UNITED WAY OF WESTCHESTER AND PUTNAM INC
336 CENTRAL PARK AVE, WHITE PLAINS, NY 106061502 www.uwwp.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: UNITED WAY OF WESTCHESTER AND PUTNAM IS AN ANTI-POVERTY ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO IMPROVING THE LIVES OF 40% OF OUR NEIGHBORS WHO LIVE IN POVERTY OR PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK, BY PROVIDING STRATEGIC RESOURCES AND TOOLS TO HELP STRUGGLING RESIDENTS LEAD A BETTER, MORE STABLE LIFE.

AN ANTI-POVERTY ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO IMPROVING THE LIVES OF OUR NEIGHBORS IN POVERTY.

COVID-19 THREW OUR COUNTRY A CURVE BALL, BUT UWWP WAS READY TO HIT THE BALL STRAIGHT ON. UWWP'S ESSENTIAL GOODS FOR BASIC NEEDS PROGRAM, FORMERLY KNOWN AS ITS GIFTS-IN-KIND PROGRAM, DISTRIBUTED $2,034,276 WORTH OF GOODS, INCLUDING FOOD, MEALS, BEDDING, CLOTHING, DIAPERS, HYGIENE PRODUCTS, TOILET PAPER, MATTRESSES, BOOKS, AND CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES THROUGH 100 AGENCIES TO 40,555 HOUSEHOLDS DURING THE 19-20 FISCAL YEAR. THE GOODS FROM THE ESSENTIAL GOODS PROGRAM ARE EITHER DONATED FROM OUR RETAIL PARTNERS OR ARE ACQUIRED BY UNITED WAY AT A BELOW MARKET PRICE. WHEN NONESSENTIAL BUSINESS WAS FORCED TO CLOSE ITS DOORS AND PEOPLE WERE ASKED TO STAY HOME, THROUGH ITS ESSENTIAL GOODS PROGRAM UWWP DISTRIBUTED 109,000 LBS. OF FOOD TO 6,200 HOUSEHOLDS, AND DELIVERED MEALS TO 2,641 HOMEBOUND SENIORS, THE IMMUNE COMPROMISED, HEALTHCARE WORKERS AND FIRST RESPONDERS. ADDITIONALLY, WHEN FOOD STUFF AND OTHER ITEMS WERE UNAVAILABLE, WE STEPPED IN TO MAKE THE PURCHASES AND BROUGHT THESE DIRECTLY TO THE DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL. WE GAVE OUT $150,000 WORTH OF SEALY TEMPER-PEDIC MATTRESSES TO WESTHAB'S TRANSITIONAL LIVING PROGRAM AND $10,000 WORTH OF DIAPERS TO FAMILIES WHO COULD NOT AFFORD BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC.

