OUR IMPACT Below you will find our impact areas and how our internal United Way programs fit into these areas.. United Way seeks to improve lives to advance the common good. When there is a need in our community United Way is there.

Our Financial Security Programs work to empower those struggling so everyone can thrive. These internal programs are coordinated by United Way, and range from our VITA Program (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) , to periodic offerings like our GET AHEAD Workshops Learn more.

VITA Program (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance)

This was a year of change and growth. We served more people, and there were over 450 tax appointments in our building this year. We partnered with Jefferson County United Way, so we reached even more people. In total, there were 19 certified volunteers between the two programs. Just 7 active (8 certified) of those volunteers served in Jennings County. Jefferson County volunteers worked in our program and those returns are included the totals. The average Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) for the clients we serve is $20,213. Total returns 351 (239 Jennings, 112 Jefferson)Learn more

• Summary - 9 years of VITA 2025 Program Report

These workshops will use the lessons learned from our classes weave them into a new series of workshops that will meet folks where they are.

2025 United Way Dollars for Scholars

Dollars for Scholars Scholarships are awarded each year to help recognize academic achievement among a larger number of graduating students in Jennings County who have made the choice to pursue higher education.

CharityTracker promotes collaboration and communication between local agencies that work to help people. The result is less duplication of services and improved client outcomes. CharityTracker is a shared case management database that captures information about people experiencing need, including food, shelter, assistance with rent and utilities, and more. This robust system includes HIPAA approved security ("HIPAA" - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, an Agency Bulletin Board, Client Referrals, Shared Goals, an Outcomes Module and more. | Learn more |

Established in 2009 in Jennings County The stats above are as of 5/21/2025. We have eight active agencies in CharityTracker including Bethel Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, Geneva Township Trustee, United Way, Senior Resources, Spencer Township Trustee, St Vincent DePaul and Wayside Inn.

The Emergency Food and Shelter Program

EFSP was created by Congress to help meet the needs of hungry and homeless people by allocating federal funds for the provision of food and shelter. The U. S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), local government, American Red Cross; Catholic Charities, USA; National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA; The Jewish Federations of North America, The Salvation Army; and, United Way Worldwide are required members of the local board, which is lead by our United Way. This Local Board, comprised of representatives of these National Agencies, is charged to distribute funds appropriated by Congress to help supplement food and shelter programs in high-need areas around the country.

In 2024, EFSP awarded $ 10,030 to local agencies, including St. Vincent Depaul (to provide utility assitance), Good Samaritan (food) and Wayside Inn (shelter). EFSP funds must be used to supplement food and shelter services and may not be used as seed money for new programs. Since 2020, Our EFSP Local Board has distrubuted a total of $81,051. More about the local program is available online at efsp.jcunitedway.org

Day of Caring

Day of Caring improves lives one project at a time. Day of Caring was re-imagined to expand the opportunities and the impact. It is more flexible to meet the needs of our volunteers with a choose your own date, your own project and the flexibility to do it any time of the year. There have been 26 projects so far this year, teams that clean up the river and our parks and trails to teens washing windows and helping out their elders at Senior Housing, to groups who volunteer at the Humane Society.

• Jennings County Youth Involvement (JYIT) tackled projects at the Senior Housing Complex, washing windows and doing other jobs like pulling weeds and cleaning up landscaping for 22 of our Senior Citizens. They have the opportunity to do a lot of socializing too as our Seniors love visiting with them.
• Toyota volunteers refreshed the landscaping at United Way during their LIFT the Community event. Toyota made a donation to cover the cost of the river rock and the landscape fabric to make this project possible.
• Girl Scouts worked at United Way to recover the river rock that snow plows had pushed into the lawn along with the big piles of snow this past winter, allowing volunteer Josh Skaggs to begin mowing as spring arrived.
• Girls Scouts cleaned up trails in our parks.