United Way of Westmoreland County looks to make push into Fayette
The United Way of Westmoreland County (UWWC) is working to build a greater presence for the Fayette County community by placing additional focus on campaigns taking place in the greater Connellsville area. The move coincides with last year’s merger of United Way South Fayette (UWSF) with Westmoreland County’s unit.
“Now that we are one big United Way, we are still maintaining our name, we still have an office in Uniontown and will be working a lot more closely with the agencies and companies in Connellsville opposed to having someone come down from Greensburg,” said Sue Quinn.
According to Nancy Kuko-vich, UWWC president, the former United Way of Connells-ville merged with Westmoreland about 10 years ago because the board of directors was shrinking while the United Way of South Fayette took the same action last year for similar reasons.
The United Way of Westmoreland County is a nonprofit organization that invests its resources in efforts that solve critical community problems with measurable results covering most of Westmoreland, Fayette and portions of Armstrong counties.
Quinn said the United Way supports programs and services provided by 72 local United Way agencies in Westmoreland County and in 14 agencies in Fayette County.
Kukovich said in the past the South Fayette and Connellsville branches of the United Way operated independently with their own board of directors and similar campaigns.
While both are now part of the UWWC, Kukovich said the focus remains on keeping the money raised in each county separate from one another with the advantage of now having one audit.
“We want donors to realize that the money raised and allocated for a specific area remains there,” said Kukovich.
Currently, Ron Sheba, Fay-Penn Economic Development Council education and workforce development manager, and Ruth Walters, a retired Connellsville teacher, serve as Fayette County representatives to Westmoreland County’s board of directors.
The board is in the process of recruiting two additional members for Fayette.
To ensure that the funds raised are targeted toward the most effective agencies and services, a grant review team from UWWC met within the last year to establish grant targets for the South Fayette Area.
With the merger Quinn said Fayette and Westmoreland County human service providers will benefit from expanded resources to address critical needs, including a $20,000 annual grant issued through the Richard King Mellon Foundation for the next three years.
The grant was issued to the United Way’s Community Impact Fund serving the needs of South Fayette.
Kukovich said this year’s campaign, “Live United” taken from the national theme will wrap up in mid-January and hopes to exceed last year’s figure of $100,000.
“That was a milestone for us,” said Quinn.
According to Kukovich, UWSF plans to distribute $70,000 per year over the course of the next funding cycle from 2011-2014 up from $50,000 over the 2008-2011 cycle.
The funding amounts of $36,400 to neighborhoods and communities, $18,900 to children and youth programs and $14,700 to programs for vulnerable and aging citizens.
The UWWC serves over 80,000 people through partnerships in three targeted areas, helping children and youth succeed, building strong neighborhoods and communities and supporting vulnerable and aging populations.
For more information, call the Uniontown office at 724-438-2917 or go to the website www.unitedwayofsouthfayette.org or www.unitedway4U.org.