UNITED WAY OF SUMMIT AND MEDINA

Programs

1. Housing services - our housing services department serves as the front door for homeless services in summit county and performed 1,418 assessments for shelter or housing during fy 25. Uwsm directly assisted 697 households with rent and/or utility assistance during the year. Uwsm also administers the community's homeless management information system and is an active participant in the summit county continuum of care which works to end homelessness in our community.

   $3,570,431 spent
   34% of program spending

2. 2-1-1 - uwsm's 2-1-1 program connects people in need with services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, providing referrals by phone and text and through the 2-1-1 online resource database. 2-1-1 also plays a key role as the entry point to uwsm's other services, initiatives, and programs. In fy25, 2-1-1 continues to provide 2-1-1 service for a total of eight counties (summit, medina, carroll, harrison, jefferson, lorain, portage, and tuscarawas counties). 2-1-1 handled 95,500 calls and texts, and 247,521 online database searches in summit & medina counties. 2-1-1 has truly become the entry point to services throughout our community.

   $1,103,593 spent
   10% of program spending

3. Community impact - community impact is the effort to align resources around common strategies to accomplish our four bold goals by 2028. Uwsm brings together non-profit agencies, government agencies, topical experts, volunteers and funders to plan and work collaboratively toward achieving community-wide objectives. As part of that effort, we invest resources in internal programming, nonprofit agencies and volunteer activities that have a track record of improving education, income, and health and reducing systemic barriers in summit and medina counties with data-driven results.

   $2,004,429 spentof which $1,107,500 as grants$550,156 earned by the program
   19% of program spending

4. Corporate & community engagement - uwsm works to inspire individuals, businesses and organizations to make a positive impact. By providing meaningful opportunities for groups and individuals to give, volunteer, advocate and lead throughout the year, uwsm builds connections between people and the community it serves. With a focus on collaboration, we unite diverse stakeholders to tackle our community's most pressing challenges, foster inclusive solutions, and create a stronger, more vibrant summit and medina counties.

   $655,656 spent
   6% of program spending

5. College & career academy of akron - uwsm works in partnership with akron public schools' college and career academies, securing partnerships with local businesses, government, and other community organizations to provide relevant, experiential learning and resources for students. All akron high school students enter a pathway aligned with student interest and work with the business community to develop essential technical, communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking skills. Together, our goal is to graduate academically prepared, well-rounded students with a skill set that meets the talent needs of our community's employers. Since the launch of the cca model in 2018, direct ties between akron students and the greater akron business community have resulted in 328 partnerships, with 247 unique business partners . The 4-year graduation rate for students has also risen to 88.9%, the highest graduation rate for an urban school district in the state of ohio. 81.5% of akron public schools graduates were designated college, career, workforce and military ready, exceeding state standards and earning 4 stars on the district report card.

   $109,236 spent
   1% of program spending

6. Youth united - youth united connects young people to adults who can provide guidance, advice and inspiration to help them achieve their potential. Youth united was created in partnership with the hv3 foundation. The brainchild of akron native professional golfer harold varner ill, hv3 works to provide access to life experiences and mentorship. Youth united is a positive youth development and leadership program which helps students build connections throughout the community. It puts young people in touch with trusted mentors who can provide guidance and inspiration, helping kids stay on track for high school graduation, prepare for college and/or a career and take advantage of expanded enrichment and professional networking opportunities. Youth united advances our bold goal 2 to boost high school graduation rates, college and career readiness and youth participation in extracurricular activities for akron public schools students.

   $80,187 spent
   1% of program spending

7. Diversity, equity & inclusion (dei) - uwsm firmly believes that we cannot build a better future for our community unless we build it together. Our de&I programming offers routine training and development workshops for staff members and external stakeholders across the summit & medina community. Diversity training sessions are offered monthly to uwsm staff to further engage in various topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion to increase awareness and opportunities for diversity in and outside of the workplace, and provide strategies and tactics to improve communication, collaboration, and empathy to clients, visitors, and colleagues. Workshop offerings to external stakeholders and community partners include bridges summit county, implicit bias, foundations of de&I, and a newly developed workshop around generational diversity. The organization also secured contract agreements with several local agencies to receive ongoing de&I training and services throughout the annual period. Our de&I programming continues to build scope of engaging community voice and feedback to further inform the organization in its shaping of community impact agendas, programs, and services. Through this…

   $575,835 spent
   5% of program spending

8. Family resource centers (frc) - the frcs provide and support coordinated programs/services for students and families that reduce barriers to learning while promoting family engagement and support, student reading proficiency, attendance and graduation rates. In fy20, uwsm, in partnership with akron public schools (aps), launched family resource centers in robinson (moved to david hill in fy25) and helen arnold community learning centers. Since then, three more frcs have been opened in other clusters within the aps school district, including the first high school at north community learning center, for a total of five frc locations. With a focus on food and shelter assistance, health and wellness programs, financial coaching and tax support, parent leadership opportunities and other wraparound supports, each frc strives to address the key needs in the direct community it serves, resulting in more aps students in safe, supported and thriving family environments.

   $511,267 spent
   5% of program spending

9. Imagination library - each month, a brand new, age-appropriate book will be mailed to every child enrolled, free of charge. With the arrival of the first book, the classic "the little engine that could," children begin to experience the joy of finding their very own book in their mailboxes. These moments continue each month until the child turns five, and in their very last month in the program the book they receive is "look out kindergarten here I come."

   $586,727 spent
   6% of program spending

10. Workplace programs - in fy25 we provided 58 customized workplace programs, coaching, or consulting to a combined total of over 1.481 people. Fulfilling our mission of enriching lives by helping individuals and organizations strengthen and live their inner values. Approximately 345 hours of programing time were given to work environments from education, government, healthcare, law, industry and nonprofit services to name a few. $13,300 in pro-bono services and $4,865 in tuition assistance were given to individuals and local organizations so they might participate in our programs.

    $270,740 spent
    3% of program spending

11. Leadership connection series - we held 54 leadership connection sessions for 125 people for a total of 162 hours of development of personal and leadership growth. This included 2 expeditions of our purposeful leadership program for the continue development of experienced leaders. $9,200 in pro-bono services and $8,850 in tuition assistance was given to participants in leadership connection series.

    $217,079 spent
    2% of program spending

12. Financial empowerment center - the akron financial empowerment center (fec) is a program of the city of akron in partnership with united way of summit & medina (uwsm). The fec provides professional, one-on-one financial counseling as a free public service to enable residents to address their financial challenges and needs as well as plan for their futures. Fec clients receive free assistance with money management, budgeting, reducing debt, establishing and improving credit, connecting to safe and affordable banking services, building savings, and referrals to other services and organizations. Professionally trained and naccc certified counselors support their clients in navigating complex financial challenges and choices, helping them identify and meet present challenges and future ambitions. Bank on rubber city, another fec program, partners with banks and credit unions to provide safe and affordable banking options and educational resources that help empower people and families to improve their financial capability, health and independence. Since the launch of the fec in june of 2018 we have provided over 13,024 one on one financial counseling sessions, which equates to…

    $898,462 spent
    8% of program spending

The 12 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $10,583,642.