Our Antwerp Chamber of Commerce spotlight for March is the United Way of Paulding County, located at 101 E. Perry Street in Paulding, Ohio. Lora Lyons is the executive director of the local United Way.
In 1992 a group of individuals saw a need in the county to pool resources to help improve the lives of people within the county. The United Way works to bring organizations and businesses together to strengthen the community. In fact, the mission of the United Way is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of the community. The United Way also looks for needs within the community and helps to bring resources into the county that can help cover those needs.
The United Way has been around the county for 30 years. They are a 501c3 non-profit pass-through organization. Businesses have the opportunity to donate to the United Way and can designate which non-profit organization they want the funds to go to. As a 501c3, all donations are tax deductible.
The United Way is best known for providing grants that help with education, health and financial stability. The staff is also known for volunteering within the community. What sets them aside from other organizations like them is that they attempt to cross barriers and work with multiple organizations. We are here to lift others up and help them achieve their goals. Currently we sit on multiple boards and committees to help us stay informed on where the county’s needs are. Some of those boards are: Family and Children First Council, Northwest Ohio Children Trust Fund, Northwest Ohio Homeless Committee, Habitat for Humanity of Paulding County, Paulding County Hospital Foundation, Kiwanis of Paulding County, and several local Chamber of Commerce, including our beloved Antwerp Chamber!
If someone is looking to donate, they should choose the United Way because they work with a lot of organizations and try to stay as connected as possible so when people need help, they know where to send them. They try best to support organizations and grant funds to programs that support our core values.
Lora feels that people continue to support the efforts of the United Way because of the commitment and dedication to community that people see when they think of the United Way. The United Way of Paulding County is comprised of local residents who specialize in health, education and financial stability. They want nothing but the best for the residents of this community.
The biggest misconception about the United Ways is how they are structured. United Ways are specific to their individual county and that county’s needs. Our boards are governed by local community members and the board member’s specialities are often the focus of the organization, including health, education and financial stability. They function with a very small staff to minimize costs as their primary goal is to raise money to provide for grants to local organizations. The United Way does not provide funds to individuals.
Lora is most passionate about her job because she feels deeply in investing in the community and its people. One little known fact about the United Way is that the worldwide organization was actually developed in 1887.
97% of all funds donated to our United Way stay within the county. Last year’s funds ($33,000) were able to help over 2,000 individuals in the county through 7 partner agencies. You can learn more about our non-profit partner organizations at our website www.uwpcoh.org . Our Allocation Committee is comprised of local community members. They meet yearly, in June at the end of our fiscal year, to determine what non-profit organizations will receive grants from the United Way. All of the funds that are granted back into Paulding County are decided by local people.
Our funds also provided over 7,300 books to children through Dolly Parton & Ohio Governor Imagination Library. We were also able to provide over 100 book bags full of supplies to children in need in the last two years. We continue to work with local resources and push to provide what our people need. We have also done some fun projects, like helping with care packages for teachers and health care workers. We also put together kits for our graduating seniors that give great advice for buying their first home, car insurance and renter’s insurance, setting up a bank account, retirement accounts and much more!
The 3% that goes out of county to United Way Worldwide helps at state and federal level to advocate for Emergency Food and Shelter Funding, Medicaid, and to perform necessary research for government entities to know where to allocate funds. An example of a study United Way spearheaded was the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained Employed) research. This research demonstrates how many American households are slightly above poverty level, but do not meet the “Cost of living” threshold. These are the everyday working families, living paycheck to paycheck, with little resources available to help them because they are just above that impoverished level. In Paulding County alone, it’s estimated that 7,770 people (37% of our county) are within that threshold. More information can be found at https://www.unitedforalice.org/.
You can donate to the United Way of Paulding County by texting “Paulding” to 269-89. As a 501c3 we adhere to federal reporting guidelines and state reporting guidelines. We have a financial review completed each year by a certified accountant. We also post our financials on our website to provide complete transparency. United Way Worldwide and United Way of Paulding County are both registered on GuideStar.
The Antwerp Chamber of Commerce is pleased to have the United Way of Paulding County partnering with us in the Antwerp Community.
