UNITED WAY ANNOUNCES ALLOCATIONS FOR 2000

The committee allocating United Way funds was working with more money this year than they ever have before, but that didn't make the process any easier, said the committee chair.

"There are always more agencies and needs than money," said John Mehner, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the United Way allocations/program review committee. The United Way Thursday announced allocations for the more than $800,000 raised during its 1999 campaign. After deducting uncollectable donations and reserve funds, $618,963 was allocated.

For the second year, the United Way allocations are for programs agencies run rather than to the agency as a whole, said Nancy Jernigan, executive director of United Way.

"We are targeting our money to programs that the community needs," she said. "We are targeting needs where we can really have an impact."

Some agencies provide many services, not all of which fall under the United Way mission of meeting community needs in the health and human services areas, Jernigan said. The Salvation Army's emergency assistance, youth programming and disaster services programs, which received a combined total of $60,000 in this year's allocations, meet United Way criteria, while its religious programs would not.

Funding programs rather than agencies helps communicate to donors how money is being used, Jernigan said.

"Donors are becoming more educated and want to know exactly what their money is being used for," she said. "As people are asked to donate more money, they need more information so they can make decisions about their personal giving criteria."

Program-based allocations are a more beneficial, more efficient way to spend donated dollars, Mehner said.

Rather than funding an agency because it's a good agency or because it has received funding before, the United Way now looks at how many people a program serves and what needs it meets, Mehner said.

If an agency is asking for an increasing in funding for a program, it is asked to substantiate the need for the increase, Jernigan said.

APPLE (Applications, Personal Papers, Legal and Environmental), which received $5,988 last year for its program to provide paperwork assistance to seniors, had its funding increased to $8,500.

"APPLE had an increase in clients and showed how much money their services were saving seniors," Jernigan said.

The Association for Retarded Citizens dropped a program from its funding request, so ARC's allocation went from $37,500 last year to $20,850 this year.

One agency, Radio Information Service, was dropped from the allocations list. Its program to provide radio information services to the blind is based in Carbondale, Ill., through it served some clients in the Cape Girardeau area. Jernigan said the agency was not adding new local clients and present clients had radios to receive the service. Jernigan said it was a mutual decision that the Carbondale agency seek other funding.

New to the allocations list is $5,000 for Success by 6, a United Way initiative to coordinate programs directed toward early childhood development so children are ready to enter school, Jernigan said. The goal is collaboration of existing programs for children from birth to age 6 and identifying unmet needs and gaps in services.

The United Way is also holding back $90,000, which will be allocated later in the year to address specific needs identified in a recent community assessment conducted by United Way.

The community assessment, which involved gathering information from agencies, law enforcement and community leaders, identified four major needs in Cape Girardeau, Jernigan said. They are transportation, affordable housing, substance abuse among youth and assistance to low-income families.

This spring, a committee will work on the best way to meet these needs, whether it be collaboration from existing programs, the shifting of the focus of existing programs or new programs, Jernigan said.

AREA WIDE UNITED WAY ALLOCATIONS

United Way will allocate funds to at least 26 local agencies and organizations in 2000 to support 42 specific programs. Distribution of funds from largest allocations to smallest:

TOTAL FUNDS ALLOCATED TO DATE: $618,963

$114,863

Area Wide United Way

* Operating costs and campaign expenses

$90,000

To be allocated later in year

$75,000

American Red Cross

* Emergency services

$60,000

Salvation Army

* Emergency assistance

* Youth programming

* Disaster services

$45,000

Girl Scouts of Otahki Council

* Alternative membership services

* Diversity program and training

* Contemporary issues

$40,000

Boy Scouts of America

* Traditional scouting

* Classroom scouting

$35,000

Gibson Recovery Center

* Outpatient treatment program for drugs and alcohol

* Inpatient treatment program for drugs and alcohol

$30,000

Southeast Missouri Easter Seals Society

* Special education and therapy services

* Inclusive childcare

$25,000

Safe House for Women

* Emergency housing for abused women and children

$20,850

Association for Retarded Citizens

* Case management

* Recreation program

* Emergency food program

$20,000

Lutheran Family and Children's Services

* Child welfare (adoption services and emergency foster care)

* Counseling

$20,000

Cape Girardeau Civic Center

* After-school study/tutor program

* Saving Our Little Sisters network

* Evening/weekend recreational club

$20,000

First Call For Help

* Information and referral services

$12,250

Cape Girardeau Senior Center

* Nutrition program for seniors

$12,000

Habitat for Humanity

* Construction of single-family homes

$11,000

Jackson Senior Center

* Senior nutrition program

* Food pantry program

$10,000

RSVP: Retired Seniors Volunteer Program

* Volunteer program

$10,000

Hoover Eldercare

* Eldercare/Senior Alive adult day care program

$10,000

SADI: SEMO Alliance for Disability Independence

* Assistance to disabled to enable independent living

$9,000

Cancer Research

* Research programs

$8,500

APPLE: Applications, Personal Papers, Legal and Environment

* Paperwork assistance for seniors

$8,000

CASA: Court-Appointed Special Advocates

* Child advocacy/32nd judicial district

* Child advocacy/child protection orders

$5,000

Success By 6

* Early childhood development

$4,500

Jackson R-2 Children's Fund

* Special needs of children

$4,000

Cape Girardeau County 4-H Council

* Project support

$3,000

Jackson Ministerial Alliance

* Food pantry program

* Vouncher assistance program/emergency needs

$3,000

Scott City Nutrition Center

* Nutrion program for seniors

$3,000

Cape Girardeau Public School Children's Fund

* Special needs of school children