Success in school and life goes hand in hand with good attendance. 17.5% of our local population, age 25+, have no high school diploma or GED. Adults without a high school diploma have nearly three times the unemployment rate of those with a college degree. United Way's initiatives, Prepared By 20 and Attendance Matters, are helping improve student attendance and re-engage individuals who dropped out of high school.
WHAT WE DO
United Way improves lives in our community through Community Solutions. Our goal is that everyone in Benton and Franklin Counties has a good education; access to healthcare; lives and works in a safe environment; and is a self-sufficient, active member of our community. Everyone deserves opportunities to have a good life that includes a quality education that leads to a stable job, good health, a safe living and working environment and enough income to support themselves or a family through retirement. Improving lives is about creating lasting change. United Way of Benton & Franklin Counties identifies and builds on community strengths and assets, helps individuals and groups with specific community interests find ways to contribute their time and talents, leads initiatives in positive community-change efforts, supports direct-service programs, and helps connect people to needed resources in our community.
More than 32,000 of our local residents have no health insurance. Chronic disease can cause substantial financial burden and can push households into poverty. Over half of all patients who visited a United Way-funded medical clinic stated they would not have sought teatment for their illness if the clinic did not exist.
Research continues to show a strong connection between education level, unemployment, and crime. Childhood risk factors, such as exposure to violence and dropping out of school, are correlated to a higher rate of criminal activity as adults. United Way supported programs helped over 32,000 people in the area of safety.
21,000 area adults, over age 18, are unemployed. We have about one homeless person per 1,000 residents and one in seven people are struggling with hunger. One of the supported services through United Way is home-delivered meals. Without this funding support, 15,000 fewer meals would have been provided to homebound seniors in our community.
Get involved
Change starts here! You are the part of this great community. It is easy to get involved with United Way to improve lives in our community! We encourage you to provide your personal email address so that we can keep you informed about upcoming events and volunteer opportunities!