Renee’s Reflection: Mobilizing Caring Power for Community Resilience
Our early April Tocqueville Conversation sparked an enlightening discussion on the ways we come together and address urgent needs when people face their hardest times – both as individuals and as a united community. We talked about the Community Resilience pillar of the Plan for Community Well-Being, and learned that a resilient community means more than responding to disasters and tragedies, it also means empowering our community to help and building civic leadership to avoid disasters in the future.
I loved seeing so many of you at our most recent Tocqueville Conversation, learning about the work you’re driving to make our community more resilient.
As we discussed during our conversation, when people are in crisis it’s challenging to know where to go for help. And, with so many opportunities to help, it’s hard to know where to make the most impact. United Way is proud to understand the big picture and mobilize the most effective resources to make a meaningful, measurable difference.
On that tragic morning in December, an hour after the shooting at Abundant Life Christian School (ALCS), I received a call from Mayor Rhodes-Conway to help. Our team at United Way jumped into action, with 211 ready to take calls, and staff assigned to support ALCS staff and set up a fund to support the school, its teachers and student families.
By that afternoon, we’d connected with school leadership and mobilized the ALCS Emergency and Recovery Fund which has now raised $609,000. These funds support the families who lost loved ones and those needing medical care, as well the long-term mental well-being of students, faculty and the larger ALCS community as they navigate impacts we haven’t even seen yet. Thanks to your continued support of United Way and our talented team, 100% of the dollars raised will go directly to the ALCS community. In addition to the fund, we coordinated offers of mental health services and in-kind donations, set up on-site resource fairs and partnered closely with local emergency response agencies.
A resilient community means more than responding to disasters and tragedies – it means listening to and understanding the needs of our most vulnerable neighbors, building connections and designing the efficient and effective social support structures to avoid disasters in the future. That includes ensuring that more people know how to help effectively.
There are two additional ways we do our Community Resilience work. First, by connecting people to resources they need most when they find themselves in personal crisis through our 211 service, and second, by creating opportunities for community members to volunteer their time to support their neighbors.
Our 211 call center connects people with resources 24/7, a service that United Way of Dane County has provided for over 35 years. As external forces impact people’s lives, they increasingly turn to 211 to help get them through challenging times.
In 2024, we saw increased calls across our seven-county coverage area. In particular, we heard from 31% more neighbors in need of housing and 58% in need of utility payment assistance. For each of the over 26,000 calls for support, our 211 staff were there to provide empathetic, professional support to connect our neighbors with the resources they urgently need.
Additionally in 2024, we mobilized 5,296 volunteers through youth volunteerism, our Business Volunteer Network, ImPacks for corporate teams, READI (retired employees are dedicated individuals) and matching nonprofit volunteer opportunities with individuals, families and teams looking for projects through our web portal. Another 599 volunteers generously invested their time directly with United Way of Dane County committees, including many of you who serve on the Tocqueville Committee!
We are lucky to live in a community brimming with caring power. I am consistently in awe of the commitment and generosity that you all add to our collective work. Not only do you invest your dollars, but you give your time as well. And you set an example for the next generation.
As you know, philanthropy is deeply personal. When we connect personally to a problem in the community, it unlocks a deeper well of motivation to give back.
None of this would be possible without your continued support, investment and trust in United Way. Thank you.
