Within the United Way system, Community Impact means mobilizing communities to create lasting changes in community conditions that improve lives.

Community Impact

• is not just about improving lives of clients of United Way-funded programs.
• It is about improving lives of people affected by pressing community issues.
• It is not about relying only on the health and human services sector.
• It is about mobilizing all of the sectors, systems, networks, groups, and environments that can play a role in improving lives in our communities.

United Way of the Greenbrier Valley is making the move to a community impact model. A strategic planning committee was formed in the spring of 2009 and spent nine months putting together a plan to transition to communtiy impact. The plan was presented and adopted by the United Way board of directors on January 23, 2010.

During the remainder of 2010, Ad Hoc's in Health, Income and Education will meet to determine our community's most critical issues. Partnerships will be formed to identify impact strategies and beginning 2011, United Way will begin funding impact strategies that will change community conditions and improve lives.

In line with a community impact model, United Way of the Greenbrier Valley has adopted the following mission, vision and Value statements:

Our mission: To improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of the communities in Pocahontas, Greenbrier, and Monroe.

Our Vision: LEADING our communities to FOCUS on issues and BUILD solutions that IMPROVE lives. AIM H.I.E.

Our Core Values: ALIVE: Accountability - We act with integrity and maintain the highest standards of ethics and accountability. Leadership - We provide leadership for community building. Inclusiveness - We respect the dignity, uniqueness and worth of all individuals and value the diversity of the community we serve. Volunteerism - We promote a 'spirit of volunteerism' and volunteer leadership. Excellence - We provide the highest quality in all we do.

Advancing the Common Good

United Way of America's Advancing the Common Good focuses clearly on both the lives they aim to benefit and the community conditions they must change in order to improve lives.  In order to advance the common good, we must create opportunities for a good life for all through education, income, and health.

AIM H.I.E.

       Health, Income, and Education,

Health - Improving people's health.

Income - Promoting financial stability and independence among working families.

Education - Helping children and youth achieve their potential.

Warming Hands & Hearts is an emergency assistance initiative that began in 2006 to help low-income families who are struggling with the high cost of heating. Each County collaborative represents service providers, faith based organizations, the Department of Health & Human Resources, and United Way. With everyone at the table, emergency assistance dollars can be pooled to stretch as far as possible.
Data collected through 2009 show that 1,564 amilies (2,726 adults and 1,869 children) in Greenbrier, Monroe and Pocahontas Counties have been helped by Warming Hands and Heart, and over $104,948 has come from United Way.

Born Learning is an early childhood education initiative in collaboration with area experts. We know that what happens in a child’s early years matters for success in life and for school readiness. Children are learning constantly, right from birth. They are born learning, and what they learn during the first five years depends on the experiences they have each and every day. Many parents and caregivers don’t always know exactly what actions to take to prepare young children for school. That’s why United Way and collaborative partners have launched Born Learning. This initiative is designed to help parents, caregivers and communities take action to provide quality early learning opportunities for young children. 

The Born Learning campaign is built on three cornerstones: awareness, education and action. Here's what we're doing in the Greenbrier Valley:

Providing research based educational materials to parents and caregivers including: user-friendly tools, tips, and answers to help care for young children; fact sheets on a child’s ages and stages; brochures on how to maximize play; at-a-glance cards that you can throw in a diaper bag; and checklists for everyday use.

Providing computers and age-appropriate software to child care facilities to help increase the accessibility of technology for children, ages 2-5, who represent the fastest growing age group accessing the Internet.

Installing Born Learning Trails at Allen Park in Ronceverte, the Alexander Walking Trail in Union, and the Greenbrier River Trail in Marlinton. The trail is a series of learning activities that any adult can play with young children. It is designed to help adults interact with children to boost language and literacy development and to help caregivers understand how to best support early learning in outdoor everyday moments.

For more information on early childhood education, visit www.bornlearning.org