Welcome, everyone, to Midday Magazine for this February 20th, 2024.
Have your host James J. Mailoff here joining us right now.
CEO of your United Way of Southwood and Ann's counties, Terry Johns.
Good afternoon, Terry.
We have to put it on our business hats.
We do and we have to be very mature before we do that.
I want to thank you for the amazing gift.
Thank you so much.
You are welcome.
Happy birthday.
Sweet.
Thank you very much for that.
I am embarrassed.
So I'm going to move on.
Terry, we got a lot of things to talk about with our friends over at the United
Way and the work that you guys are doing over there.
One of the things that I always appreciate and I like bringing attention to is your
funding applications.
You've got that up and running.
Yeah, we do.
So this is a good opportunity to kind of talk through even just what our funding
process looks like.
So the general public knows and also people who have made a donation understand
how the dollars get back to the community.
So our funding application is open right now and this is for all areas of
funding within our United Way.
So we fund programs in the areas of education, financial stability, health and
then safety net service.
All in total, there are 20 programs, 20, I actually take that back.
I didn't think about both communities, 29 programs total.
So that the dollars that we have to allocate are broken down.
But first, we need to know who needs money, right?
Who's looking for funding?
So those agencies in the communities that we serve, which is Southwood County
and Adams County.
And agencies within those communities can can ask for program funding because
we don't just fund general agencies.
That's an important, you know, kind of note is that we don't do any capital
expenditures.
So if you're putting up a new building, we're not your funding source.
We are all about programming and how dollars get right to the right to community
members, okay?
So all agencies can apply for program funding now.
That application is open through 4 p.m. on February 29th.
It has to be filled out online.
We don't accept paper applications.
We don't accept partial applications.
So if you are a program listening, you know, you may want to, if you think you
would qualify for United Way Funding, you should work on it now because
there are several pages.
It's not intended to be cumbersome, but it's really intended for us to be
able to get to know your program, right?
And really have a clear understanding what it is that you do.
Who you're serving, how you measure impact.
And that's an important piece, right?
So if you say, hey, I'm the sunshine, you know, program, I'm going to,
we're going to serve 100 community members in, this is 2025 funding too, by
the way, right?
So in 2025, we're going to serve 100 community members.
Well, we want to know what you're doing, but then we want to know how
you're going to measure that.
How will you know?
How will we know that you've served 100 people?
What are the barriers that you face?
You know, what are, what are some ways that we can engage and work together
and maybe work through, you know, some challenges?
Are you a nonprofit in good standings?
That's important to us, right?
Have you, have you maintained good standings with the state and done all of
the back office paperworky kind of things?
You know, those are important.
We asked them to provide us with a budget.
You have to provide us with a program budget.
Here's how much we're going to bring in in 2025.
Here's how we're going to spend it.
And of course, part of that budget would be, you know,
what they're asking for from, from United Way and theory, right?
So, so this is, this is kind of how the process goes.
It's been open.
We open it actually for the whole month of February.
So it's been open for a couple of weeks.
And we know that, you know, some of our long time existing partners are,
you know, are working on it, but we have an open application process.
So of course, any program that meets the criteria can apply.
There is no guarantee for funding.
And there also is no guarantee from year to year, you know,
a lot of our partners, our long-term partners.
And part of that is because over the years,
we've really worked with a lot of different programs.
And we've also, you know, our, I guess we're not,
we're not shy about or not afraid to say if there's a program that
maybe is just kind of not so great.
You know, we might say, hey, here's the changes you need to make.
You know, we need, we need your program to be at this standard.
Or, you know, we need to make sure that you're having a greater impact,
serving more, how can we make that happen?
So sometimes we stop funding programs.
Sometimes programs no longer need our funding.
A really great example and a wonderful program is Healthy Smiles.
So this is a sealant program for children for their teeth.
And we funded Healthy Smiles through with County Health Department
for years and years and years and years.
Well, one year probably, gosh, it's been a while now,
maybe like 2015, 2016.
The person who ran their program came to us and said,
hey, we're not applying this year.
Because we have enough reimbursement from, you know,
insurance that will and Medicaid that we can claim.
