ABOVE: Photos from United Way's Community Gathering in October
2022-2023 United Way of the Piedmont Board of Directors Kathleen Brady, Board Chair Earl Alexander Laura Barbas-Rhoden Rob Barrett Denise Beers-Kiepper Jay Beeson Walter Bennett Dawn Bingham Reggie Browning Jennifer Cash Marquice Clark Parkes Coggins Kurt Dallas Shaunte Evans Dana Fall Sky Foster Joey Fowler Dana Gottman Angela Halstead Bennie Harris Craig Haydamack Todd Horne Mitch Kennedy Renee Klein Beth Lancaster Andrea Moore Paul Newhouse Lance Radford Chris Santoro Jim Shank Frannie Stockwell Bryan Stone Timika Wilson Steve Wise
Letter from the President As the holidays approach, we’re focusing on the critical issues of housing and homelessness. For this upcoming Giving Tuesday, on November 29, we will launch our Home for the Holidays campaign, which will directly support our Homeless Prevention Fund. We have an ambitious goal: $20,000 for 20 families. Each $1,000 assists approximately one family, and every dollar matters. Each family we help puts us closer to reaching our 2030 Bold Goal to decrease the number of individuals living below self-sufficiency by 10%. Housing and homelessness are both issues that won't be solved overnight. They take long-term change with a variety of partners at the table and wraparound services available. That's why United Way is uniquely positioned to help. We have a long history (over 85 years!) in this community, and we aren't going anywhere. I encourage you to read the information and stories in this new, quarterly impact piece. Our goal is to keep you informed about the work of United Way and where donor dollars go. Remember, dollars raised here, stay here. We are proud to be a locally run organization making impact in Spartanburg, Cherokee, and Union Counties. We believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to thrive, and that includes access to safe, affordable housing. So I hope you'll join us and help more local families be Home for the Holidays by donating to our Homeless Prevention Fund (more info inside).
Paige Stephenson President/CEO United Way of the Piedmont
FALL 2022
UNITED WAY UPDATE
COMMUNITY RESOURCE COORDINATORS A look at our signature strategy for helping families become self-sufficient In early 2020, United Way of the Piedmont set a ten-year Bold Goal to decrease the number of families living below self-sufficiency by 10% across our three county footprint. Just a few short months later, the world was hit with COVID-19. But the pandemic only served to highlight the need for change and to strengthen our commitment to this Bold Goal. One of the primary strategies identified to achieve this Bold Goal is the Community Resource Coordinator (CRC) Program. CRCs do exactly what their name says - they coordinate and connect resources to families in need. So often we see that there may be help available, but someone just doesn't know about them. That's where CRCs come in.
ABOVE: School-based CRC, Selena Smith, with Cleveland Academy Principal, Marquice Clark, and United Way Director of Economic Mobility Programs, Sarah Daniel
Q&A: Hailey Barnhill Lead Community Resource Coordinator with United Way of the Piedmont What do Community Resource Coordinators do? I typically think of my job as being a traffic conductor for information. CRCs not only give information, but provide case management to clients while they are navigating resources, which can be an overwhelming process. CRCs can offer support during that process and follow up afterwards to see if the client is experiencing barriers to getting the help they need.
What is it like being a CRC? The hardest days as a CRC are always when there's a lack of resources. Sometimes clients have significant needs, and the funding we at United Way, or our partners, have doesn't cover those needs. The best days are when we can work with individuals and families to not only get them through a financial need, but also work towards long-term goals together so they can become self-sufficient. How have you seen the CRC program benefit a family? I recently worked with a family where one of the parents had to have surgery with a long recovery, and they weren't able to work for months. The family was falling behind on their mortgage with no way to catch up. Fortunately, the family was able to connect with one of our CRCs, who utilized our Homeless Prevention Fund to help them before they lost their home. After assisting with their housing, we were able to get them connected to other resources in the community, including food assistance.
You can't put a price on families knowing that they aren’t alone.
Why is the CRC program important to the community? You can't put a price on families knowing that they aren’t alone. And what is unique about our program is that we can offer support long-term. So often a one-time financial need can open the door for ongoing case management where we can support individuals as they move from crisis mode to self-sufficiency.
"During the course of a semester, students face financial hurdles such as job loss, car trouble, etc that could prevent them from staying in school. While many people can recover from such issues, some students may feel the best way to handle a crisis is to leave school to find employment. Having a CRC available helps the student get past the hurdle, stay enrolled in classes, and ultimately graduate and enter the work force. " Kim Jolley, community leader who helped initiate the first higher-ed CRC program at USC Upstate
PREVENTING HOMELESSNESS
United Way's Homeless Prevention Fund is the only resource in our community helping families with housing crises before they lose their homes.
Homelessness is more common than you might think. Whether it comes in the form of eviction, staying in a motel or car, or "couch surfing," homelessness affects many people and is often unseen and underreported. Our Homeless Prevention Fund (HPF) helps Spartanburg, Cherokee, and Union County families keep and get stable housing. Since 2017, we have removed financial barriers, such as payments or deposits, for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. For many families, our HPF is the only resource in our community to help them meet this need. These funds are primarily distributed through our Community Resource Coordinators (CRCs) who provide clients with intensive case management. CRCs support clients on their economic mobility journeys as they work toward selfsufficiency. Since the start of the HPF, we have distributed over $225,000 to 315 individuals or families. In the past year alone, we’ve helped stabilize 118 individuals or families, meaning we’ve prevented homelessness for 92% of the clients we've served.
H ME
FOR THE HOLIDAYS
THE FUND IN ACTION This fall, we received a call from a human resources manager at a local manufacturing company. She was seeking assistance for a longtime employee, Shonda. That morning when she arrived at work, Shonda went to HR and shared that she was in crisis and needed help. She had fled a dangerous domestic violence situation with her young daughter and had no place to go. Shonda was connected with one of our Community Resource Coordinators, who referred her to one of our community partners for safe shelter and services. Our CRC was also able to work with Shonda on a plan for longer-term housing and provide ongoing support for her and her daughter.
With CRC support, Shonda found an apartment and had Homeless Prevention Fund assistance to pay the deposit and the first month’s rent. Additionally, we provided Shonda with a Welcome Home Basket assembled by our African American Leadership Society, and a community member donated a mattress. Referrals to other UWP partners helped furnish Shonda’s new home. Shonda and her daughter are just one of the families that are back on the path to self-sufficiency and economic mobility because of the United Way donors who make the Homeless Prevention Fund possible.
You can help more families have stable, safe housing. Here’s how: Donate to United Way's Home for the Holidays campaign with all proceeds going directly to the Homeless Prevention Fund. Come out to Fr8yard on Nov 29th for Giving Tuesday to celebrate local nonprofits and philanthropy with us. Learn about current efforts and the best ways to help through the Challenge4Change initiative. Learn more and donate at www.uwpiedmont.org/givingtuesday
FALL 2022
UNITED WAY UPDATE LET'S STAY IN TOUCH
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EVENT SPONSORS PRESENTING
PLATINUM AFL Denny's Milliken & Co. Spartanburg Water GOLD BMW Manufacturing Contec Duke Energy Lockhart Power
SILVER Bank of America Boulier, Thompson and Barnes Inman Mills Keurig Dr. Pepper Piedmont Natural Gas PricewaterhouseCoopers Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System The Timken Company Truist William Barnet & Son
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