Welcome to the United Way of Aiken County for Thursday, March 11, 2010

Community Impact

About

On August 24, 2004, the United Way of Aiken County started to change. On that date, we rolled out our United Way of the future. Future funding will be accomplished by Community Care Councils instead of by responding to requests from each individual agency. Funding will be provided to address specific goals and objectives that address the needs of the community. The four Care Councils will be NURTURING OUR CITIZENS, PROMOTING HEALTH AND HEALING, ASSURING SELF-SUFFICIENCY OF OUR CITIZENS, and, PROVIDING ASSISTANCE IN CRISIS. Funding will be examined in a three to five year cycle. It will take that period to address the objectives and goals that have been developed. Reviews will be conducted early and often to see if corrective actions or adjustments need to be made.

We met numerous times with Agency Heads, their Boards, and others to discuss the process and the path forward. All of our member agencies fit in one or more of the Care Council areas. Agencies will be active participants. They won’t be able to vote on funding issues, however. While we would love for the process to be smooth sailing, that is not realistic. It is important that we stay the course and make modifications as necessary to meet the needs of the agencies and the United Way. There should be no impacts to the services themselves, we need to adjust the way we fund them. Also, duplicative services will be identified and eliminated. Now comes the hard part: implementing the change.

We will begin with PROMOTING HEALTH AND HEALING for the 2006 budget year. We have developed the job descriptions and procedures for the Care Councils and its leadership. We have hired a staff person to help lead us. We are following the goals and objectives announced in August as our first efforts.

The process will be as follows:

January – March 2005 Council formed and evaluates which goals to be pursued.
Once goals are established, a statement of work is prepared listing the goals (short-term and long-term) and the expected results (objectives). A Request for Proposal (RFP) is formalized.

April – June 2005 Agencies respond to the RFP.

July – August 2005 Final negotiations on goals and objectives.

September – October 2005 First RFP awarded.

December 2005 Conduct first progress review of goals and objectives by Care Council.

The main thing to keep in mind is that the United Way of Aiken County is changing to meet the needs and expectations of the community we serve. Many people have been asked what is important to them. They have spoken; we listened, and are now changing to meet what we heard.