So we, we've become self-sufficient.
I mean, that's fabulous, right?
I really am.
You know, she said, I'm not saying we're never going to apply again.
But right now, you know, right now we don't have a need.
And so there are situations like that.
So for the most part, I would say we kind of have a good strong core group
that continue to help us reach the goals in the community
that we are trying to reach.
But sometimes programs come and sometimes programs go.
So it is an open, open application process.
When it comes to that process,
you've kind of given us a bit of an outline already.
But what is something if they've never done this before?
You're that sunrise company or that nonprofit or something
and you're looking to doing this.
Are there some other details you should know
before trying to fill this out or jumping into that?
Well, a good thing to know is just that you don't have to do
it in one sitting.
So you do have the ability.
You do have to create an account on our website.
And that's the only way we can't,
you know, we don't have like a paper version.
You can come pick up, right?
But you do have to have an account on our website
and you can save and come back.
And so that is nice.
You know, I mean, if you get in there and you're like,
oh, I don't know.
I have to research this or, you know,
there's also the classic, right?
The phone rings or you, you know, you have to, you can't,
you don't have uninterrupted time.
So the speech.
So it is, you know, it is good.
We do on the cover page have a lot of it laid out,
you know, saying you'll need this, you'll want this,
have this close by, you know, that kind of thing,
but you can save and come back to it.
So I think that's the biggest, you know,
biggest thing that we've put in place for the ease
of the person who's filling it out.
Another thing that comes to mind and what you've mentioned,
and I appreciate the example you gave
with the smiles organization because you guys cover
so much at the United Way.
And if I'm a listener and I'm hearing this and I'm thinking,
well, this is already covered.
I don't need to worry about that.
But maybe there's something in a gray area or something
that, you know, it's a field that you guys don't necessarily
touch on.
We want to encourage people to reach out with those ideas too.
There are no bad ideas with this subject.
Maybe not everything gets funded,
but there are no bad ideas of trying at least.
Yeah. And if it doesn't fit,
I mean, we'll just tell you, right?
It doesn't fit.
Or, you know, sometimes we'll have,
we might have a program that doesn't meet
all of the application requirements.
And so, you know, then honestly, the response is, you know,
hey, try again, try again next time, right?
Yeah.
But sometimes we also, you know,
a new program will get to the stage of actually, you know,
getting to do a presentation and closer to the,
to an actually being funded,
but again, there's no guarantee.
It's whatever, you know,
whatever we can raise in the fall campaign,
which is, you know, kind of the,
the linchpin of this, right?
Like if we don't raise it, we can't,
we can't distribute it.
And it's all the more reason why when we're,
we've got that fall campaign going on
while we want your,
need your help so much and appreciate it so much
because we're able to do so much with it.
Absolutely.
So then the next step in the funding process,
really James is that, you know,
we, I talked a little bit about the accountability piece,
but one of the things that we do
is all of the programs that we fund,
we visit, like actually in person,
go and visit those.
So that is happening.
Actually, our first visits are starting today.
This is for 2024 funded programs,
right, not the ones who are applying for 25,
but in many cases, they overlap.
And so we will be visiting from February 20th
until I believe the last one is March 14th.
So over that, like three week timeframe,
we will visit all of the programs that we fund.
Those visits are led by our community
engagement director, Ben Eberline.
And then our review panel volunteers are invited,
board members are invited, staff.
And so we, we really, you know,
want to see all the good things,
like actually see it happening that are going on.
And then it's also a good time for programs to tell us,
you know, hey, I'm having a challenge with this.
You know, what, is there someone you can pair me up with?
Is there someone we can be connected with?
So I think that's really good too.
So those are going on now.
Then the next step in funding is we have in April,
the agencies that are asking for program funding
actually come before us in a face-to-face format.
We have a panel of volunteers
that will read the written application, submit questions.
And then they will sit for, it's nearly a full day.
They will sit and hear 20-minute presentations
from the agencies that are seeking program funding.
So, you know, that's really awesome too,
is that they get to come in by then
our panel of volunteers.
These are, you know, community members.
We have a couple of staff people there,
but more to guide and help facilitate.
