Community Impact
Community building is the common thread woven through all of United Way's activities, including campaign allocations, children's initiatives, and volunteer center operations.
Our goal is to effectively and efficiently use community assets, establish full access to services, and promote collaborative approaches to community problem solving. We've spearheaded or participated in community building activities relating to: affordable housing, servant leadership development, children's issues, identifying and filling gaps in services, bringing minority and isolated ethnic groups into full membership and benefit in the community, providing low-cost or free transportation, creating full access to services and amenities, facilitating human service coordination/efficiency and providing human service leadership development and education.
Specific and current examples of our community building include:
- Convening discussions on impacting the growing, but isolated Hispanic and Asian populations in the community. As a result United Way's board approved three successive start up grants for the creation and support of a Hispanic Center.
- Initiating and now partnering with the local hospital to identify and respond to the service capacity deficits associated with services for a rapidly growing elderly population.
- Approved two successive annual start up grants to promote Communities in Schools in the Archdale- Trinity area.
Measuring Outcomes
We also build community by measuring program outcomes. Outcome measurement assures accountability for the investment of resources in agencies and their services. We guarantee contributions to United Way are changing lives and improving the quality of life in our community!
The value of measuring outcomes includes:
- Increase Effectiveness
- Improve program
- Identify effective practices
- Validate strengths
- Warn of weaknesses
- Create shared goals
- Communicate Value
- Clarify purpose
- Communicate results to investors (return on investment)
- Communicate results to consumers (build confidence)
- Communicate results to board and staff (build pride, motivation)