United Way of Jackson County, Inc.

United Way’s goal in education is increasing high school completion for students in alternative education programs. Our income goal is to increase financial stability for families and individuals by assisting with tax preparation and use of existing tax credits and by offering emergency assistance for those in need through Hope Chest, our community emergency fund. Our health goal is to maximize wellness in our community. Our transportation goal is to reduce barriers to transportation for low income, people with disabilities and aging populations.

Our education program, the Big Idea Next, links and leverages all existing services to encourage, cajole, motivate students in alternative education programs to complete high school. We have had remarkable success partnering with education, business, nonprofits and individuals to create change for the lives of these students and their families. Graduation rates are increasing dramatically. We partner with Oregon Health Sciences University at Southern Oregon University to provide student nurses to do a health risk assessment survey each year to collect data year on drop out risk, safety at school and in the home, mental health status and other self-reported issues.

Our income strategy is to promote financial stability and advance economic opportunity for low-income taxpayers and families through the VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program and with Hope Chest, our emergency assistance program. We operate a VITA site which has returned more than $3.5 million to our valley in Earned Income, Child Care and Education tax credits. Our emergency assistance fund - Hope Chest - helps families in dire situations with up to $1000 per year with rent, utilities, car repairs, mental health therapy, etc.

Our health strategy is to maximize wellness with our partner organizations by focusing on reducing child abuse, providing drug and alcohol treatment and preventing suicide. We have great success with public service campaigns that work to improve lives and change discourse on social issues in our community, most notably suicide prevention with our "In This Together" campaign.

Our transportation strategy is to reduce barriers to transportation for aging populations, people with disabilities and people with low income. We partner with our local transit district and paratransit to provide reduced rates, and opportunities for these populations.

Our staff is structured to both deliver services and engage deeply in community collaborations to deliver on our mission to mobilize caring to affect change. We have an office manager, an accounting specialist, two community impact directors (including one who provides interpreter/translator services), a lead community impact director, a campaign/new media director, a chief financial officer and CEO/executive director. We are active in funding over 25 programs and 17 strategic partnerships focused on the building blocks of a good life. Our organization is 66 years old and has a strong reputation throughout the community. We have eight staff and 32 board members, along with 1,500 volunteers, serving on committees and councils addressing issues from public policy and DEI to our annual giving campaign and annual Day of Caring volunteer service events.

United Way of Jackson County has had many accomplishments over the years. We are the only United Way in the country to have won an Emmy Award for our public service campaign on child abuse awareness. In 2019, we purchased, remodeled, moved in and completed our first ever capitol campaign in less than seven months to purchase our first permanent home. We received an award from IRS for running an unfunded VITA site in partnership with another nonprofit and a for profit corporation. While awards and recognition are great, the work is what matters. We moved the needle on graduation up from 61% when we started the Big Idea to having nearly 90% on track to graduate in the 2020 co-hort. We have built upon that success with the Big Idea Next, providing alternative education students with the tools, support and personal empowerment to graduate. We have increased awareness and reporting on child abuse through our prevention campaign. We have changed the discourse and reduced the stigma on mental illness with our anti-stigma efforts and had one of the most popular social media campaigns in Oregon’s history with our Shatter The Silence suicide awareness campaign. Our current suicide prevention program, In This Together, continues upon that success and reaches well over 1,000,000 people in the region and received both a regional Emmy award and NAB Service to America award in 2022. Our goal is connect people who need help with people who can help. And we remain focused on delivering on our mission of mobilizing caring to affect change.