United Way Of Denton County Inc

Programs: Community investment (partner agency grants, agency relations):ninteen agencies serving denton county were provided with funds to maintain a "safety net" of services for those residents most in need. All agencies that received funds provided services that fall under at least one of the following focus areas:children & familiesveteranshomeless/housinghealth/mental healthfunding decisions are based on recognized existing and emerging needs in denton county. Three teams of community volunteers reviewed the community needs assessment and evaluated partner agency programming, outcomes and financials to determine the most effective use of funds. Funding for this process comes from uwdc's annual fundraising campaign which is conducted with the help of hundreds of local companies and volunteers. The campaign includes workplace and individual solicitation and corporate donations and sponsorships. Funded partner agencies participate in this process by providing outcome information and numbers served, providing speakers for presentations, and conducting internal fundraising campaigns within their offices. Uwdc also provides donors the opportunity to designate their donations to local agencies. Local agencies must annually verify they are an agency in good standing as an irs code section 501(c)3 non-profit organizations. During 2017-2018 funding year, uwdc was able to distribute a total of $825,000 to our 19 partner agencies. Through these partnerships, uwdc partner agencies were able to assist more than 85,000 individuals and families in denton county in 2017. In addition, uwdc has provided management assistance, training and supportive services to many local agencies and organizations that serve denton county. Uwdc conducted 10 training/networking meetings for local funded partner agencies that covered topics such as collective impact, planned giving, advocacy, community initiatives and collaboration. These were all topics that were requested needs by partner agency staff leadership. Participation rates for these services by our 19 partner agencies were 75%.

