United Way research arm makes big impact
Imagine having a radar device that can track the community’s most dire social ills.
Every community has problems, hunger, homelessness, addiction, incarceration, but which ones are the worst? Which ones are emerging and which ones are improving?
That’s good information to have because people change, society changes and communities are evolving all the time. So, for the United Way of Central Oklahoma, social radar is essential to being a community safety net because the sooner they see a crisis, the sooner they can respond.
That is the role of a little-known function within the United Way called the Community Impact Department.
The department carries out its work in the shadow of the organization’s more prominent fundraising campaigns and agency partnerships, constantly tracking and reporting on the Oklahoma City metro area’s most pressing social concerns.
There are only a few United Ways in the nation with that type of in-house function, said Crystal Stuhr, vice president, strategies & community impact.
Stuhr leads an effort to monitor more than 190 social indicators to identify emerging breakdowns in the Oklahoma City area’s social health and well-being. Those sources include the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Oklahoma City County Health Department and the state Health Department.
Stuhr’s department serves as the organization’s community radar, calling attention to areas where there is the most need.
‘Collaborative community’
Longtime United Way board member and volunteer Lee Symcox said social problems are continually evolving, and funding decisions should follow those changes. That is why the organization’s community impact department is so important. The board uses the information to help determine where funding is needed most in any given year.
The entire community benefits, said Robert Clements, past chairman of the organization’s research and community initiatives committee.
“The not-for-profit community looks to the United Way to be a leader in researching the community,” he said. “To have this function inhouse helps the United Way fulfill that expectation.”
The organization does its research and publishes that information on its website for the community’s benefit, Clements said.
The department produces multiple updates, including Vital Signs, a biannual publication that calls attention to the community’s greatest social concerns. The United Way uses the publication to target specific social problems, then explain how they impact children, families and other key areas within the community.
Since 2010, Vital Signs has tackled a broad range of issues, such as human trafficking, community disaster preparedness, barriers created by poverty, abuse and neglect, mental health and substance abuse.
Its most recent issue published in December focuses on Oklahoma’s criminal justice system.
Along with its role as a community convener, the organization often serves as a subject matter expert to policy makers and other key stakeholders. That was the case several years ago when the United Way identified an emerging crisis involving the state’s high female incarceration rate and children left without mothers. The result was new legislation that opened the way for a new community initiative that has kept hundreds of mothers out of prison and home with their children.
United Way President and CEO Debby Hampton said she always considers Oklahoma City a big, “small town.”
“We are very much a collaborative community, and we know what everyone can do well,” she said.
That comes into play when the organization identifies gaps not covered by the community safety net. That’s when the United Way goes to work with community partners to stand up new initiatives.
There is a long list of examples, Stuhr said. The United Way was involved in the early development of Smart Start of Central Oklahoma, a program to prepare young children for school. It helped establish The Homeless Alliance, an organization dedicated to ending chronic homelessness.
The Latino Community Development Agency is another example. It was established through a United Way initiative in the early 1990s and has grown to become one of the United Way’s partner agencies.
“The strategic research being done by the United Way of Central Oklahoma truly is having a communitywide impact, and that’s something we take a lot of pride in,” Stuhr said.