$415K in expenses
Community impact - at united way of kenosha county (henceforth known as UWKC), we believe in the power of maximizing community impact by mobilizing the caring power of individuals and working in collaboration with local agency partners to make a critical difference in our community. We envision a kenosha county where all individuals are healthy, educated, and economically stable.UWKC impacts individuals and families in our local community by investing in a variety of local, state, and national united way initiatives, as well as various programs at our partner provider agencies. These combined efforts provide community solutions and deliver measurable results. UWKC is guided by groups of volunteers who are responsible for governance, overseeing operations and the annual community investment process. The key focus areas for UWKC, both locally and nationally, are education, financial stability, and health. UWKC addresses these areas in the following ways:educationhelping children and youth achieve their potentialgoals: children/youth improve academic achievement. Children/youth demonstrate positive engagement at school and in their community.education is the cornerstone of individual and community success. Strong, productive communities are dependent upon a skilled workforce that can compete in a global economy. According to the national center for education statistics, there were 2 million school dropouts between the ages of 16-24 nationwide in 2020. America, and kenosha county, face an education crisis. In kenosha county, two out of three third graders cannot read proficiently, which is an early indicator of ability to succeed in school. What is the cost of this alarming trend? The answer, more than $544 billion in lost wages, taxes and productivity over their lifetimes. These trends are reversible, but only when communities and public, private, and nonprofit sectors work together.UWKC works to achieve education goals by leading the following community initiatives:kenosha county youth as resources (yar)kenosha county youth as resources (yar) is a grant-giving program that funds youth-designed, youth-led community service projects. Youth, with guidance from adults, determine and prioritize the projects they believe will address a need in their community. Youth groups may apply to yar for small grants of up to $500, which may be used to purchase supplies for a project. The yar board invites youth groups to present their service project proposals directly to the board at three time per year for review meetings and then allocates funding after reviewing all applications.yar was developed out of a need - a need to make the youth of kenosha county feel more connected to their community. According to results from a 2010 search institute survey of kenosha county youth, only 27% feel that they are given useful roles in the community. An even lower 25% of youth feel that adults value them. Yar is a program of UWKC in partnership with university of wisconsin madison extension kenosha county.during the 2024-2025 program year, youth as resource, consisting of 8 high school members and three adult members, awarded $3,500 across 7 service projects read across kenosha: a community literacy eventread across kenosha: a community literacy event took place on thursday, march 6, 2025, in partnership with kenosha unified school district, bristol school district, riverview elementary, and salem school district, and in conjunction with the national "read across america" event. This year, 192 volunteers read with k-3rd grade classrooms. Books featured various authors and titles, guided by the national education association and kusd. Sponsorships and community donations helped provide children's books to each of the 200+ classrooms.readers are leaders tutoring programthe readers are leaders tutoring program is an early grade reading initiative that helps children build the critical reading skills needed to succeed in school and life. Through this tutoring program, UWKC recruits, trains, and places community volunteers in local schools. The tutor works one-on-one with kindergarten through third grade students during the school day to supplement the work they are doing in the classroom.during the 2024-2025 school year, the program was implemented in 6 kenosha unified school district elementary schools: grant, forest park, whittier, prairie lane, nash, and southport. Over 100 students received literacy support from 96 volunteer tutors. Since the program began, tutors have given over 10,000 hours to help children build critical skills for reading proficiency. Born learning trailschildren are constantly learning, right from birth. To help adults turn a simple park visit into an early learning opportunity, born learning trails offer multiple activity stations with fun, interactive learning games that parents, grandparents and caregivers can play with young children. The trails are an educational strategy to boost children's language and literacy skills a valuable community resource for early learning. Born learning trails are at columbus park, fox river park, and chavez learning station.additionally, through a volunteer-led review process, UWKC invests in programs such as: boys and girls club of kenosha youth empowerment program kenosha literacy council literacy for life adult literacy education program women and children's horizons children's services kenosha YMCA abilities in motion adaptive sportshealthimproving people's healthgoals: individuals demonstrate skills for healthy living. Individuals access health and safety resources.good health is both a community responsibility and a community benefit. It goes beyond personal diet, exercise, and many other individual choices we make. The foundation for a healthy life is in the neighborhoods we build and the environments we inhabit. When people have access to parks, bike paths, safe playgrounds, healthy foods, and good medical care, they are more likely to succeed in school, work, and life. UWKC is working to ensure everyone has access to affordable and quality care and partners with agencies to provide help to those without health insurance, a victim of abuse, or someone struggling with mental illness or an addiction.UWKC works to achieve health goals by leading the following community initiatives:health resources united way of kenosha county works in partnership with multiple community partners to share the resources available in our community: clinic information, flu information, mental health resources, environmental health services, suicide prevention, counseling services, affordable care ACT information and family and child health programs (prenatal care coordination, safe sleep, WIC, car seat safety). Additionally, through a volunteer-led review process, UWKC invests in programs such as: catholic charities behavioral health and counseling services kenosha area family & aging services' meals on wheels program the sharing center nutritional program women and children's horizons' legal advocacy kenosha YMCA healthy eating and active living hope council parenting time/supervised visit LGBT center of se wi kenosh lgbtq+ youth program kenosha area family & aging services volunteer transportation program
$86K in expenses
Community services and volunteerism - in addition to leading initiatives and supporting programs through the investment process, UWKC plays a role in ensuring that community members are also able to utilize their time and talents to make a difference. We do so in the following ways: volunteer convenor - UWKC is committed to helping kenosha county residents find alternative ways of giving in the community. UWKC utilizes volunteers throughout the organization and values and realizes how important the gift of time can be to any non-profit organization. To source and publicize volunteer opportunities, UWKC utilizes a web-based platform called volunteer wisconsin. Nonprofits, government organizations, schools, civic groups, and community coalitions post volunteer opportunities, in-kind needs, and upcoming events. It is a place where individuals, families, and corporate teams can easily search and find opportunities to utilize their individual talents and meet their interests while making a local impact. In addition to fostering year-round volunteerism through volunteer wisconsin, UWKC organizes several volunteer efforts throughout each year to help connect individuals and employees with the local community and local nonprofit organizations.days of caringcorporate partners or volunteer teams are connected with local nonprofit organizations to assist in volunteer opportunities that range from working with seniors, to painting or landscaping. In 2025, day of caring was a two-day event. Born learning trails were installed at fox river park and chavez learning station.days of action sensory playground projectsthis project brings community volunteers to kenosha county schools throughout the summer months to add both educational components and action stencils to promote physical activity. The stencils that volunteers paint inspire kids to learn and move while creating games around the stencils. Research finds that elementary school children spend more of their recess and activity time in active play when schoolyards are enhanced with playground markings. Similarly, to days of caring, days of action has not formally taken place since 2019. Schools, however, have been able to utilize available stencils as requested. Recently, forest park, roosevelt, and whittier schools have completed their sensory playgrounds.community services - UWKC is actively engaged with the kenosha emergency services network to stay up to date on the services available in the county and acts as a referral source to many needing help in our community. UWKC also funds impact, INC.'s 2-1-1 confidential helpline and online resource directory.community convener - one powerful thing about UWKC is the relationships with local businesses, education, faith and community-based organizations, philanthropic institutions, civic leaders, local government and institutions.
