2014 ANNUAL REPORT OUR MISSION - Live United. · wide assessment was done in 1977—a forerunner of the biennial LIFE Report done today, and United Way provided more information about

PROGRESS ON OUR ROADMAP FOR CHANGE2014 ANNUAL REPORT

OUR MISSIONUnite people and organizations in Marathon County to build a stronger community and strategically invest in education, income and health priorities to improve lives now and into the future.

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2014 BOARD OF DIRECTORSGary Bezucha President

Keith FierekPres. Elect

Jim McIntyreCampaign Chair

Mary Ellen MarnholtzVP Marketing

Dennis DeLoyeVP Administration

Patrick BradleyVP Community Impact

Duane MeyerAt Large Community Officer

Keith MontgomeryAssoc. Campaign Chair

Kathy DrenglerPast President

Leslie Brown

Denis Crevier

Janet Felch

Julie Fondell

Robin Hegg

Matt Heywood

Vicki Jeppesen

DeAnn Kmosena

Sherri Lemmer

Laura Martens

Sue Matis

Mark Munson

Mark Pisca

Joe Rohling

Harold Ruelle

Laura Scudiere

Methuselah (Lah) Thao

Bryan Troyer

Jim Waldron

George Whittier

Scott Ziemer

Joanne KellyExecutive Director

85 Years of Caring for Community

UNITED WAY OF MARATHON COUNTY

In the summer of 1930, a group of Wausau businessmen and civic leaders felt the time was right for the Wausau area to organize a local Community Chest, the forerunner of United Way. The intent was to consolidate the many fundraising activities to avoid duplication of effort and costs. The first campaign goal was $60,000, but the community raised almost $75,000 – at a time when this country was reeling from the stock market crash of 1929.

In 1957, the Wausau Community Chest became the United Fund of Marathon County. The occasion was marked by the lighting of an Olympic torch on the Courthouse lawn to recognize our United Fund as the 1000th Fund in the United States.

In 1972, the organization’s name was officially changed to United Way of Marathon County, Inc. and the role of United Way in the community began to evolve as well. The first community-wide assessment was done in 1977—a forerunner of the biennial LIFE Report done today, and United Way provided more information about how funds were addressing community needs.

The annual United Way Parade was started in 1986 by an enthusiastic group of volunteers and continued until

2012. In 2013, United Way’s CommUnity Fest, a competitive food sculpture/food drive and family activity day replaced the parade. In its first two years, CommUnity Fest has resulted in more than 40,000 pounds of donated food and $5,000 in cash donations for the Marathon County Hunger Coalition.

The Summit League leadership giving program started in 1987 and currently has 800 members. Those members collectively contribute over 40% of the annual campaign.

Women in Action was formed in 2007 to engage women in philanthropy in our community. Today over 200 women contribute their time, talent and treasure to help other women overcome barriers to being financially stable.

Emerging Leaders, a giving group of more than 300 young professionals, recently celebrated their fifth anniversary. They provide opportunities for members to connect with others at networking events, volunteer on various service projects and develop leadership skills through training and workshops.

United Way has evolved from a fundraising organization to an organization that brings the community

United Way’s distinctly different roles offer unique value to our community. No other organization is positioned to bring people, organizations and resources together to meet our community’s most critical needs. - Gary Bezucha, 2014 Board President

UNITED WAY OF MARATHON COUNTY ANNUAL REPORT 2014 3

together to look for solutions to large social issues. It’s not just about how much money we raise, or how many people we help. That’s important—but even more important is a focused effort to address the root causes of problems like homelessness, poverty, early childhood development, abuse and more.

Together with our community partners, we concentrate on preventing problems while maintaining a safety net for those in need. Since 2009, our work has been guided by the “Roadmap for Change” developed by more than 100 community members over many months of meetings and discussion.

In 2014, the direction first outlined in the Roadmap for Change was reaffirmed through an extensive Strategic Planning process.

During that process five key roles for United Way were identified:

Investing:United Way invests in quality programs at our non-profit partners. We strategically invest donor dollars in programs that are getting proven results, hold them accountable and ask them to report results. In 2015, we will

invest almost $2 million in 38 programs that are working toward common goals in Education, Income and Health. Convening:United Way convenes groups like the Marathon County Early Years Coalition to work on a common goal -- increasing the number of quality child care slots available in our community, for example. Last year United Way offered scholarships to child care providers to attend classes on early brain development. Understanding how toddlers learn helps providers do a better job of caring for our youngest children and preparing them to start school. Mobilizing:United Way helps other organizations serve their clients… we mobilize volunteers to build capacity through programs like Rebecca’s Closet. Teachers, social workers and case managers come to Rebecca’s Closet to get clothing, winter coats, boots, shoes, and other things that their students or clients need. One Headstart teacher told us that Rebecca’s Closet put a huge smile on the face of a little girl who didn’t have boots and wasn’t able to go outside with her friends to play. That seems like a little thing…. Unless

you are 4 years old. This program depends on volunteers and donations, but distributed over 10,000 items last year—that’s a lot of warm hands, dry feet and big smiles.

