United Way focusing on human needs

Pikes Peak United Way's annual fundraising campaign begins today with the same intent as in the past - to collect money from the community to help fund 42 local nonprofits that provide social health and human services.

But the effort to raise $6 million - the largest goal in the organization's 86-year history - has a different look. Gone are the big breakfast kickoff and giant thermometers around town to show rising donations.

Instead, the local affiliate of United Way of America is going the route of many of the 1,300 offices in the nation by de-emphasizing financial aspirations and emphasizing human conditions, causes of community needs and solutions.

"We're focusing on issues people want to have remedied and looking at ways to convene the resources and talents of the public, private and nonproffit sectors to solve them," J.D. Dallager, president and chief executive officer of Pikes Peak United Way, said Wednesday.

The organization is completing its second "Quality of Life Indicators Report," in which 150 local leaders assessed 100 quality of life issues in nine categories. Pikes Peak United Way will release the report Sept. 16.

It is also soliciting opinions from employees at hundreds of local businesses that allow United Way representatives to give presentations on its campaign, Dallager said.

After the information is compiled, United Way next year will set plans for addressing a handful of key problems, he said.

"The new thermometers will be things like, ‘Is the number of kids in third grade who read at third-grade level improving or not,'" Dallager said. "The old mentality is about numbers, because that's easily measurable. But what we're really about is community impact and creating lasting change."

The new tactic doesn't mean donations aren't important, particularly when demand for assistance from social and human service agencies is reaching record highs.

At Pikes Peak Community Action Agency, which received $62,000 from United Way this fiscal year, requests for help with utilities, rent, prescription drugs, gas and other emergency assistance are up 15 percent this year, said James Faber, chief executive officer.

He expects demand to exceed the 14,500 people the 44-year-old agency assisted last year.

"Without United Way funding," Faber said, "there would be thousands of families we wouldn't be able to serve, particularly in rural El Paso County."

Last year, United Way raised $5.7 million. Of that, $2.2 million was divided among the 42 partner agencies, Dallager said.

Another $1.7 million was designated by donors to go to a specific local charity, and the remainder was used for internal programs, including the 2-1-1 hotline for emergency assistance.

A group of 181 volunteers do site visits to partner agencies and decide how much each agency receives.

Many of the volunteers work for businesses that encourage employees to donate to United Way, including Agilent Technologies Inc., which last year won "best large campaign."

"Seeing the need is a catalyst for employees to donate," said Chris Witt, operation manager for the network solutions division.

Sixty-one percent of the company's 550 local employees donated $138,000 last year, which Agilent matched, for a total of $276,000, Witt said. The company, which develops equipment that tests and measures computer networks, lets employees volunteer while on the clock.

"It's been one of our core values to be involved and give back to the community because it leads to the community being a great place to live, which means we can attract the best employees, which strengthens the business," Witt said.