UNITED WAY OF NORTH CENTRAL MASS INC
649 JOHN FITCH HIGHWAY, FITCHURG, MA 01420 www.uwncm.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: The mission of UWNCM is to create opportunities for a better life through innovative leadership that improves the human condition by mobilizing the caring power of the community.

United Way of North Central Massachusetts awarded and distributed 2.96 million in grants during fiscal year 2019 2020. In addition to our grant making, the United Way is also focused on mobilizing the caring spirit of the community through its volunteer center. The goal of the grants distributed and the work of our volunteers is to provide immediate assistance to those in need, whiling creating a community where everyone has the opportunity for a better life. United Way of North Central Massachusetts creates these opportunities though it work in the areas of early childhood literacy, youth development, and providing basic needs. These priorities help to guide our efforts throughout the year. Additionally, we fund 38 programs, delivering over 60,000 health and human services and educational programs through local nonprofits. The United Way also has community initiatives that include the following:United Way Youth Venture, a partnership between the United Way and Mount Wachusett Community College. Youth Venture is an initiative inspiring and investing in teams of young people, allowing them to design and launch their own lasting social ventures. During this past fiscal year, 70 new teams were created with over 7,300 students engaged. The Early Literacy Innovation Zone of North Central Massachusetts (Innovation Zone), powered by Footsteps2Brilliance is a public/private partnership that was implemented in May 2018. The Innovation Zone is comprised of 10 local school districts and/or communities including Fitchburg, Leominster, Narragansett, Clinton, Gardner, Lunenburg, Athol-Royalston, North Middlesex, Ayer-Shirley, and Winchendon. This partnership between UWNCM and Footsteps2Brilliance brings a regional approach to early literacy and provides comprehensive solutions in addressing school readiness and third grade reading proficiency. School districts that participate in the Innovation Zone provide all students up to 3rd grade with comprehensive applications in English and Spanish. These services are provided free of charge. The applications have proven to accelerate literacy, vocabulary, writing and critical thinking skills in young children. In 2019 almost 70,000,000 words were read by students throughout our service area. . The mission of the UWNCM Volunteer Center is to inspire, motivate and mobilize the community residents, businesses and students. This mobilization leads to people being actively engaged and becoming Changemakers in the 22 cities and towns served by the UWNCM. We accomplish our mission through community partnerships and collaborations that assist the local non-profit agencies to carry out their individual community goals. During this past year, the Volunteer Center has collaborated with local companies interested in one-day community service projects, family projects, the Day of Caring and the Combat Hunger events. AIS, Inc. is a corporate partner for the volunteer academic mentoring program, Partnering for Literacy and has also provided COVID-19 protective masks for distribution to our local agencies.Leominster Public School is an additional community partner for the Partnering for Literacy program. As a partner they are helping to support the UWNCM early childhood literacy initiative. The program is an academic mentoring program that includes a social mentoring component. The model is designed to enhance the peer relationship which is encouraged and supported by the mentor. The time commitment is one hour per week for the entire school year. We recently modified the mentoring program to allow a ratio of one-to-one mentoring to mentee. This flexibility enables children that require more attention and assistance to benefit from the program. A single, one-to-one mentoring model was implemented as a pilot initiative in 2017 and successfully targeted children with a higher level of need. The UWNCM Volunteer Center website continues to be actively used by individuals and companies seeking volunteer opportunities in the community. Volunteers that register for large events such as the Day of Caring and Combat Hunger are managed and tracked through the website. Currently the website has 164 active agencies with over 108 active volunteer opportunities. The website also provides information regarding special events. Special events include the following:Day of Caring:Number of agencies participating - 46 Number of projects - 57 Total number of volunteers - 591 Combat Hunger:Number of Events 2Total number of meals served 55,556Summary of Event Results:Overall total number of volunteers 1,173 Total number of volunteer hours 3,453In 2019 the UWNCM introduced a new initiative through our Combat Hunger Program. This new initiative, Combat Hunger Revved Up provides dinner kits that include additional items/ingredients to enhance the flavor of the kits. The Revved Up dinner kits includes canned vegetables, canned meats, and spices that are more in line with the ethnicity of the households served. There were a total of 4 Revved Up kit events, providing 700 kits with the assistance of 34 volunteers who contributed 34 hours of volunteer time. Partnering for Literacy, was established as a pilot initiative in September 2017. The following provides volunteer time and effort provided to this initiative from the time period of October 2019 March 2020. Total number of Volunteer Mentors 12Total number of Kindergarten student mentees 19Overall total volunteer hours 164Mass 211, sponsored by United Way, is a free informational and referral service connecting residents to health and human services in the community. This program serves as a critical link to emergency services before and during COVID-19. Familywise affords prescription discounts and savings to local residents that are uninsured or underinsured. This discount program has saved residents the following:Residents have saved $2.4 million since the launch of the programIn 2019 residents saved over $400,000 The UWNCMs Emergency Shelter Fund provides shelter to homeless individuals during the months of extreme winter weather. During this fiscal year the fund has provided the following level of assistance:Helped over 94 peopleProvided 22 nights of lodgingIn March 2020 the UWNCM established the Stand United COVID-19 Relief Fund. The UWNCM worked with our network of non-profit agencies to help those hardest hit by COVID-19 as they deal with basic needs such as food, childcare and housing challenges. This fund serves as a gap filler for local service providers who identified individuals and families whose household income was impacted as a result of COVID-19. These funds were 100% pass through dollars going directly to households in need. In 2019 2020, our agency distributed $86,500 to agencies and organizations throughout the region and provided financial assistance to 2,173 households.

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