Connecting:United Way connects people to resources for help through 2-1-1 and to opportunities to give back through Volunteer Connection and RSVP. The service system can be overwhelming for some people, especially if they are in crisis. We make that system easier to navigate. Several months ago someone called back to 2-1-1 to thank them for the referral they made a few days before. That caller was thinking about ending her life and said she would have if we hadn’t connected her to a program that could help her. Our 2-1-1 service saved her life.

Evaluating:United Way wants to be very sure that the most important issues are being addressed. We not only ask our funded partners to provide us with results, we also look at broader community issues through the LIFE survey and report. We look for trends and plan for a way to address issues.

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Caring through Collaboration


Housing and Homelessness Coalition

Individuals and families in Marathon County face homelessness every day. According to United Way’s 2-1-1, rental assistance and access to community shelters were the top unmet basic needs in our community.

In recent years, the number of individuals needing shelter locally has declined, but the length of stay has increased. In an April 2014 survey, 35% of individuals had been homeless for more than one year, and an additional 40% had experienced homelessness for 30 days to 1 year.

The Housing and Homelessness Coalition opened the Community Warming Center in 2013 and is implementing a new pilot project to help homeless families. A 10 year plan to address homelessness in our community will be released in mid-2015.

The Marathon County Hunger Coalition

The Marathon County Hunger Coalition works with pantries, local businesses, schools, government and the faith community to address food insecurity across the county.

In 2014, collaborative grants and donations to the Marathon County Hunger Coalition totaled over 280,000 pounds of food and 720 dozen eggs. Approximately 86% of those donations would be considered “healthy” which is one of the goals of the coalition—improving the nutritional value of food available at local pantries.

The Hunger Coalition leverages grants to make large bulk purchases at wholesale pricing, providing even more value for every dollar donated. For example, they purchased frozen chicken at $.70 per pound, less than one half the retail price.

During the January 2015 Point in Time Count, volunteers found 6 people who did not have shelter and another 105 who were staying at local shelters or the Warming Center.

Housing & Homelessness Coalitionan initiative of United Way of Marathon County

Partnership for Youth

The cost of one day’s stay at a juvenile detention center is 10 times greater than the cost of one day for one student in our local public schools. Keeping youth in school and on track to a productive adulthood benefits everyone.

The Partnership for Youth Coalition brings community organizations together around this important issue. Since January 2014, common goals have been set and the Coalition is working on a variety of shared training programs focused on youth mental health and other topics of interest to those who work with youth in our community.

COALITION PARTNERS

UNITED WAY FUNDED PARTNERS*

Marathon County Early Years Coalition

In January 2014, “A Great Start for Kids” was identified as the long-term call to action by the LIFE Report of Marathon County. This led to greater community recognition of the importance of early childhood development.

One project of the Coalition, www.RaiseGreatKids.org, welcomed 2,808 unique users in 2014. This local website provides information on early childhood topics in the most relevant format possible for today’s parents.

Also, in 2014, access to quality child care was increased when 12 providers completed the four-course Infant & Toddler Credential through Northcentral Technical College.

The Early Years Coalition is reaching out to area employers to encourage family friendly workplace policies and is looking to increase awareness across the community to ensure a great start for kids in Marathon County.

AARPAchieve CenterAIDS Resource Center of WisconsinAOD PartnershipAspirus, Inc.AXA Advisors LLCB.A. & Esther Greenheck FoundationBig Brothers Big Sisters of Northcentral WIBoys & Girls Club of the Wausau AreaBridge Community Health ClinicCatholic Charities of Diocese La CrosseCenter for Veterans IssuesCESA 5CESA 9Childcaring, Inc.Children’s Hospital of WI Community ServicesCommunity Care of Central WICommunity Center of Hope Inc.Community Foundation of North Central WICommunity United Pantry (CUP)Compass CounselingCounty Market Covenant Community Church Food Pantry D.C. Everest School DistrictDowntown GroceryEdgar/Marathon Circle of JoyEdgar School DistrictFaith in ActionFamily Planning Health ServicesFirst Presbyterian Church Food PantryFirst United Methodist ChurchFootlocker.com/EastbayForward Service CorporationGI Associates of WausauGirl Scouts of the Northwestern Great LakesGrebe’s Inc.Greenheck Fan Corp.Saint Florian’s Food PantryHispanic Chamber of CommerceHmong American CenterKronenwetter Village GovernmentLeader CentralLeigh Yawkey Woodson Art MuseumMarathon Cheese CorporationMarathon County GovernmentMarathon County Restorative Justice ProgramMarathon County Special EducationMarshfield ClinicMCCDA/Head StartMinistry Saint Clare’s HospitalMichael’s Place Enrichment Center

