About Us
United Way of Santa Rosa County touches the lives of more than 40,000 Santa Rosans each year. Through our programs and funded agencies, we touch the lives of 25 percent of Santa Rosa County's population.
We are working to advance the common good by focusing on education, income and health. These are the building blocks for a good life - a quality education that leads to a stable job, enough income to support a family through retirement, and good health. We serve two functions: 1) to fundraise for health and human services organizations in Santa Rosa County, and 2) to provide services that fill community needs.
Our goal is to create long-lasting changes that prevent problems from happening in the first place. Through our programs, fundraising efforts, and partnerships with local agencies and businesses, we create opportunities for success.
History
In 1887, a Denver priest, two ministers and a rabbi recognized the need for cooperative action to address their city's welfare problems. The Reverend Myron W. Reed, Msgr. William J. O'Ryan, Dean H Martyn Hart and Rabbi William S. Freidman put their heads together to plan the first united campaign for 10 health and welfare agencies. They created an organization to serve as an agent to collect funds for local charities, as well as to coordinate relief services, counsel and refer clients to cooperating agencies, and make emergency assistance grants in cases which could not be referred. That year, Denver raised $21,700 and created a movement that would spread throughout the country to become United Way. Over 120 years later, United Way is still focused on mobilizing the caring power of communities and making a difference in people's lives.
The United Fund of Santa Rosa County, forerunner of the United Way of Santa Rosa County (UWSRC), was organized in 1957 and raised $8,600 in its first year. The organization has conducted successful campaigns ever since. The name was changed to United Way of Santa Rosa County in February of 1977 to better utilize the national visibility of United Way and to reflect the fact that the organization does more than fundraise. Today, the organization supports 19 health and human services organizations. UWSRC provides a wide range of its own county-wide services including supply drives, volunteer recruitment and various projects throughout the year. UWSRC's system uses a single fundraising campaign at the workplace, coupled with a volunteer citizen review for the funds allocation and planning process. Funds are then distributed to funded partner agencies based on community needs.
|