But these volunteers, you know,
they really put a lot of time in.
They read all of the applications, which is a lot.
They formulate questions from those.
They come, you know, and sometimes,
I mean, this may be sound silly,
but sometimes it's hard.
They give up a whole day and they are in the room
and attentive and, you know,
staying away from their technology
and, you know, laser focused on the programs.
And sometimes that's just, it's just hard.
And so we very much appreciate them for that.
And then at the conclusion of the presentations,
then we move into a deliberation stage
where those agents or those volunteers,
sorry, will actually come up with funding recommendations
to the community impact panel of our community of our board.
So it's, it's the heart, it's really funny.
We have some long time volunteers
that have volunteered with us in a variety of capacities.
I mean, everything from day of caring to something like this.
And they say this is single-handedly
the most difficult volunteering that they've ever done
because, because you want to, you know,
obviously, all always.
Yeah, you want to say yes to everything.
Well, and the asks succeed what we have to allocate.
Right? I mean, always.
Right? If we have $500,000 to allocate,
the asks are going to be a million.
You know, I mean, it just is like that.
And we're not special.
That happens to most funding sources, I think.
But it makes it really difficult,
especially when we've kind of weeded out already
over the years, you know, the programs
that are kind of mediocre.
And these are like, these are the top dogs, right?
Like they're doing great work.
So it is, it is tough.
But it's a really great experience and, you know,
looking forward to working with those volunteers.
Always thankful for the behind the curtain look
that you give us with this.
And I think that not only adds to why the United Way
is so supported, but also why we see the needs
that we do in our community so well.
The United Way puts that magnifying glass
on these things for us and gives attention to them
where some of us are fortunate enough
that they don't we don't run into some of these problems.
They help us aware of them.
And there's two really great notes about this process
and I think a couple of them I think
that are really important.
The accountability for these businesses
and these nonprofits is certainly noteworthy
with a lot of people donating to the United Way
to go to these things.
But it's also, it's not just accountability.
It's also assistance.
You mentioned something really important there,
I think I'm starting this, this sunrise nonprofit
and I've got this and I get the funding.
Great, all right.
Well, now what do I do?
Or oh, I got questions or oh,
this is coming up and stuff.
Having their back like you do the United Way does
is just as important as that accountability partner.
I think that that gets lost in the shuffle
a little bit sometimes for us.
So I think that's really unique.
And then to have citizens helping make these decisions.
That is so amazing.
That is exactly what this community needs.
It's what communities need.
It's the answer to what we're trying to do here
with the United Way.
The United Way wants to help the community.
The community's helping make those decisions.
It is awesome and it just all happens very organically.
And sometimes I think that's why we even forget,
not intent, but like the whole, you know,
when you said we might convene some people together
or help them through a challenge.
Like that's just second nature, right?
Like we don't just always even think about talking about it
because it's just part of what we offer to our partners.
And this funding application will wrap up again
for the United Way of Southwood and Ann's counties
on February 29th at four o'clock.
So make sure to get your applications in before then.
If you have questions, reach out to the United Way,
love to answer those questions for you.
Terry, I have rambled quite a bit about my free taxes.
I am a big supporter, big fan of it.
I have actually talked to a member of the IRS.
I don't know how deep or what her position was necessarily.
But I was talking with her because I had a question
about something the first year I did this
and I was a little worried.
And you know, your taxes are one of those things
you want to make sure to get right.
Do right, yes, yes, yes.
And I thought, well, this process was too simple.
So I literally like talked to somebody at the IRS
for the former service or wait on the phone forever.
I waited forever for that call.
But I had to make sure.
And it was one of the quickest conversations I've had.
I talked to her, I get out of my mouth.
So I was using my free taxes and I was a little curious.
And right away, she's like, it's understandable.
We get calls from this sometimes.
Your taxes are fine.
Like, did you do this, this, and this?
Yes, I did.
You're good.
You're okay.
This process is so simple.
For somebody like me, my kids are older than not,
you know, to count it as, you know, dependence.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Dependence now.
Yeah.
I have the two jobs.
My taxes are pretty basic.
For somebody like me, this is so perfect.
