United Way Of Burlington County, Inc.

Programs: The united way of burlington county is a locally run volunteer organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for the people of our community. This is accomplished by collaborating with local government and supporting programs at local, nonprofit partner agencies that address three critical focus areas that are the building blocks of a strong community: education, income and health. Education - this area seeks to help children and youth achieve their potential by supporting them with a safe, caring environment, mentors, positive development experiences, social interaction and appropriate learning opportunities. Income - this area seeks to promote financial stability and independence through continued support of job training, affordable housing, financial education and homlessness prevention. Health - this area focuses on improving people's health by providing basic needs such as food and temporary shelter, home health care, hospice, violence prevention and response and individual and family counseling. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *the united way of burlington county continues to be one of the most efficient not-for- profit organizations in the area. This is directly related to the involvement of hundreds of volunteers throughout the year and thousands during the fall fund drive that helps the united way increase each donation with low overhead costs. The united way of burlington county was a founding member of the local code blue committee. Code blue is a plan that helped to establish climatic thresholds for extreme cold weather situations in order for the unsheltered homeless population to be protected to prevent hypothermia, frostbite and other related injuries that could lead to death. The plan provides the guidelines for a code blue declaration to be instituted and allows for the sheltering of the homeless in designated churches. The official code blue season is generally from december to march. Uwbcis the financial manager of state funding provided to the county code blue service providers. Our united way is the managing agency for federal funding received in the county through fema's emergency food and shelter program. We convene the local board, consisting of mandated agency representatives and area providers, who review the funding requests and develop the spending plan. We are also responsible for all local board reporting. The burlington county housing for families preservation program is administered by the board of social services, in cooperation with the uwbc. The program's goal is to afford families the opportunity to maintain their permanent housing and not become homeless, forced to rely on motels or other arrangements as their means for housing. Uwbc promotes, on an ongoing basis, two very valuable programs in our community: earned income tax credit (eitc) and 211. The benefits and availability of a tax credit or refund through the eitc has been promoted to more than 6,000 residents through posters, flyers and the distribution of information to agency providers. Information and presentations including wallet cards regarding 211 have been distributed to over 30,000 individuals. 211 is an easy to remember 3 digit number that can be dialed for up to date information when an individual is looking for a service or needs help with a problem.