GREATER GALLATIN UNITED WAY INC

Greater Gallatin United Way Community Impact Area Goals & Impact Outcomes

I. Basic Needs: All community members are experiencing an improved quality of life because more people’s basic needs are met.
Impact Outcomes for Basic Needs
At risk community members have:
− food security;
− affordable housing;
− access to affordable quality child care; and
− access to community resources.

II. Behavioral Health & Mental Well-Being: Our community is healthier and more resilient due to a shift to a new collective mindset and understanding of behavioral health / mental well-being and how to improve whole person health.
Impact Outcomes for Behavioral Health & Mental Well-Being
− Normalization and understanding of behavioral/mental health as a component of whole-person health.
− People learn to recognize signs and symptoms of mental health and illness.
− People know how to get help and are willing to reach out.
− Mental healthcare is readily available.
− People contribute to others’ well-being.

III. Child and Youth Success: Children and youth consistently get a strong start and have a solid foundation for success in school, work, and life.
Impact Outcomes for Child & Youth Success
Children enter school ready to succeed, thrive in elementary school, are prepared for middle school and high school, and graduate on time. All children:
− are ready for kindergarten;
− are reading at or above grade level by the end of third grade;
− have access to affordable quality early learning environments that nurture growth among all the early childhood domains, 0-5 years; and,
− have access to affordable, safe, nurturing and fun places during out-of-school time, 5+ years.

IV. Senior Stability: Our community recognizes and is addressing current senior needs and is prepared for growing future demands.
Impact Outcomes for Senior Stability
Our community respects seniors's abilities to make life-changing decisions for themselves.
− Seniors feel independent in their lives.
− Seniors are valued as active community members.
− Seniors are comfortable that their physical and mental well-being needs are being addressed.
− Seniors receive necessary care, particularly those unable to live financially independent lives.

Greater Gallatin United Way's mission is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of our communities. We accomplish this mission through forging innovative partnerships, finding new solutions to old problems, cultivating the best resources, and by inspiring individuals to join the fight against our communities’ most daunting challenges.

We operate with the following core organizational values:
I. Do things that matter: We develop and actualize meaningful change in health, education, and financial stability to improve the lives of every person in our communities.
II. Grow resources and relationships: We connect people with meaningful opportunities for giving, advocating, and volunteering.
III. Operate well: We maintain a leadership organization that is transparent, accountable and sustainable.

By mastering best practices of UWW, we have become a shining example of living the UWW vision of improving lives through impact, growth, and efficiency. By taking responsibility for leadership of the community’s interest in behavioral health and mental well-being (through unmasking behavioral health, inspiring action, and getting things done), we have cultivated a belief that GGUW and mental well-being are interconnected.

In 2025, the combination of mastering UWW best practices and behavioral health and mental well-being leadership helped GGUW capture the community’s attention in new and more impactful ways and inspired individual and group action—from volunteers and donors to neighbors and friends. As a result, through GGUW, people are addressing the needs of the most vulnerable people in our communities and creating the change they want to see.

For 42-years Greater Gallatin United Way has been making a positive impact on the communities we serve. We know that no one organization alone in isolation can solve complex community problems. We know that the only way we can create real, lasting change is by innovating the way people, organizations, and systems work together. As the leader in collective impact work, we:

I. Fund direct service programs that are making a positive impact in our four Community Impact Areas.
II. Convene and lead coalitions of individuals, businesses and organizations to work collectively to deliver greater positive impact (i.e. kidsLINK Afterschool and Early Childhood Community Council).
III. Administer or act as fiscal agent for programs that tackle community issues (i.e. kidsLINK Afterschool, The Resilience Project, and MT Project Launch).

In addition, GGUW undertakes innovative pilot projects and initiatives such as The New Early Care Provider Fund and Community Organizatons Assisting in Disaster (COAD).

Accomplishments shared below provide a glimpse of the important work we are doing in the communities we serve.

- Established an afterschool program that currently has over 2,700 children enrolled in 33 programs across 4 counties.
- 19,283 children received literacy support in 2018 through GGUW programs and GGUW funded partner programs.
15,146 persons received crisis prevention, intervention and education in 2018.
14,637 persons received essential services including emergency shelter, food, child care and transportation.
- Established a New Early Care Provider Fund, which has added 66 new early child care slots for our community (community's current capacity is 33%)
- Launched Dolly Parton's Imaginational Libary Program in our community this past year and enrolled 511 children ages 0 to 5 years with the goal of reaching 2,000 by 2025.
- Held 53 Behavioral Health & Mental Well-Being Learning Events for the community with 1,448 attendees. This will continue to grow as we expand the learning opportunities to workplaces and the community.
- Funded over 80 local programs tacking health, education and financial stability.
- Established the Montana Afterschool Alliance and acted as the fiscal agent. It is now under the unmbrella of another organization.
- Established and are the lead agency of the Early Childhood Community Council, a coalition of 90 individuals and 30 community organizations that gather together to develop actions and strategies designed to improve the lives of young children and families in Gallatin County.
- We, along with ECCC, Childcare Connections, Gallatin Mental Health Center, Thrive, Early Childhood Project, Gallatin City-County Health Department and Community Health Partners are partnering in Montana Project LAUNCH Initiative (MT-PLI). Montana Project LAUNCH Initiative (MT-PLI) is an $800,000 per year, 5-year federal SAMSHA grant received by Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) in September 2014.
- Partnering with Bozeman Health, Gallatin Mental Health and numerous other organizations in the Elevating Behavioral Health Initiative to devise and implement solutions to improve the mental health services in our community.
- 11,300 meals were prepared for and received by seniors in 2018