But it's also beneficial to a lot of people out there
that are in similar positions or make so much amount of money.
Absolutely.
So we have a really great partnership.
And when I say we, I'm thinking globally
with United Way worldwide has entered into a, you know,
relationship, I guess, with my free taxes.
So this is something that we as a local United Way
can offer members of our community
to have tax preparation done for free.
It is done online and you visit our website,
which is uwac.org.
There is a little banner at the top that says,
you know, my free taxes click here to learn more.
And it does give you a little bit of detail of, you know,
what might qualify or not qualify.
But really, if you have a pretty basic, you know,
tax return and your household income
was less than $79,000 in the year of 2023,
you qualify to have your taxes prepared for free.
There's a partnership with an online program
called Tax Layer.
You know, it's like, I'm sure that people,
more common ones, people have heard of turbo tax.
So, you know, like that.
But it is a, it's a similar software company.
And basically you just enter in
and you can use your smartphone, right?
You enter in your, take a photo of your W2s
and any other supporting documentation
that needs to be entered, you answer the questions
and then your taxes are processed for you at no cost.
The idea here is that we can help save people,
dollars that they would need to use on tax prep.
That could then otherwise be used
somewhere else in their budget, right?
So, you know, we're not trying to undercut
any, you know, any local businesses or anything like that.
But the idea is just that if someone has a pretty basic return,
they meet the criteria of less than 79,000 for the year
and they don't have intricate schedules,
you know, that have to be filled out with their taxes.
It's just, it's an awesome free service
that we have the ability to offer and think about.
If it's, let's say it's 200 bucks, right?
So, you could have 200 more dollars for your food budget,
for your rent, for how about for an emergency fund, right?
Like to just set that aside to have some savings.
So, you know, it's just win-win, right?
There is the intricacy, though,
of you have to be able to, you know, do it online.
You can't, like I said, you can do it from a smartphone.
It is mobile-friendly.
But keeping in mind that if you don't have a, you know,
a tablet or a PC at home or a laptop,
you could do it at the library.
You know, there's different,
there is different access points certainly for computers
if you don't already have that.
For me, one of the things that I wanted to do
to pay it forward because I appreciated this
in the United Way doing this, when I first saw that,
oh, I'm not having to spend that money on taxes.
You know, having somebody do them for me,
I took a portion of that and put it
into the Imagination Library.
That's where I go with it.
I don't put that on anybody, just giving you an idea.
And what you can do with that versatility
that is given with this.
And I will say to our local businesses out there
that do taxes and everything,
I think it'd be blunt about it.
The people that are going to be using,
that can use this service,
probably weren't going to those services anyway.
Oh, yeah, yep.
So, you know, win-win for the community, too.
I think that that's no worthy.
And this, the shut out the tax layer
into the company that's working with the United Way
on this, I think that's a really good note, too.
I appreciate that.
And I think, too, just based on the questions
that they ask you, they also might be discovering
some, you know, tax rebate kind of scenarios
that you wouldn't do on your own.
Not that, you know, I think that paper
is being completely phased out.
I mean, I think you can still do it,
but I think it's, you know, certainly on its way out.
But I'm just saying, it's just different versus, you know,
you just doing it on your own versus using something
like this where you're prompted to think about things
that you're like, oh, yeah, I guess that could count, right?
Like, or, oh, I could, I could claim that on my taxes
or whatever the case would be.
So, it is very user friendly.
I've had several people, of course, you know,
you've been a great testimonial for it.
But, you know, we've had other people contact us
and say, you know, gosh, it was really easy.
Or they kind of get hung up and maybe like you
where you were not skeptical, but just wondering, you know,
like, like, is this legit?
You know, we've sometimes had people call and say,
okay, it just asked me for this.
I'm like, okay, just put that in, just that.
Yep, just that.
You know what I mean?
Like, it's like, there's no, nobody's trying to trick you.
Like, it's just that.
So, I just encourage people, if you, if you qualify,
if you fall within the parameters, take a look at it.
If it, if it can't meet your needs, fine.
But if it can, you know, take advantage of it.
That's why it's there.
Yeah, it's definitely worth looking into.
