Community Building

Community isn't something you live in—it's something that lives in you.

To help solve community issues and bring about lasting, positive change, United Way taps into its most precious resource-volunteers. Without the assistance of the citizens who volunteer their time and expertise to support our community, we couldn't accomplish all that we do.

United Way works year-round with a diverse group of citizens from throughout our service area to review agency programs, assess critical needs in the community, build partnerships with other funders, municipalities and non-profits, and evaluate program outcomes.

Volunteers on our Community Investment Panels visit United Way Partner agencies seeking program funding. These site visits, when combined with a careful review of program goals and objectives, help determine which programs are most effective. This information is used by the volunteers of the Community Investment Team to make the final determinations about how United Way funds are allocated.

Once funding decisions have been made, the progress of funded programs, or outcomes, are tracked over time to ensure that programs are making an impact on issues and getting the necessary results.

Community Building is much more than just evaluating and funding agency programs. United Way takes an active role in other community organizations and initiatives, as well. We participate in the Greater Virginia Peninsula Continuum of Care Council-a consortium of nonprofits that provide a forum to address critical community issues; and the Peninsula Funders Forum-a partnership of other funding organizations that helps prevent duplication of services. United Way also shares leadership of the Peninsula Disaster Recovery Task Force, which provides long-term recovery assistance to victims of local disasters by coordinating the resources of local agencies, municipalities and businesses.

Offering Partner Agencies opportunities to increase knowledge that will improve services is another of our Community Building activities. In recent years United Way has offered agencies grantsmanship training, computer software training, and marketing assistance. United Way also partners with Thomas Nelson Community College to sponsor a Non-profit Management Certificate program.

If you have further questions, please contact our Community Building Department at 873-9328, Ext. 31.