BECAUSE OF YOU, OUR IMPACT IS GROWING!
Welcome to United Way of North Central Ohio’s Community Campaign!
Thank you for your interest in the 2024-2025 United Way of North Central Ohio Community Campaign. As you consider making a donation, we’d like to share some information about United Way of North Central Ohio and the 2024 Community Impact Projects & Programs made possible by your gift.
The donation form will allow you to designate your donation for use in one of the five counties we serve – Crawford, Marion, Morrow & Wyandot counties and Tiffin-Seneca United Way – as well as designate your donation for a particular Bold Goal impact area.
Dear North Central Ohio Community Member:
THANKS TO YOU OUR IMPACT IS GROWING!
Wow! What an amazing campaign year we’ve had at United Way of North Central Ohio! Thanks to the generosity of residential and workplace donors from across the region, we exceeded our annual campaign goal and established a designated Community Response Fund to help in the event of local emergencies and natural disasters.
We’ve also done some growing! A realignment of Ohio United Way agencies brought Morrow County into our region, and a merger with our consultancy partners at Tiffin-Seneca United Way became official on July 1. UWNCO now covers 2100+ square miles with projects and programs funded through your donations benefiting a population of 210,000. We are fully staffed, with offices in Marion and Tiffin, and each of the counties we serve is supported by a development director.
A NEW CAMPAIGN AMID GROWING NEED
Our 2024-2025 Community Campaign is officially underway, and we are counting on the continued generosity of our communities for help funding the Bold Goal projects and programs working to fill Crawford, Marion, Morrow, and Wyandot counties and Tiffin-Seneca United Way with successful children, healthy families, and self-sufficient residents.
While our organization has been growing, so has the need in our community. 40% of households in our region are living below the federal poverty level or as ALICE (Asset-Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed) families. ALICE families are working but not earning enough to keep up with the rising cost of living and have little or no savings for emergencies.
Your donation funds programs that offer immediate support to these struggling families, like food, emergency shelter, and utility assistance. Our commitment to a collective impact framework and RBA (Results-Based Accountability) means that you are also helping fund and facilitate collaborative partnerships that are working to resolve the root causes of need in our community and help set ALICE families on a path to self-sufficiency.
UWNCO-facilitated coalitions are working to remove barriers to employment for local families by finding affordable child care solutions and reliable transportation, cleaning up blighted neighborhoods and developing safe and affordable housing options, and providing financial literacy and employment counseling.
We hope you consider supporting your community with a gift to United Way and urge you to advocate for #BoldGoal impact by sharing our mission with family and friends. Together we can make real change in the lives of real families in north central Ohio. #LiveUnited.
Amber Wertman
Chief Executive Officer
amber@unitedwaynco.org
Angie Voll
Chief Development Officer
Development Director for Marion & Morrow
angie@unitedwaynco.org
Carmon Walter
Development Director for
Crawford & Wyandot
carmon@unitedwaynco.org
Nikki Distel
Development Director for
Tiffin-Seneca United Way
nikki@tsunitedway.org
THREE BOLD GOALS
All of the programs and initiatives funded by your donations to UWNCO support one or more of our Bold Goals, working to fill the community with Successful Children, Healthy Families, and Self-Sufficient Residents.
Bold Goal 1. SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN. Long-term solutions to the challenges our community faces begin with supporting children. Our number one Bold Goal at UWNCO is a community filled with successful children. Your donations fund programs working to improve early childhood literacy rates, providing positive mentorship opportunities, and increasing rates of kindergarten readiness and high school graduation.
BOLD GOAL2. HEALTHY FAMILIES. Healthy communities are successful communities. Every person in our region deserves a safe, warm place to live, dependable access to nutritious food and necessities, and healthcare for mind and body. Your gifts support programs working for safe and affordable housing, increased quality of life, and vibrant neighborhoods for our community.
BOLD GOAL3. SELF-SUFFICIENT RESIDENTS. Families and individuals in our community face financial obstacles every day. Our Community Campaign funds programs working to put every person in our community on the path toward financial empowerment and self-sufficiency, starting with access to services, job training, and credit counseling and money management programs.
60+ PROJECTS, PROGRAMS, & COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
Your gift to United Way of North Central Ohio is combined with donations from other generous residents and helps fund Bold Goal programs in Crawford, Marion, Morrow, and Wyandot counties and Tiffin-Seneca United Way.
Donations will also help facilitate and fund collaborative initiatives working to find solutions to regional challenges in housing, transportation, childcare, and more. In addition to our funded community impact partners, we distribute emergency funding to local non-profits throughout the funding year and offer one-time sponsorship of community projects with Bold Goal impact.
