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United Way Succeeds in Wells County By Initiating
And Leading Progress, Not Merely Waiting for It

By JUSTIN PEEPER
When United Way board members met last year, they realized they were off balance.
They compared their role in the community to a three-legged stool with three key purposes: fund raising, allotting resources and community impact.
The community impact, however, lacked, making the stool lopsided.
This discovery has produced some innovative changes at Wells County’s United Way because the organization wants to affect impact in the community more than before.
“Typically we’ve stayed away from doing any programs ourselves but we’re looking at things a little more differently now and we’re getting a little more active,” said Pamela Beckford, executive director of Wells County’s United Way.
In the past, United Way has given money to organizations and let them distribute it. This year, however, the organization has initiated its own programs.
“We want to create some sustained changes and I’m not sure we’ve done a very good job of that in the past,” Beckford said. “It’s not our sole role to raise money and give it away. It’s for us to analyze the community and look at how best the resources can be distributed in the community.”
Jon Brown, a United Way board member, attended the board retreat last year and supported the organization’s refined purpose.
“We felt that perhaps there’s an area out there not being serviced and we need to determine what that area is,” Brown said.
Beckford mentioned five programs United Ways heads and funds.
Imagination Library
Through this new program, which will likely begin later this year, every child in Wells County from birth through age 4 is eligible to receive a hard-cover, age-appropriate book every month.
If parents sign their children up at birth, they will receive 60 books from United Way.
“It’s a really cool program,” Beckford said.
The News-Banner will have more information about the program before it begins.
Santa’s Workshop
In the past, any family needing assistance at Christmas time had to fill out multiple forms at various Wells County agencies and hope one organization would assist them.
Not anymore.
United Way has developed a program so families only need to fill out one form at the Office of Family and Children.
“We’ve got a person we’re hiring to handle all of this and put it into the database so families don’t get missed,” Beckford said. “When a service organization wants to adopt a family, we can make sure we’re helping a broad base rather than a small group.”
Resource library
Part of United Way’s office will soon transform into a makeshift library for non-profit groups.
By July, United Way will house a resource library with books on board government, strategic planning and other information for non-profit groups.
United Way collaborated with the community foundation to create the library.
Community Resource Guide
Wells County’s United Way, working with First Call Help (an organization backed by the Allen County United Way) created “The 2003 Guide to Community Service,” a human services directory.
The more than 40-page booklet lists numerous services in Wells County, including private, non-profit organizations and government offices.
Wells residents can buy the books for $8 at the United Way office, and Beckford said United Way will update the guide annually.
211
By the end of 2003, Wells citizens can pick up the telephone, dial 211 and speak with an operator for nationwide social and human services.
Unlike the 911 system, phone owners will see no monthly charge on their bills, thanks to United Way, who will foot the bill.
211 callers will receive information about any range of services, ranging from abuse to youth and almost anything in between.
“It should be a seamless program,” Beckford said.
By 2005, 50 percent of the country hopes to have 211 services. Wells County, however, is far ahead of most places, thanks to Beckford and her staff.
United Way hopes to use grant money to pay the $1,500 211 start-up cost for the seven-day a week, 24-hour service.
Once 211 is functioning, the annual cost will be about $3,500, covered by United Way.
The two-person Wells United Way office fields many social-service calls every day, which leads Beckford to believe people will widely use the 211 service.
She also believes Wells County will continue to use United Way.
“I think the United Way has a very definite role to play in the community, and we certainly want to be very involved in that,” she said. “We’re in a wonderful community that has a lot to offer, and we want to do anything to strengthen that and make it even better.”
To make the community even better, United Way will kick off its annual fund-raising campaign Sept. 4 to collect more funds to help more people.
United Way will use money raised to subsidize some of the programs mentioned earlier, the 21 organizations United Way supports and several other projects “on the back burner,” Beckford said.
With United Way’s newfound presence in the community, Beckford hopes fund raising will be easier.
“I hope that people see more value for what they’re donating, that they’re getting more bang for their buck,” Beckford said. “I hope people will look ... and say, ‘Wow, United Way does do some good things.’”
Mark Miller, United Way treasurer, also hopes the organization’s refined community-impact approach will increase contributions.
He believes this year’s donations could increase because of Beckford’s work.
“I think Pamela has done a good job of giving United Way a higher profile and a more proactive approach,” Miller said.
Only time will tell if United Way’s revised focus will affect impact in the community as much as board members hope.
Brown says the best way to judge the organization’s effectiveness is to just wait.
“The idea is good, at least it appears that way,” he said. “It’s one of those things you start doing and you really have to get some results to analyze before you know if you were right or wrong doing it.”