Mirror Image Supervision Services, LLCMountain View MontessoriNewman Catholic SchoolsNorth Central Community Action ProgramNorth Central Health CareNorthcentral Technical CollegeNorthern Regional Center for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs Office of Congressman Sean P. DuffyOpen DoorPeaceful Solutions CounselingPick-n-SaveQuality Foods IGA Rib MountainQuality Foods IGA SchofieldRandlin Family Adult Care Homes, IncRotary Club of WausauRothschild Village GovernmentRuder WareSamoset Council Boy ScoutsSchofield City GovernmentSpencer King’s PantrySpencer Kids GroupState of WisconsinThe Neighbors’ PlaceThe Salvation ArmyThe Women’s CommunityUnitedHealthcareUS BankUniversity of WI - Cooperative ExtensionUW Marathon County UW Stevens Point VA Health Care System WAOW Newsline 9Wausau Area Mobile Meals, Inc.Wausau Child CareWausau City GovernmentWausau Daily MediaWausau Early Bird RotaryWausau Farmers MarketWausau School DistrictWausau Urban Community GardensWesley Church Food PantryWeston Farmers MarketWeston Village GovernmentWisconsin Judicare Inc.Wisconsin Public ServiceWomen, Infants & Children Nutrition ProgramWSAW Channel 7YMCAYWCA

AIDS Resource Center of WisconsinAmerican Red CrossAOD Partnership CouncilBig Brothers Big SistersBoys & Girls Club of the Wausau AreaCatholic Charities of the Diocese La CrosseCentral WI Literacy Council Inc.Childcaring Inc. Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Community ServicesCommunity Center of Hope Faith in ActionGirl Scouts of the NWestern Great Lakes

Hmong American Center Inc.Lutheran Social Services of WI and Upper MINorth Central Community Action Program Peaceful Solutions CounselingSamoset Council Boy ScoutsSpencer Kids GroupThe Neighbors’ PlaceThe Salvation ArmyThe Women’s Community Wausau Area Mobile MealsWI Automotive and Truck Education Association Wisconsin Judicare, Inc.


*Additional organizations may receive funding as part of a collaborative project.


Improve Kindergarten ReadinessCarmen and James are hardworking young parents who are struggling to make ends meet, even with two full time jobs. Their daughter’s day care costs were taking a huge bite out of their income. With the help of a Good Start Grant, they have been able to keep their daughter in a quality child care where she is developing the skills she will need for kindergarten.

Provide Emergency AssistanceCharlene is widowed and living on Social Security. She went to Catholic Charities for help because she was behind on her rent and her utilities were about to be disconnected. Catholic Charities used Emergency Housing Assistance Funds to help her avoid eviction, worked out a payment plan with her utility company and helped her search for a part time job. Four months later she is working and continues to be current with her payments.

Reduce Drug and Alcohol AbuseKylie successfully completed the Choices Program, remaining abstinent from all mood altering chemicals for over 9 months. She is attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings and her grades are improving. Kylie also changed her circle of friends and continues to work at developing a healthier, sober support system. She recently began sharing her story of addiction and recovery with other teens.

Improve Academic Performance and Career ReadinessSeven years ago Big Brother Chris met with an unruly kid who was running his mouth and getting into fights. Today, Little Brother Lucas is a high school senior, enrolled in a welding program at Northcentral Technical College and setting life goals. Through Big Brothers Big Sisters, with just an hour a week, Chris encouraged Lucas to work hard at school, ignore those trying to put barriers in his way and dream of a better future.

Investing in Results with Our Funded Partners



Decrease Demand for Basic Needs AssistanceAngie is a single mom who just wants to make a better life for her son. She currently works part time as a personal care worker. She’s attending classes to become a certified nursing assistant, but doesn’t have a car to get to the clinical site, which isn’t on a bus line. Wheels to Work helps her purchase a car and also teaches her budgeting and car maintenance. She will soon graduate and be on her way to providing for her family without assistance programs.

