United Way of Lake County’s LOI Funding Process Now Open
Innovative Programs that Align with UWLC’s New 5-Year Goals to be Considered for 3-Year Funding
Mentor, OH (November 11, 2019) – For the first time in well over a decade, United Way of Lake County (UWLC) is now accepting LOI’s for new, innovative programs that align with three new five-year goals the organization has recently established.
United Way of Lake County’s Letter of Intent (LOI) Funding Process is now open and will run through December 9, 2019 at 5 pm. Organizations invited to submit full applications will then be notified in December of this year and applications for this will be open starting early in January 2020 and ending mid-February 2020. Exact dates TBD.
LOI’s for 3-year program funding should be submitted online at: https://agency.e-cimpact.com/login.aspx?org=37430F
UWLC has repositioned their funding model to be based on specific, data-driven goals. The genesis of this change stems from extensive research the organization conducted to determine Lake County’s most critical needs. Their research included a series of Town Talks along with collaborative meetings held with non-profit organizations, city and county officials, government agencies and businesses throughout Lake County.
For the 2020-2021 funding cycle, UWLC seeks to:
- Encourage ingenuity among program submissions.
- Partner with organizations whose program submissions align with one or more of their new 5-year goals.
- Give current agency partners the opportunity to enhance and/or submit new programs that align with one or more of their new 5-year goals.
- Allocate funds where they will make the greatest impact based on the community feedback received.
- Move the needle on specific goals, where the old model focused solely on total number of services provided.
- Focus and strengthen their collaborative efforts while leveraging the community’s collective resources.
- Reward cooperation/collaboration and the measurement of results with a three-year funding cycle versus the previous one-year funding cycle that also did not allow for new programs.
“What is important to the community is what is important to us. At the end of the day, our newly enhanced funding model is about changing the odds for those in need and improving lives in Lake County based on the areas pinpointed by our community as most critical,” said Jennifer McCarty, President and CEO of United Way of Lake County.
According to Jean Sency, UWLC’s Vice President of Community Relations, “We are excited and energized about the new programs that find their way to us. Our Community Impact volunteer committees will continue to determine where our dollars are allocated. This hasn’t changed. What has changed is they will now work on making allocations based on a set of parameters that tie into our new, five-year goals.”
All United Ways are independently operated and governed. This allows each to best serve the individual and varied needs of the community it operates within. In the case of UWLC, this is Lake County.
Beginning with UWLC’s 2020-2021 funding cycle, their five-year goals include making an impact in the areas of education, financial stability and health, the three building blocks to a better life.
- Currently, less than half of the children in Lake County enter kindergarten with sufficient skills, knowledge and abilities to engage in kindergarten-level instruction. UWLC’s goal is to Increase the percentage of children ready to enter kindergarten ready to meet every educational milestone and successfully complete their education.
- Over 31% of Lake County households either live in poverty or fall into a category termed “ALICE.” ALICE is a United Way acronym that stands for Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed. ALICE households earn more than the federal poverty level but less than the cost of living. These are employed individuals who live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to afford life’s basic needs. UWLC’s goal is to decrease the number of households living within the ALICE threshold.
- Too many individuals in Lake County live in distress at being uninsured or under-insured. UWLC’s goal includes increasing the medical and behavioral health resources available to Lake County residents.
More information about the organization’s newly enhanced funding model and their five-year goals can be found online at www.uwlc.org/changing-odds
Questions regarding the LOI funding process should be directed to Jean Sency, Vice President of Community Relations at 440.639.1286 or via email at jsency@uwlc.org.