporting financial stability and $141,000 will be divided among 12 programs that focus on healthy lives.
There are also four special collaborations that received part of $91,000 in funding for multiple programs supporting the United Way’s three pillars of education, financial stability and healthy lives. They include:
- Booker T. Washington Community Center Collaboration received $32,000 in funding through the lead agency, Great Miami Valley YMCA, as well as other partners including Boys & Girls Club of Hamilton, the city of Hamilton, The Fitton Center for Creative Arts, and Miami University Hamilton and Oxford Campuses.
- Home Visitation Collaboration received $30,000 in funding through the lead agency, Every Child Succeeds, along with partner agencies Butler County Educational Service Center and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
- Parent Project Collaboration received $28,000 in funding through the lead agency, Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio in collaboration with Butler County Family and Children First Council and Butler County Juvenile Justice Center/Juvenile Court. Other partner agencies include Fairfield City School District, Hamilton City School District, Madison Local School District, Middletown City Schools, Talawanda School District and Miami University.
- Talawanda School District received $1,000 in funding through the lead agency The Coalition for a Healthy Community – Oxford Area in support of the ‘Building a Healthier Community’ program.
“As we go forward there are still uncertain times ahead, but as we look forward, we want to make sure we are mobilizing resources, and we understand that there are families and individuals that need access to a lot of critical things,” Tipton said.
2020-21 BUTLER COUNTY UNITED WAY DONATIONS
Listed are the programs receiving funding from the Butler County United Way during its 2020-21 fiscal year:
The following 11 educational programs serving children and adults will split more than $280,000:
- 4C for Children, Advancing to High Quality
- Axis Teen Centers, Edge Teen Center, Academic Success
- Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Butler County, One-to-One Mentoring
- Boys & Girls Club of Hamilton, After School and Summer Youth Development
- Boys & Girls Club of West Chester/Liberty, Power Hour
- Envision Partnerships, Project Success
- Fitton Center for Creative Arts, Community Outreach
- Hamilton Living Water Ministry, Inc., Building Success - Children and Youth Programs
- Lifespan, Inc., School-Based Support Services
- PARACHUTE: Butler County CASA, CASA Advocacy: A Voice for Abused Children
- Shared Harvest Foodbank, BackPack Program
The following seven financial-support programs will divide more than $126,000:
- American Red Cross Ohio River Valley, Disaster Emergency Services and Preparedness Programs
- Family Promise of Butler County, Inc., Service Coordination for Diversion
- Hope House Rescue Mission, Inc., Emergency Shelter
- Talawanda Oxford Pantry and Social Services, Food Pantry
- Oxford Family Resource Center, Emergency Assistance Funds
- Shared Harvest Foodbank, Comprehensive Hunger Relief Program
- YWCA of Hamilton, Dove House
The following 12 healthy living programs will split $141,000:
- Butler County Special Olympics, Butler County Special Olympics
- Cancer Family Care, Center for Individual and Family Counseling
- Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio, Comprehensive Behavioral Health Care
- Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Vision Rehabilitation Services
- Fairfield Prevention Coalition, Youth Wellbeing and Resilience
- Oxford Senior Citizens, Inc., Adult Day Services
- Oxford Senior Citizens, Inc., Outreach Services
- Oxford Senior Citizens, Inc., Recreation and Wellness
- Oxford Senior Citizens, Inc., Senior and Medical Transportation
- Primary Health Solutions, Access to Integrated Dental Care
- Sojourner Recovery Services, Perinatal Program
- Women Helping Women, Butler County Rape Crisis and Prevention Services
SOURCE: Butler County United Way
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