Decrease Relationship ViolenceJeff and Lindy were divorcing after several years of violence in their marriage. Their son, Zach, was afraid for himself and his mom. The court ordered that visits with his dad be supervised at the Visitation Center of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Community Services. Staff made sure that Jeff and Lindy did not have contact and that Zach was safe while spending time with his dad. After a period of time, they were able to advance to unsupervised visits and continue to re-build their relationship.

Improve Mental Health Through court ordered therapy at Peaceful Solutions Counseling, David learned to deal with past abuse and trauma that resulted in issues with anger and violence towards others. After completing therapy, he commented that he had learned to love and forgive himself and others. Today he is in counseling on a voluntary basis to continue his journey of healing and self-discovery.


If I Can Do This, Anyone Can!

The Housing and Homelessness Coalition, three non-profits, the City of Wausau and a local foundation came together to start a new and innovative family housing pilot program in Marathon County.

Our community now has four apartments available for homeless families to live rent free for up to 6 months. Having a safe and stable residence gives a family time to overcome obstacles like unemployment, poor financial management skills, lack of transportation or mental health concerns—all of which are addressed by a case manager assigned to the family. According to Jeff Sargent, NCCAP Director, “It’s much easier to look for a job when you know where you and your children will sleep tonight.”

Four families are currently living in the apartment building and making progress on their road to a permanent home.

One Families Journey: Lexie and Kyle know that they’ve made some serious mistakes. Mistakes that landed them in jail. Mistakes that cost them custody of their children, loss of their home and jobs. After release, they had no where to go and were staying in a shelter, but they were determined to start over and reunite their family.

They entered this program several months ago and are making real progress. Both are now employed and they remain drug and alcohol free—a condition of this program and a decision they made while incarcerated. They are also on the path of regaining custody and have progressed from supervised visits to unlimited visits with their children.

Lexie and Kyle are healthy, employed and on track to successfully complete this program and move into permanent housing.

It all started when my sister asked “Do you want to go to a meeting with me?”

That’s how Peggy explains her decision to go back to school to obtain her child care credentials. “We went to a meeting to hear about the classes, and it sounded great. But, I was worried about how I was going to handle studying, going to classes, taking care of my family and running my daycare business.”

Through United Way funding, child care providers could attend classes at a significantly reduced cost. Twelve local providers signed on for the first round of classes, and Peggy was there with them.

During those classes Peggy learned about early brain development and how children learn differently. “Instinctively, I was doing a lot of things right, but it was great to expand my skills.” For example, one child in her care loves stacking blocks.

Peggy started teaching her to count as she stacked. At 19 months, this little girl is counting—and excited to show off her new skill.

Peggy also learned how to track when each child reached developmental milestones and shares those records with parents. When she started classes, her day care had a 2 star rating from the state’s Young Star program. Now it’s 3 stars, and Peggy is determined to obtain 4 stars as she takes additional classes.

Peggy readily admits that she “hated school” when she was a teenager, but she’s excited to learn things that help her be a better teacher for the young children she cares for every day. She summed up her experience by saying, “Kids brain’s are like little sponges and they just soak up everything we can give them—it should be the best.”

Coming Together to Fight Homelessness



Connecting People

In 2014, United Way’s 2-1-1 helped 14,085 Marathon County callers get connected to community resources. While we have many services available in our community, navigating the systems can be overwhelming. 2-1-1 is there to help.

With the changes in health insurance related to the Affordable Care Act, 2-1-1 was able to help numerous people with enrollment questions. Elizabeth didn’t know much about the Affordable Care Act, but thought that there was a deadline coming up when she called 2-1-1. Her employer didn’t offer health insurance, so she needed

to find it somewhere. An Information Specialist gave her information about the open enrollment period and places that could help her with questions. Elizabeth only had one day to enroll, but she did get signed up for health coverage at the last minute, thanks to the information she received from United Way’s 2-1-1.

Since February 2011, 402 active RSVP members have provided over 105,000 hours of volunteer service to our local community. RSVP members performed 107 different volunteer jobs at nearly 50 nonprofit volunteer stations in our community. The value of all that volunteering is over $2 million dollars!

RSVP offers free programs aimed at those 55+ including monthly Coffee Hours, Retirement Well-Being programs, Blood Pressure Screening and Education, Technology Tutoring, and Job Center Unemployment.

Connecting Volunteers 55+ to Community NeedsRSVP of Marathon County

Helping You Help Others

In 2014, Volunteer Connection helped more than 90 local organizations find the volunteers they need. More than 8,000 people searched 462 available volunteer opportunities with Volunteer Connection’s on-line database. Some people selected on-going regular volunteer positions, while others chose to volunteer at one time events.

Volunteer Connection organizes two large scale projects:

The “Make a Difference Day” rake-a-thon clears yards of leaves for aging and disabled Marathon County residents and involves over 1000 volunteers.

