The United Way of the River Cities (Revised)

The United Way of the River Cities is a non-profit organization dedicated to bettering the condition of the community, as well as focusing on health, education, and family growth in the local area. It is a group supported primarily through fundraisers, grants, and partnerships, which all provide the necessary funds and supplies to achieve the United Way's goals. According to the United Way of the River Cities' website, the United Way works hard to create strategies that are aimed to fix the persistent problems of the community.

The United Way has some initiatives that it focuses on which in turn bring stability and improvement to struggling communities. One example is learning and earning. The United Way emphasizes that communities with high rates of employment are safe and strong, so in turn they attempt to educate individuals and promote learning skills that qualify those people for jobs in the community.

Also, the United Way has a goal of promoting health and wellness in local communities. It believes that healthy individuals result in healthy communities. Also, it has a goal of improving and sustaining the wellness of individuals throughout the community because they believe that enhances the quality of life.

The United Way of the River Cities recently launched the Common Good Forecaster, which is a Web-based tool that estimates the improvements within the community if the educational outcomes and programs were to improve. It was launched in June 2009, and forecasts unemployment level changes, as well as change in yearly wages due to educational improvement.

On Oct. 15, two directors of the United Way of the River Cities will be in my JMC 201 class to discuss the work and direction of the organization. Executive Director Laura P. Gilliam, and Director of Resource and Development & Marketing Funded Partners Cassey Bowden, will bring some information to the class about different projects that the organization is working on, and also some ideas of how we could possibly get involved. Gilliam received her bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina, while Bowden attended and graduated from Marshall University.

Another project we will be doing in class with the United Way is to follow an organization that is funded by the United Way. I chose to follow the Boys' and Girls' Clubs of Huntington. It will be exciting to get involved and learn more about the work that they do there. I look forward to talking to some of the directors of that organization to find out some ways that we as a community could get involved with the work that they do there.