News

United Way of Scott County Indiana is pleased to announce that it has been approved to receive a $150,000.00 COVID-19 Economic Relief Initiative Grant, made possible through a partnership between Lilly Endowment, Inc. and Indiana United Ways, the state professional association of which United Way of Scott County Indiana is a member. These special funds will be used to boost the efforts on the frontlines of the Covid-19 pandemic.

United Way of Scott County Indiana has been a key convener and coordinator of our community’s response to meet human needs for decades. Without a robust local safety net, those in need are bound to become even more dire. “Thanks to generous support from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., we are now more strongly positioned to help our community deal with the immediate and long term impact of Covid-19,” said Michelle Matern, Board Chair for United Way of Scott County, IN.

The COVID-19 Economic Relief Initiative Grant calls for United Ways that receive funding to leverage partnerships and relationships to better meet Covid-related essential and basic needs, and to address other Covid-19 critical issues as they emerge. United Way of Scott County plans to provide details about timeframe and process to distribute funds. United Way of Scott County IN will begin accepting funding requests 5/20/2020.

Interested organizations should consult Nancy Riley, Executive Director at nancy.unitedway.scottco@gmail.com or call 812-752-2586 for guidance on funding intent and application instructions.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THANK YOU FOR LIVING UNITED!!!!

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic foundation supporting the causes of religion, education and community development focusing its work in Indianapolis and the State of Indiana. For more information, contact Judith Cebula, Communications Director at communications@lei.org.

Indiana United Ways is the state association for United Ways in Indiana that supports thriving United Ways through capacity building, shared services, and partnering. For more information, contact Maureen Noe, President & CEO at Maureen.noe@iuw.org.

Everyone deserves opportunities to have a good life: a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health.

That’s why United Way’s work is focused on the building blocks for a good life:

• Education – Helping Children and Youth Achieve Their Potential
• Income – Promoting Financial Stability and Independence
• Health – Improving People’s Health

Advancing the common good is less about helping one person at a time and more about changing systems to help all of us. We are all connected and interdependent. We all win when a child succeeds in school, when families are financially stable, when people are healthy.

United Way’s goal is to create long-lasting changes by addressing the underlying causes of these problems. Living united means being a part of the change. It takes everyone in the community working together to create a brighter future. Give. Advocate. Volunteer. LIVE UNITED

The organization has roots in Denver, Colorado, where in 1887 Frances Wisebart Jacobs, along with other religious leaders, began the Charity Organization Society, which coordinated services between Jewish and Christian charities and fundraising for 22 agencies.^[2] Many Community Chest organizations, which were founded in the first half of the twentieth century to jointly collect and allocate money, joined the American Association for Community Organizations in 1918. The first Community Chest was founded in 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio,^[3] after the example of the Jewish Federation in Cleveland—which served as an exemplary model for "federated giving". The number of Community Chest organizations increased from 39 to 353 between 1919 and 1929 and surpassed 1,000 by 1948. In 1948, Walter C. Laidlaw merged the Community Chest and other Detroit charities to form the United Foundation.^[4] Walter Laidlaw's work with the United Foundation became the model for united funds nationally and eventually the United Way organization.

In 1928, a Community Chest organization was established in Cape Town, South Africa. (In 2015, continued neglect by United Way Worldwide, including legal and financial scandals, has led to no active United Way presence in the country and completely severed ties with Community Chest). By 1974, there were enough United Way organizations internationally to demand the kind of support provided by the national organization, United Way of America and United Way International was born (later these organizations were joined together and renamed to United Way Worldwide). Its staff spoke eight languages, with a Board of Directors from more than seven countries, working with member organizations. Amundsen, Chief Administrative Officer, served as interim president during a yearlong search.

By 1963, and after several name changes, the term United Way was adopted, but not everyone chose to use it. After Walter C. Laidlaw fell ill, William Aramony became CEO of the national governing body known as the United Community Funds and Council of America (UCFCA) and in 1970 the organization was renamed United Way of America (UWA). It moved from New York City to Alexandria, Virginia in 1971.

In May 2009, United Way of America and United Way International were integrated as one global entity, United Way Worldwide.