Cooperation brings many happy returns

The United Way has a 50-year legacy of raising millions of dollars for area service organizations in the Cape Girardeau area, but its achievements extend beyond money.

"Hopefully, we are turning more people on to volunteering," said Nancy Jernigan, executive director of the United Way of Southeast Missouri, formerly the Area Wide United Way. Jernigan announced the name change at the organization's annual meeting Friday.

"Giving back is the real essence of life," she said.

While the annual fund drives draw most of the publicity, encouraging area residents to volunteer to help with service agencies, projects and programs is the deeper mission, she said.

Former board president Don Strohmeyer, who now lives in St. Louis, said much of the local United Way's success has been in getting a diverse group of agencies -- everyone from the Salvation Army to the American Red Cross -- to work together to meet community needs.

Jernigan said the United Way brings its funded agencies together for quarterly meetings. "We talk about what we have going on," she said.

The local United Way has raised over $14 million in the past half century since its inception in 1954. In all, the United Way has allocated $11.5 million to 52 different agencies and programs over the years. Another $300,000 to $400,000 has been allocated in one-time grants for community projects since 1999. The rest of the money has gone for expenses to operate the United Way, Jernigan said.

Over time, a funding allocation process has developed that helps assure money is spent as intended and that the organizations aren't relying solely on the United Way for funding, Jernigan said.

The United Way has provided training and worked to improve the financial administration of its now 32 funded agencies and programs.

The United Way subscribes to an Internet service that provides a listing of over 80,000 foundations that offer grants. Agencies can access the service from a computer at the United Way office at 1858 Broadway.

The United Way also helps recruit board members for its participating agencies, an important role in any community organization, Jernigan said.

The United Way, which raised a local record of more than $1 million in its 2003 campaign, benefits from the fact that many area businesses have implemented employee payroll deductions. Today, 75 percent of the organization's annual revenue comes from employee payroll deductions and corporate donations. As a result, Jernigan said, thousands of people now feel a part of the United Way through giving as little as a few dollars a week from their paychecks.

"No contribution is too small," she said. "It adds up."

When the United Way began 50 years ago, it raised $43,630 to help seven local organizations.

But over the years, the organization has expanded both its fund-raising efforts and its mission.

In May 1984, United Way merged with the Jackson Community Chest fund-raising organization. For the first time, people in Cape Girardeau and Jackson were united in a single fund-raising campaign.

"That was a big step," said Don Rugraff, who headed the United Way board that year and now lives in St. Louis.

Rugraff and other former board members credit Dorothy Klein, who served as executive director from 1979 to 1995, with turning the United Way into a well-run organization.

"Dorothy made it professional," former board president Strohmeyer said.

In 1992, the United Way expanded again, this time to include Scott City.

Its mission began changing too. Founded initially just to raise money for other community organizations, over the years its board members have taken an increasing interest in tackling community issues.

"Now we have changed our focus from just fund raising to community impact," Jernigan said.

Helping the helpers

In August 1999, for example, First Call for Help opened in Cape Girardeau, funded largely by the United Way.

First Call for Help coordinator Denise Wimp answers telephone calls from people who don't know where to go, asking for help with everything from housing assistance to medical care.

The service is available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The $37,000 program, funded by the United Way and the Community Caring Council, includes a community case manager to work individually with needy people and families as warranted.

Since it was established, First Call for Help has fielded more than 11,500 telephone calls from area residents needing help. The organization recently helped an 18-year-old homeless woman who was eight months pregnant. Wimp's organization helped her find housing and get medical care. The baby was born earlier this year in a Cape Girardeau hospital.

Wimp said that without the United Way, which pays $23,000 of the cost of the First Call program, it would be more difficult for needy people to find help.

"If this wasn't here," she said, "people would fall through the cracks."

Wimp said the program doesn't provide the housing or the medical care or rental assistance. It puts those in need in contact with other agencies that provide such services, she said.

"Coordination is the name of the game in anything," she said.

The United Way is getting even more involved in community needs this year. United Way officials have announced plans to tackle four key social issues -- public transportation, affordable medical care, family issues and drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse in an effort to improve life for area residents.

United Way committees, helped by the Community Caring Council, are studying those issues.

The United Way hopes to have a plan of action in place within the next 30 to 60 days, Jernigan said.

"It's not always about money," Jernigan said. "It's about changing public policy."

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123