United Way of Greater Union County Approaching Agenda for Community Impact

In May 2012, United Way of Greater Union County (UWGUC), in collaboration with The Institute of Families at Rutgers School of Social Work, updated its 2007 Community Needs Assessment based on the 2010 U.S. Census.  In its collected data, UWGUC and Rutgers identified the following towns: Elizabeth, Hillside, Linden, Plainfield, Rahway, Roselle, Roselle Park, Summit (block groups near Overlook Hospital) and Union, as communities of concern. Facts from the data have helped to conclude that the nine communities are lacking the needed services and resources that impact lasting change to help individuals and families in those areas achieve success.

UWGUC’s mission is to ensure that health and human service needs of residents in Greater Union County are addressed by advancing the areas of education, income and health. In approaching the era of community impact, UWGUC has developed strategy focused on leveraging strategic partnerships and resources.  In the past, UWGUC looked at community impact through the filter of outcomes achieved by funded agency programs.  UWGUC’s new vision focuses on strategic alignment and will look at agencies through the filter of both direct impact and community impact. 

The community impact approach differs from the traditional direct allocation approach because it focuses on creating lasting changes to community conditions through collaboration. The new model will focus on mobilizing diverse resources and partnerships that go beyond the dollars pledged through the annual campaign.  UWGUC has decided to prioritize funding, on a multi-year level, to provide human services that unify the organizations theme of family strengthening – “building stronger families and stronger communities.”  UWGUC’s partners include non-profit and human service agencies, schools, local government, policy makers, businesses, faith based organizations and others.

In preparation for the new funding cycle, that will be from 2012-2015, UWGUC’s adaptation of a “collective impact,” will help the organization and its partners in being successful. The goals of “collective impact,” aligns and leads toward powerful results that: set a common agenda, share measurement systems, mutually reinforces activities and develops stronger communication systems to attain the common goal of improving the quality of life for all in Greater Union County.