community capacity building (pre-k, mentor denton, school based community centers, vita, bank on denton, day of action, dc citizen's council on mental health):because of the strong network of programs provided by our community partners, uwdc is able to work as a community resource, facilitator & collaborator in making community collaborations & problem solving. This work is driven by the following principals:-must align within at least 1 of our focus areas: children & families, veterans, homeless/housing, health/mental health-must align with our uwdc mission-must demonstrate a definite health & human service need in the community-results must be measurablelocal partnerships include universities, nonprofits, local government, faith based organizations, businesses & local school districts. Summaries our major initiatives/programs are as follows:education initiatives & grants:early childhood coalitionin january 2013 united way of denton county, in partnership with the denton independent school district and the city of denton formed the pre-kindergarten coalition & began working on a plan to distribute the "ready rosie" early learning resource to the community. In 2016, the pre-kindergarten coalition changed its name to the "early childhood coalition: serving the north texas region" to be more inclusive of the early childhood population. Additionally, the coalition developed a mission statement - "to engage & empower parents, families, professionals, & communities to provide enriched environments for all children, birth - 8 years through: advocacy; resources; & comprehensive services" the coalition is composed of 3 workgroups: educating educators (child care)workgroups, commuity outreach workgroup, & school based centers workgroup. Educating educators is currently providing affordable, quality ceu opportunities for child care workers in denton county and the surrounding area and is working to develop a child care conference in spring 2019. The community outreach tteam is working to create messaging and branding around he coalition, connecting the coalition with parents, child care facilities, and health care providers, and in promoting and developing the use of northtexasfamilies. Org as an early childhood referral sourse for the denton community. School based community centers bridge the gap of transportation to resources for parents of young children and community members in the area at ann windle school for young children and gonzalez school for young children. Mentor denton:mentor denton stands out as a collaborative effort between united way of denton county, denton independent school idstrict, communitieis in schools, and big brothers big sisters. Mentor denton responds to denton county's growing population of at risk children in an effort to communicate and promote to the community the importance and benefits of mentoring. The initiative is made popular by its "one kid. One hour. One year. " slogan. School based communtiy centers:school based community centers bridge the gap of transportation to resources for parents and community members in the neighborhoods. As a hub for the community, school based community centers in denton county have been active in providing free immunizaitons, health resources, counseling classes & financial stability resources. Additionally, school based community centers act as a comfortable & recognizable place for community members to meet, learn & volunteer. There are currently three school based community centers in denton county. Financial stability:vitavita (volunteer income tax assistance) is an irs initiative to help low and moderately-low income taxpayers e-file their federal tax reurns in an accurate and timely manner. In denton county, united way of denton county has operated vita sites since 2008 to he present day with continuous year-to-year growth in people helped and net refunds returned to the pockets of denton county families. In spring 2018, tax preparation sites assisted taxpayers in aubrey, denton, sanger, corinth, lewisville, pilot point and little elm. 40 united way of denton county volunteers prepared 1,598 tax returns over 185 tax preparation sessions provided at 9 host sites across denton county. These returns netted $2. 1 million in refunds and saved denton county families an estimated $433,058 in tax return preparation fees. Mental health:denton county behavioral health leadership team (dcbhlt)dcbhlt convened on june 11, 2015 as a result of the formal recommendation made by meadows mental health policy institute to advocate and facilitate for system level change in the behavioral health system in denton county. The recommendation was made after a year of fact finding through the denton county citizens council on mental health (dcccmh). The team is comprised of 36 appointees and 3 ex officio members serving two year terms form: denton county commissioners court, municipal government, health care providers, health insurance providers, educational institutions, law enforcement, non-profits, housing, and other community organizations, in addition to three ex-officios who serve in an advisory capacity. The purpose of the dcbhlt is tasked to convene as a policy making team to improve the planning, coordination, oversight and implementation required to create systems change for behavioral health services in denton county. Dcbhlt functions as a quasi-governmental team with guiding charter and bylaws under the backbone of united way of denton county inc. (uwdc) collective impact model. Dcbhlt vission: comprehensive behavioral health for every person in denton county. Dcbhlt mission: the denton county behavioral health leadership team will advocate & facilitate a collaborative person-centered behavioral health system to repair & restore lives:-ensure behavioral health services are available to meet the needs of all-assess data for continuous outcome measurements-prioritize data driven recommendations-provide a continuum of carethe dcbhlt consists of 5 workgroups including: child and family sysems, jail diversion, mental health treatment court, consumer, and veterans. Workgroups meet on either a monthly or every other month basis to address concentrated systems-level change and generate recommendations for the dcbhlt to consider. Mental health initiative-veteransthe veterans workgroup applied for the health and human services commission texas veterans and family alliance (tv+fa) pilot program grant. The team was awarded funding in june 2016 and ended in august 2017. Two direct service, lmsw staff serve veterans and their families through their role at uwdc. The veteran community navigator team, funded through the hhsc tv+fa grant, surpassed grant metrics and served over 250 veterans and their families during the grantyear. The program is currently sustained through uwdc funding, staffing 1 fte and 1 pt intern. The veterans workgroup applied for the health and human services commission texas veterans and family assistance (tv+fa)phase iib grant. The team was awarded funding in june 2017 and is scheduled to end may 31, 2018. The program offers preventative services by providing the military module of mental health first aid to veterans, thier families, and communities. Participants are connected to local agencies that service veterans in our community. The grant funded one pt veteran education facilitator. Homelessness:denton county homelessness leadership teamthe denton county homelessness leadership team (dchlt) convened on may 5, 2016. The team is a 22-member appointed, quasi-governmental body tasked with increasing access to affordable housing and improving the coordination of homeless services in denton county. The initiative grew as a result of denton mayor, chris watts', housing the homeless task force. The task force convened in 2015 to address homelessness in the city of denton. Resulting from the task force was the establishment of a full-time coordinator position to oversee the improvement and integration of homelessness services county-wide. This position was placed at the united way of denton county for its county-wide reach. The dchlt is comprised of 23 appointees and 4 ex officio members serving two year terms form: denton county commissioners court, municipal government, health care providers, health insurance providers, educational institutions, law enforcement, non-profits, housing and homelessness agencies, and other community organizations, in addition to four ex-officios who serve in an advisory capacity (from the city of denton, the denton county homeless coalition and the united way of denton county). The purpose of the dchlt is tasked to convene as a plicy making team to improve the planning, coordination, oversight, and implementation required to create systems change, for behavioral health services in denton county. Dchlt functions as a quasi-governmental team with guiding charter and bylaws under the backbone of uwdc collective impact model. Dchlt vision: every person in denton

community education (project blueprint, community needs assessment):community needs assessment:our community needs assessment is a tool to help pinpoint unmet needs and gaps in services for the short term in denton county due in part to the constantly changing nature of the local area. Population growth, changes in area demographics and the local economy influence and often stress the public and nonprofit health and human services. Outside factors also have a profound effect in determining the local needs. Federal and state government changes have a major impact on community agencies' abilities to provide the needed services as well as on the individuals who receive governmental assistance. The rapid population growth of the community and the constantly changing government funding priorities require regular community assessments. The community needs assessment provides essential information to develope a long-term plan for health and human services based on socio-economic trends and long-standing health, housing, and human service issues. In the fall of 2017, united way of denton county published an updated needs assessment for denton county, and continues to update the data on an annual basis, or as new data becomes available. Project blueprint:united way of denton county's project blueprint:board leadership training program is designed to train community volunteers to become qualified, quality board members of non-profit organizations in denton county. The training consists of a series of meetings where the following areas are taught:parliamentary procedures, board operations & governance, board development, strategic planning, outcome assessment, resource development, marketing, advocacy, and finance. Each module taught is presented by an expert in that field, with attendance requirements and group exercises. Each graduate of project blueprint is placed for service with uwdc or introduced to an agency that matches their interests and passion. In 2017 uwdc graduated 19 community volunteers from this program.