United Way of America unveils ten-year plan

CHENANGO COUNTY – For several years, the United Way has been trying to increase accountability to its donors, and with a new report, released this year, the United Way hopes it will be able to track not only measurable outcomes but also progress over an extended period of time.

The United Way of America rolled out the new report at its National Conference this year. The report showed three factors that impede Americans from living a good life: income, education and health. According to the report, “Almost one in four working parents don’t earn enough to provide for their families. An alarming 25 percent of teenagers will not graduate on time, imperiling their chances to make a successful transition to adulthood. Only one in three adults can be considered healthy, based on risk factor data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and more than 49 million Americans lack even basic health insurance.”

The report tasked local United Ways to pilot a program in one of the three areas and track their results. “The United Way system could have an impact on these areas, and we should be able to track that impact,” said Chenango United Way Executive Director Elizabeth Monaco.

At the local level, Monaco said, each of the three topics fit into the Chenango United Way’s four focus areas, which are programs for children and youth, access to healthcare, poverty issues of housing and hunger and the aging population.

Monaco explained that each of the topics in the UWA report could fall into one of the CUW’s focus areas, and that the CUW had been tracking local data with its progress reports; however the UWA report listed target issues, intended results and indicators that could help determine those results.