With your help, we are tackling the biggest systemic challenges in our region and building a community filled with successful children, healthy families, and self-sufficient residents.
BOLDGOAL1: SUCCESSFUL CHILDREN.
OHCAC Weekend Backpack Program • Bucyrus Backpack Program LLC • Flying Horse Farms Camper Programming • Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio • Boys & Girls Club Formula for Impact • Girl Scouts of North East Ohio • Marion Voices in the Schools • BPL Music, Movement, & More • ROX (Ruling Our Experiences) • Patchworks House • Black Swamp Area Council Boy Scouts • Camp Fire Sandusky County • Marion Microfarm Project • Seneca County 4-H Youth Development • Explore-It-Torium • YMCA Tiffin Backpack Food Program • YMCA Bucyrus 4th Grade Swim • SMYL (Seneca Mentoring Youth Links) • The Tomorrow Center • Tiffin-Seneca Child Care Center • Wyandot Community Connections • Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring • YWCA Family Learning Labs • Let’s Read 20 • Esther’s Dream • Galion Community Theatre Youth Productions • Imagination Library
BOLDGOAL2: HEALTHY FAMILIES
Bucyrus Backpack Program LLC • Turning Point • CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) • Crawford County Arts Center Patronage Program • Morrow County 2-1-1 • American Red Cross Disaster Response Services & Home Fire Preparedness • OHCAC Weekend Backpack Program • Financial Assistance for Cancer Treatment (FACT) • CCSG Food Pantry & Emergency Utility Assistance & Co-Pay Prescription Assistance • Heart of Ohio Homeless Shelter • YMCA Tiffin Backpack Food Program • CCCOA Home Delivered and Congregate Meals • Tiffin-Seneca 2-1-1 • Marion Victim Assistance Program • Marion Voices in the Schools • LifeCare Alliance Meals-on-Wheels and Congregate Meals Program • Big Walnut Joint Fire District Project SAFE • Allen Eiry Senior Center • Mobile Meals of Marion County • NAMI Marion & Crawford • Peace and Freedom Committee • North Central Area Transportation • RSVP (Retired & Senior Volunteer Program) • Patchworks House • Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio • Safety City of Marion, Ohio • Grace Clinic Marion • First Step • Sisters in Shelter • Open Door Resource Center • Tiffin-Seneca Child Care Center • Transformation Life Center • Let’s Read 20 • Marion Microfarm Project • MTC Student Emergency Fund • Tiffin Salvation Army • FISH of Tiffin • Marion County Child Care Coalition • Community Health Improvement Plan • 2-1-1 Pathways • Caledonia Farmers Market • New Washington Community Food Pantry
BOLDGOAL3: SELF-SUFFICIENT RESIDENTS
Getting Ahead Navigation • North Central Area Transportation • Marion Microfarm Project • MTC Student Emergency Fund • Marion County Transportation Coalition • Crawford County Transportation Coalition • Pay It Forward Project • Marion Housing Coalition • Marion County Child Care Coalition • Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio
Your donor dollars at work.
This series of short videos offer a glimpse into the Bold Goal impact our funded projects and programs are having across the community.
“Doug and Chris have been paired as mentor/mentee for five+ years and feel like family. They decided together to add mentee Gavin to their threesome and they’ve enjoyed sports matches, truck rallies, and music shows – all paid for through the mentoring program. After seeing how transformative the match relationship has been for her husband, Doug’s wife signed up and has just been matched with her own mentee!”
“A former client who self-identified as having issues with substance abuse and addiction was one of the keynote speakers at our annual meeting. He related how an Open Door staffer encouraged him to go to a treatment facility and then helped him research his options and pick out a center. He is currently 18 months sober and has been able to find full-time employment that gives him the flexibility he needs to continue on his recovery from addiction.”
“Before Marion Matters, I worked to get by and savings were sparse. Since taking the Getting Ahead classes and making an inventory of my life goals, the results have been phenomenal. I paid off two credit cards and have only two payments left on a third. I doubled up car payments and only have two months left. I have three months of bill money in savings and have been able to invest in CDs. I’ve been able to take my grandchildren on vacations. This success is a direct result of the tools from the Marion Matters classes.”
“Annabelle speaks no English. She was transported to Ohio by her abuser, where ongoing emotional and financial abuse progressed to physical violence. Someone from her church brought Annabelle to Turning Point, where translators and advocates were able to create a plan to ensure her immediate safety while working to get her home to her family.”
