A pair of Community Initiative Grants have been awarded by United Way of Champaign County’s Board of Directors. The grants, which total $300,000 over 3 years, address two issues that have risen up in our community: access to affordable dental care and emergency sheltering.
United Way has awarded $50,000 per year for 3 years to Promise Healthcare to assist in bringing a second dentist to the SmileHealthy Dental Clinic. This directly advances United Way’s Health goal #1, improving access to healthcare. Promise Healthcare will track the number of patients served, preventative services provided to adults and children, and the number of children provided dental sealants. Additionally, Promise Healthcare will report to United Way on the number of emergency room visits in Champaign County for dental reasons.
C-U at Home has been awarded $50,000 per year for 3 years to support their expansion into a year-round shelter for men and women and merger with Austin’s Place. This directly advances United Way’s Health goal #2, keeping people safe from harm. C-U at Home will track the number of nights of shelter provided and the number of persons utilizing the shelter. Additionally, C-U at Home will report to United Way on their cost per night to provide shelter.
Community Initiative Grants respond to major community-wide issues in Education, Health or Financial Stability through initiation and support of collaboration, planning, programming, and other problem-solving efforts. These are separate from the traditional 2-year Community Impact Grant cycle.
Both of these grants also include close collaboration with United Way staff to build capacity and sustainability at the organizations.
United Way is able to make these grants thanks to generous unrestricted gifts to the Community Impact Fund and conservative fiscal management over the past several years. Thank you to all donors and supporters!