IN MARCH, WESTCHESTER COUNTY GOVERNMENT AND PUTNAM COUNTY GOVERNMENT DESIGNATED UNITED WAY'S HUDSON VALLEY 211 HELPLINE AS THEIR OFFICIAL POINT OF INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC REGARDING THE COVID-19 PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS. UNITED WAY'S 2-1-1 HELPLINE AND ONLINE REFERRAL DATABASE OFFERS FREE INFORMATION, REFERRAL, ASSESSMENT, AND CRISIS SUPPORT TO HELP PEOPLE ACCESS THE EDUCATION, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES THEY NEED TO ADDRESS EVERYDAY CHALLENGES. IN TIMES OF DISASTER, OUR HELPLINE PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE IN BRINGING INFORMATION TO THE PEOPLE MOST AFFECTED BY THE EVENT AND RELAYING THE NEEDS OF CALLERS BACK TO GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND FIRST RESPONDERS WHO ARE IN A POSITION TO HELP. SINCE EARLY MARCH'20 WHEN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED THAT WE ARE IN A PANDEMIC AND NEW YORK STATE BECAME THE CENTER OF THIS CRISIS, UW2-1-1 HAS EXPERIENCED AN INFLUX OF CALLS NOT ONLY FROM THE COMMUNITY, BUT FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND OTHER NON-PROFITS. UW2-1-1 WAS ACTIVATED BY WESTCHESTER AND PUTNAM GOVERNMENT EMERGENCY MANAGEMENTS TO ACT AS THE COUNTY'S HELPLINE DURING THIS CRISIS. UW2-1-1 HAS ALSO BEEN COLLABORATING WITH MANY COUNTY DEPARTMENTS IN ORDER TO ASSIST IN REDIRECTING CALLERS TO THE APPROPRIATE CHANNELS AS THESE DEPARTMENTS HAVE SEEN A HEAVY RISE IN THEIR CALL VOLUME. UW2-1-1 HAVE ALSO BEEN WORKING WITH LOCAL SOCIAL SERVICE DEPARTMENTS IN ORDER TO PROVIDE REFERRALS AND RESOURCES TO RESIDENTS. THESE RELATIONSHIPS HAVE BEEN VITAL TO SOLVING VERY COMPLICATED SOCIAL SERVICE NEEDS. 2-1-1 IS A CONFIDENTIAL, MULTILINGUAL AND COMPREHENSIVE SERVICE WITH A DATABASE OF MORE THAN 25,000 SERVICES AND PROGRAMS THAT ARE UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. TRAINED CALL SPECIALISTS ARE AVAILABLE 24/7, 365 DAYS A WEEK THROUGH THE UNITED WAY'S 2-1-1, AND CAN ASSIST CALLERS IN 200+ LANGUAGES (THROUGH LANGUAGE LINE) AS WELL AS THE HEARING-IMPAIRED. ONE CAN ALSO TEXT THEIR ZIP CODE TO 898-211 GET CONNECTED TO THE RESOURCES THEY NEED. THE COMMUNITY ALSO ACCESSES 2-1-1 RESOURCES THROUGH OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.211HUDSONVALLEY.ORG. 2-1-1 MAINTAINS THE MOST UP TO DATE COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES DATABASE IN THE REGION AND IS UTILIZED FOR REFERRALS FOR CALLERS, SOCIAL SERVICES PROFESSIONALS. OUR WEB-BASED SYSTEMS AND KNOWLEDGEABLE, COMPASSIONATE STAFF MAKE FINDING ESTABLISHED RESOURCES EASIER FOR INDIVIDUALS, HELPING PROFESSIONALS, AND GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES. ADDITIONALLY, OUR STAFF KEEPS TRACK OF THE NEEDS OUR CALLERS COMMUNICATE. BY DOING SO, THE SYSTEM GENERATES REAL-TIME DATA ON REQUESTS, COMPLAINTS, AND SERVICES. OVER TIME, 211 DATA WILL IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF PROGRAMS AND SERVICES BY MAKING IT POSSIBLE TO HARVEST ESSENTIAL INFORMATION ON RESOURCE ALLOCATION AND USE IT FOR POLICY DECISION-MAKING AND BUDGETING 2-1-1 HAS LONG ALLOWED OTHER NOT-FOR-PROFIT AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES TO REALIZE CONCRETE COST SAVINGS AND IMPROVED SERVICE TO THEIR CONSTITUENTS IN THE COMMUNITY.FOR FISCAL YEAR 19/20 UNITED WAY'S 211 HELPLINE HANDLED OVER 101,000 CALLS FROM FOUR REGIONS (HUDSON VALLEY, ADIRONDACKS, NORTHEAST AND LONG ISLAND) ACROSS NEW YORK, OF WHICH 67,000 WERE FROM THE HUDSON VALLEY. DURING THE SAME PERIOD, THERE WERE 7,581 SEARCHES OF OUR DATABASE OF OVER 25,000 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICE RESOURCES, VIA WWW.211HUDSONVALLEY.ORG.FUNDING SOURCES FOR 2-1-1 INCLUDE CONTRACTS/FEE FOR SERVICE FROM THE UNITED WAYS IN THE HUDSON VALLEY (INCLUDING UWWP) AND GRANTS/CONTRACTS WITH LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES.

SINCE THE START OF THE PANDEMIC IN MARCH 2020, UWWP WAS ABLE TO SUPPORT THE NEEDS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF HOUSEHOLDS IN WESTCHESTER AND PUTNAM. DURING 2019-20 FISCAL YEAR, WE ADMINISTRATED $1.12 MILLION IN CRISIS RESPONSE AND EMERGENCY FOOD AND SHELTER GRANTS, DISTRIBUTED OF OVER $2 MILLION WORTH OF ESSENTIAL GOODS FOR BASIC NEEDS, AND ANSWERED OVER 80,000 CALLS BY OUR 211 HELPLINE CALL SPECIALISTS. OUR COVID-19 RESPONSE AND EMERGENCY FOOD AND SHELTER GRANTS SUPPORTED THE WORK OF 68 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS IN WESTCHESTER AND PUTNAM THAT COLLECTIVELY HELPED 152,618 INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES WHO WERE DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED BY THE COVID-19 PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS. THE EMERGENCY FOOD AND SHELTER PROGRAM IN WESTCHESTER AND PUTNAM IS PART OF THE FEDERALLY FUNDED PROGRAM THAT IS MANAGED BY UNITED WAY WORLDWIDE. A LOCAL EMERGENCY FOOD AND SHELTER BOARD FOR EACH COUNTY, INVOLVING REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINE ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING LOCAL UNITED WAYS AND OTHER PUBLIC AND COMMUNITY LEADERS, ALLOCATE FUNDS FROM THE TOTAL COUNTY-WIDE ALLOCATION, BASED ON SEVERAL NEEDS-ORIENTED FACTORS INCLUDING EQUITY TO MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS, TO LOCAL 501(C)(3) AGENCIES REQUESTING EMERGENCY FUNDS TO EXPAND THEIR CAPACITY TO SERVE THE NEWLY HUNGRY AND HOMELESS. THE COVID-19 RESPONSE GRANTS WERE FUNDED BY MONIES RAISED BY UWWP AND THE ALLOCATIONS WERE DETERMINED BY ITS IMPACT COMMITTEE MADE UP OF VOLUNTEER BOARD MEMBERS.

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