You can find out more information and find that link
for that website at uswac.org.
Speak with CEO of your United Way of South Winningham's
County's Terry Johns and Terry wanted to wrap up
on Power of the Purse, one of our favorite events.
Yeah, this is just coming up really fast.
It's so exciting.
So we have Power of the Purse coming up on March 12th.
This event is geared toward ladies in the community,
encouraging them to come on out with their,
with their girlfriends or maybe their daughters or, you know,
whomever, gather the women in your life
and join us for this event.
The event supports all the dollars raised support,
early grade learning and literacy.
So our women united, which is an affinity group
of our United Way hosts this event.
This is the 13th annual, which is really crazy.
That's really cool.
So really exciting event.
And it'll be at Bull's Eye Golf Club on March 12th
from five until seven 30.
So kind of a happy hour style event.
We say hors d'oeuvres, but it's, you know,
we actually do a pass of bar.
So that's fun.
It's a meal.
So yeah, it is.
So there's, you know, there's food.
There's always a Bull's Eye always provides
a signature drink, so to speak, where, you know,
if you purchase that drink alcohol or not or no,
you know, a dollar of that goes toward the, toward the effort.
So I mean, you know, there's some fun stuff
like that that happens.
We have raffles and we have a really great
for the ladies out there who are listening and know this.
Dunian Burke, Purse and, and wallet set
that we have raffled tickets for right now.
So maybe you can't attend the event,
but you could buy raffle tickets.
Dollar P six for five.
So super easy.
I mean, those can be purchased from any
women United member or at the United Way office.
So if that raffle, we have raffles the evening of
that you have to be present to win.
We will be, we also have door prizes.
We're gonna play a little bingo.
You know, there's just a lot of great things,
but really the main event, so to speak,
is a hand-baked silent auction.
So there are 22 raffle purses
that people can come.
You purchase an event ticket, which is $35 in advance.
Again, can be purchased online at our website
or by coming to the United Way office.
So with your ticket, then you can come and bid on,
bid on those purses.
We have some really awesome, awesome purses.
I mean, I'm just...
She's chomping at the best.
I was looking forward to it.
Like they're great.
I wouldn't encourage you to, for like the 10 days prior,
we do little sneak peeks on our Facebook.
So that'll hopefully get you over to our social media,
but we'll show some of the purses.
So you know, the other thing I just want to say about that
is we do have a fair number of people who attend
who say, you know, not really into purses,
but they come because they believe in what we're doing.
So by helping to fund
Ali Parton's Imagination Library,
if you're not familiar with Imagination Library,
this is a book gifting program
for children from birth till age five.
So children in our community here in Southwick County
can have a 60 book library
by the time they go to kindergarten.
I mean...
What is better than that?
Absolutely no cost to their family.
So that's where the dollars are going.
We're supporting classroom grants.
We are supporting our reading mentor program,
which is happening in elementary schools.
All of that is supported by this event.
That's how great and robust this event is,
but we need ladies to come.
So I would say, you know, last year,
we had a record number of attendees,
and that was 120.
My goal is 150 this year.
We're just gonna, you know, we're gonna go for it.
So, you know, just really encourage you to,
if you've been there, join us again, if you've not.
Please come, please bring a friend.
And, you know, if you have questions,
just give us a call, 715-421-0390.
And is this an RSVP event?
It is.
So you do have to have,
you can purchase a ticket at the door.
They are $5 more at the door.
So if you know you're coming, do it ahead of time.
Otherwise, yeah, we do welcome people at the door,
because sometimes you just don't know what you're doing.
Don't not come because you didn't buy a ticket in advance.
Then the extra $5, it'll be worth it.
Yes.
March 12th, 5 to 7 over a beautiful Bullseye Golf Club.
Join our friends from the United Way for Power of the Purse.
We'll be talking more about this event
as we build up to it.
Terry, always great talking with you.
Thanks so much for the time.
You bet, thank you.
Find out more at www.ac.org and be sure to follow
the United Way and social media.
Great way to keep up on things in your community.
We'll take a time out and we'll have more great radio coming up
for you right here at WFHR, locally grown radio.
