In June 2011, United Way of Calvert County (UWCC) launched a new strategic direction focused on bringing Calvert County together around strategies that prevent crisis and provoke positive change. Through focus groups, surveys, and community forums, UWCC sharpened its focus on four issue areas essential to making a lasting impact on Calvert County’s residents: School Readiness, Youth Engagement, Financial Stability and Healthy Lifestyles.
In its 5 year strategic plan, UWCC has set goals toward children and youth reaching their potential, families achieving financial stability and individuals of all ages leading healthier lives. Accountability is integral to United Way, so they have set goals that measure specific community changes like improving language and literacy school readiness scores, increasing the number of applicants receiving Earned Income Tax Credits, or recruiting more adults to meet the recommended daily physical activity guidelines.
A perfect example of this new approach is evident in the Healthy Lifestyles impact area, focused on reducing obesity in Calvert County. The 2010 Maryland Behavioral Risk Surveillance System results show 73% of adults in Calvert County are overweight or obese. To confront this issue, UWCC started “Calvert Can: Eat Right, Move More” – a countywide health initiative led by Calvert Memorial Hospital in partnership with local agencies, providing free and low-cost fitness and nutrition programs to populations most at risk, which will benefit an estimated 500 residents.
“The Community Impact approach is exciting because more than ever we are truly engaging the community to set the goals and participate in the actions needed to make lasting changes in people’s lives,” says President and CEO Kelly Chambers.
The approach is two-fold: piloting or funding programs that align with these strategies and secondly engaging the community to collaborate in low cost/no cost endeavors. In 2011, the UWCC Board of Directors, comprised of local citizens from diverse professions and backgrounds, held a comprehensive review of requests for proposals and awarded funding to 17 programs of local agencies, in addition to developing pilots for new collaborative programs. UWCC has partnered with agencies, leaders, and citizens from across our community to form Community Impact Councils. In the Councils, they brainstorm new strategies to target specific populations and/or neighborhoods and explore possible grants and funding sources.
“We can keep putting our finger on the leak to try and stop the flood or we can work hard to prevent the flood in the first place,” Ms. Chambers continues. “This t