Volunteers wrap gifts at the Wausau Center Mall during the holidays to raise funds for purchasing emergency diapers and formula distributed to struggling families through “Bundles of Joy.”


Membership in United Way Emerging Leaders continues to grow—now engaging more than 300 members in activities and events throughout the year. Members are encouraged to participate in Connect, Serve and Lead activities through the year.

CONNECT - networking and opportunities to tour local businesses during Back Stage Pass events.

SERVE - volunteer projects include cooking and serving a community meal, building Born Learning Trails in area parks and more.

LEAD - professional development offerings include “Ignite the Leader Within” with a national speaker each October.

Women in Action members are committed to improving the financial stability of low income women with families in our community. They focus their resources on programs that help families overcome barriers to self sufficiency—reliable transportation to get to work, scholarships to complete their education, mentoring and programs that teach basic financial skills, for example.

Membership provides opportunities to network, learn new skills and volunteer with various projects. Rebecca’s Closet, a signature project of Women in Action, distributes free chidrens’ clothing to low income families. Women in Action members provide the time and energy to sort, hang and distribute donated items.


Increasing Our Capacity to Care

Summit League members generously support United Way’s work with leadership gifts of $600 or more annually. This group of 800 people, committed to improving lives in our community, represents a substantial segment of total giving to United Way.

More than 300 members gathered at the Great Hall for the annual Taste, Talk, Celebrate event last fall. During that event, the Tocqueville Award, the most prestigious award presented by local United Ways, was presented to Robert C. Greenheck in recognition of his long time generosity to United Way and to our community.


Gold Aspirus, Inc.Greenheck Fan Corp.

Silver AwardBMO Harris BankCrystal Finishing SystemsEO Johnson Business TechnologiesFootlocker.com/EastbayLiberty MutualMarathon Cheese CorporationRegal/Marathon Electric

NationwideUnited Health Group

Bronze AwardAssociated BankD C Everest School DistrictDaily Herald MediaDomtar Paper Co., LLCExpera Specialty SolutionsGreen Bay Packaging Inc.J & D Tube Benders IncL&S ElectricLinetecMarathon County Government

Marshfield ClinicMenzner Lumber & SupplyMerrill Iron and SteelMid-Wisconsin Beverage, Inc.Ministry Health CareNorlen IncNorth Central Health CareNorthcentral Technical CollegePeoples State BankRiver Valley BankRuder Ware, L.L.S.C.Siemens Energy Inc.United Parcel Service

United Way of Marathon CountyUS BankWausau Chemical CorporationWausau Paper CorporateWausau School DistrictWausau Window and Wall Wipfli LLPWisconsin Public Service Corp

WPS Health Insurance

Investing in Our Community• As local businesses and the community changes,

so does United Way’s resource and program mix.

Circle of Excellence

Kindergarten Readiness (15%) $428,794

Success in School (13%) $370,591

Financial Stability, Housing, Food (19%) $530,150

Health & Safety (18%) $514,700

2-1-1/Volunteer Connection (8%) $233,738

Mission-Focused Community Service Work/Restricted Grant Service Projects (26%) $726,131

TOTAL COMMUNITY INVESTMENTS $2,804,104

Campaign, communications, & administration 611,792

TOTAL* $3,415,896

*Plus over $1.5 million in estimated In-Kind & leveraged donations

2014 COMMUNITY INVESTMENTS

Restricted funds and grants are received for special project work that expands our capacity to fulfill our mission. This includes projects described in this report such as Rebecca’s Closet or the Housing and Homelessness Coalition project and others.

• Not included in the income described at the right, is the value of additional in kind and leveraged resources that benefit the community – food, books, clothing, volunteer time, and matching grants, for example—are estimated at well over $1.5 million.

• The Board of Directors’ use of reserves in 2014 is being monitored to ensure we maintain a financially sound organization.

26%

15%

13%

19%

18%

8%

Net Campaign $2,667,054

Restricted Grants for Special Projects $515,359

Other (interest, match, endow,misc.) $37,655

Use of Reserves $195,828

TOTAL REVENUE $3,415,896

2014 REVENUE

Top Company and Employee Campaigns

OUR VISION:ASPIRATION FOR OUR FUTUREMarathon County is a safe and caring community where everyone achieves success in school, is financially secure and has good health.

705 S. 24th Ave, Ste. 400BWausau, Wisconsin 54401(715) 848-2927www.UnitedWayMC.org

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Documents

2014 ANNUAL REPORT OUR MISSION - Live United. · wide assessment was done in 1977—a forerunner of the biennial LIFE Report done today, and United Way provided more information about