Geauga board OKs $933,000 to nonprofit partners

The United Way Services of Geauga County board last week approved an allocation of $933,270 to benefit local nonprofit partners.

The funding decisions reflect a change from past grants, according to Board Chair April Siegel-Green.

“Our board of directors felt strongly that we could not continue funding multiple strategies, helping families in multiple ways — that we had to become focused on one issue,” she said. “Helping individuals and families achieve self-sufficiency is our focus.”

While one of the most affluent

counties in Ohio, according the Ohio United Way ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Project, 25 percent of households are struggling in poverty or with an income that falls below the standard of living for Geauga County. The funding strategy focuses on building program capacity, identifying opportunities for collaboration and developing solutions.

A competitive grant process occurred between March and May this year where nonprofit organizations were invited to apply for funding to support services addressing individual and family needs in the county.

“It was an exciting time for us as an agency as 19 board members, community volunteers and donors contributed over 330 hours towards reading and scoring the grant proposals as well as interviewing applicant agencies,” said Executive Director Kimm Leininger.

The board’s approval of grants was based on the reviewers’ scores, interviews of agencies, appropriateness of fit of agency/program in helping households toward self-sufficiency, confidence in agency/program data collection and available funding resources.

Organizations approved for funding are:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Ohio

• Catholic Charities Community Services of Geauga County • DDC Clinic • Family Pride of Northeast Ohio

• Lake County Free Clinic

• Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers Inc.

• Next Step (a program of Family & Community Services, Inc.)

• Ravenwood Mental Health Center • Two Foundation • WomenSafe, Inc. All funded partners will be assessing program participants on a self-sufficiency matrix, a United Way news released stated. The matrix is a pointin-time indication as to how adequately an individual has access to income, employment, shelter, food, transportation,

childcare, adult education and health care.

Programs specifically offering services in mental health and substance abuse will also assess those areas. Collected data will be used to identify programs or services that could address common needs having an impact across the county.

“We have always convened groups around specific community needs to identify solutions,” Leininger said. “However, for the first time, we will have a common measurable reported by all programs. We are transitioning from agencies reporting on a variety of success indicators to all reporting the same data, using the same tool.”

The total allocated amount includes the agencies funded through the grant process, the Youth Fund Distribution Committee as well as signature programs that the Geauga United Way manages in partnership with others in the community. Youth Fund Distribution Committee invites high school youth to participate in a similar grant process distributing $20,000 to programs serving children and young adults.

Signature programs include the Aging and Disability Resource Center, 2-1-1, Bridges@Work, home delivered meals for individuals under the age of 60, and the Geauga Reentry Program serving the Geauga County Safety Center.

Bridges@Work, developed with Geauga Growth Partnership, was designed to help address personal life issues that get in the way of an employee’s ability to be productive and/or focused at work.

Launched in 2015, Bridges@Work recently received national recognition as the selected host of a Financial Wellness at Work Training Institute. Thirty-four individuals from 12 states visited Geauga County in May to learn about this model of bringing community resources onsite to companies.

“We are honored to work with our partners in the community to help improve lives and collaborate on long-term solutions that help families achieve self-sufficiency,” Siegel-Green said.