The large impact that Jackson County United Way has made in the last six years is invaluable, but there is still work to be done, organizers report.
The nonprofit organization, which has been fighting for the health, education and financial stability for every person in the county for 60 years shared their community impact report from 2019 to now, Thursday morning at the Pines Evergreen room during a leadership breakfast.
Executive Director Maci Baurle shared the data collected over six years from each program they provided.
“Over the six years $2.5 million has been invested in the community to area partner organizations who’s work align with our mission,” she said.
Baurle shared that Day of Caring has mobilized up to 1,658 volunteers annually to beautify community spaces and improve lives. This equates to $271,000 in volunteer value, according to Baurle.
Day of Caring was established in 1996 to offer projects to United Way partner agencies and other non-profits in the county. It expands agency funding and offers repairs, constructions and services with donations and time.
While the organization has invested millions into the county and continues to provide necessary resources, those resources are strained.
Currently, two out of five households, 6,786 families, in Jackson County struggle to meet essential needs for housing, healthcare, childcare, transportation, food and communication.
According to the 2022 American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau Jackson County has a poverty rate of 12.4%, slightly higher than the national average which is 11.5%.
Jackson County United Way is continually working to offset costs to families with programs such as Rock’n Ready free school supplies drive that serves up to 1,400 K-12 students annually and their Free Income Tax Assistance program during tax season.
Over six years, the organization was able to file 2,195 free tax returns for households with a total income of $64,000 or less through the work of many volunteers.
Thanks to financial support from the organization, Child Care Network launched a Childcare Center in Seymour in Jan. of last year.
Kate Garrity, Executive Director of Child Care Network, said the county was designated a “child care desert” in 2019 due to a lack of available childcare.
A child care desert is a census tract with more than three children per child care seat, Jackson County had 7.9 children per child care seat in 2019. At the time, it was more than double the 3.0 children-per-seat ratio that defines a child care desert.
In 2020, Child Care Network purchased a building on North Chestnut St. and eventually opened the care center. At least 15 essential worker families obtained childcare during Covid-19.
Garrity continued to talk about their CASA program which is a United Way impact funded program. The Jackson County GAL/CASA program is volunteer-powered and provides advocacy to child victims of abuse and neglect to ensure that they remain at the forefront of court proceedings and find a safe, permanent home as quickly as possible.
With two full-time staff members, one part-time employee and 26 volunteers Garrity said volunteers are needed more than ever.
“We have seen a record number in child abuse and neglect cases,” she said. “In 2023, we had a total of 75 new cases, and as of Wednesday (Sept. 18) we have 103. These are numbers we do not like to see increase.”
According to the Indiana Chapter of National Children’s Alliance most child abuse case numbers have not changed significantly year-to-year and due to a lag of indicators, pre-pandemic data is the latest available.
Latest data states Indiana ranks 29th for the third consecutive year for abuse rates.
Indiana’s foster care placement rate of 10 per 1,000 children ages 0 to 17 has consistently ranked among the highest five states nationally with drug and alcohol abuse cited in 61% of the cases.
Garrity added there are currently 132 kids in the system with the volunteer program only able to serve 72 of those cases. She said unfortunately that leaves about 60 kids on a waiting list.
“If you would like to get involved in helping these kiddos please consider volunteering,” she said.
Garrity said the child care center is about half full now with children ages six weeks to five-years old. Between half and two-thirds of families on child care vouchers the impact funding from United Way has been used to offset fees for families who need it.
Executive Director of Anchor House, Megan Cherry, gave a 2023 impact report on their housing and pantry program saying she anticipates the need to be much greater the remainder of this year.
“71% of individuals at our facility on Dupont Drive were able to obtain permanent sustainable housing and 74% of families were able to obtain that as well in 2023,” Cherry said.
Cherry added that same year the pantry completed over 23,000 distributions individually and to families, 800 were veteran distributions and 30% of those served in the pantry were children.
Committed to finding stable and sustainable housing for the community, Cherry shared that 307 individuals came through the Dupont Drive facility last year providing a total of 9,664 nights of stay.
“That is how many times wasn’t sleeping on the street last year,” she said as the room applauded the efforts.
Lastly, she said 26 families were housed which were made up of 65 children. With a total of 3,300 volunteer hours Cherry finished saying is very thankful for the communities efforts.
“We are very thankful for a community that continues to give and continues to show up and we continue to do this work,” she said.
Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Club, Ryon Wheeler, the organization has grown exponentially from one site to six sites, but there is still a lot of work to do.
Wheeler said as of last Wednesday 123 kids were served at Brownstown Elementary School, which is over 25% of the school population. The club also offers an after school-tutoring program and career readiness.
“Our club had more career explorations than any other club in the state of Indiana,” Wheeler said. “If it wasn’t for United Way we wouldn’t be able to close that gap.”
Baurle finished the presentation with a goal, beginning in 2025 Jackson County United Way will promote a yearly impact focus on youth opportunity, financial security, healthy communities or resiliency.
“Everyone deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life, everyone deserves the opportunity to earn a living that can sustain a family and build security and every community deserves the opportunity to prosper,” she said.