2023-2026 Community Impact Grants

The Community Impact Grant provides the UWCC an opportunity to strategically focus on issues, strategies, and the actions needed to improve lives and create lasting change in our communities. United Way Worldwide is focusing on three areas to facilitate such, and the UWCC is following suit by providing resources as available to empower organizations whose work addresses health, education, and economic stability. The UWCC Board of Directors will collect submitted applications for Community Impact Grants focusing only on the areas of Education, Health or Economic Stability. Community Impact Grants have been developed to seed new and beginning projects of non-profit and government-based agencies, with the intention of funding the projects for three consecutive years, not to exceed $8,000 annually, to ensure financial stability to aide in the launch of such projects, so long as funding is available. Applications for Community Impact Grants must address one or more the three identified areas of focus and provide an explicit target outcome, with a defined measurement instrument applicable to a beginning project.

  Colquitt Regional Medical Center – Prescription Plan Program (PPP)

• Community Impact Award: $24,000 – 3 year – $8,000 per year.
• Colquitt Regional Medical Center Foundation is seeking support to create a program to support this critical mission to provide medications to those in financial need at the time of discharge. The funding will be used to accomplish two major tasks, 1. creating a sustainable model to request future funding to support patient medication needs that are determined in an objective manner, that are open to all those in need, without discrimination, and 2. that provide a tracking mechanism to assess the impact of the program.
• Offering free of charge. The hospital will not charge fees to anyone accessing the program. Funds will be used on medications.

Colquitt County Schools – REACH Georgia Scholarship Program

• Community Impact Award: $9,000 – 3 year – $3,000 per year.
• Description of the Program: REACH is a needs-based scholarship and mentoring program that begins in eighth grade. REACH Scholars are paired with a mentor and an academic coach who regularly meet with the Scholar and monitor their grades, attendance, and behavior through middle and high school. When our REACH Scholars graduate from high school, they are awarded up to a $10,000 scholarship to attend a Georgia HOPE-eligible two or four-year college of their choice. Many colleges match, double-match, and some triple-match the scholarship to provide Scholars with additional resources.
• Area of need the program will address: Many of our Scholars are the first in their families to attend college. We are already seeing improvements in their grades, attendance, and social skills. Before participating in REACH, these Scholars may have yet to have an opportunity to pursue post-secondary education. Now, they are talking about college choices and future careers.
• Offering free of charge. Expenses for scholarships.
• Funding will assist in providing scholarships for two students at $1,500 each student per year, totaling $3,000 per year.

• Community Impact Award: $3,897 – 3 years – $1,299 per year.
• The Mustard Seed Cottage, Inc. (a maternal supportive housing residence) plans to utilize the BrightCourse program in the housing program. This program will allow our residents to learn about topics such as prenatal care, parenting, relationships, life skills, and more. The residents coming into the cottage are in need of these skills and a level of care that they will not receive if we do not offer them in their time of vulnerability. The goals and objectives of this program is to educate our residents/new moms in the areas that they need help.
• Offering free of charge. Expenses for educational materials and programming.

• Community Impact Award: $23,000 – 3 year – $7,666.66 per year
• Description of the project: The mission of “The Raising Her Project” is to promote healthy relationships between mothers and daughters with an emphasis on empowerment, bonding, healing, and growth.
• Area of need the project will address: The area of needs the project will address is the increase of mental health disorders and the following: child abuse, underage drinking, teen suicide, teen dating violence, and teen pregnancy.
• Offering free of charge. The program is free for all participants. Expenses include advertisement, supplies for girls, travel/gas for workshops, conference and trainings, and communication/technology.

• Community Impact Award: $24,000 – 3 years – $8,000 per year.
• The mission of The Breathe Organization is Empowering and Advocating for families with Special Needs. One key component to empowering our families is education. Disability resources are incredibly hard to access and parents of kids and adults with disabilities are often overwhelmed and in need of guidance. Breathe Workshops are vital to the many families in Colquitt County who are parenting individuals with disabilities.
• Workshops are held monthly and are free to all parents/caregivers of individuals with disabilities in Colquitt County. The goal of the workshops are to educate parents on topics that relate to them and to guide them in applying for needed resources. We expect at least 150 families to attend workshops per year. The key leader for these workshops is Nettie Hatcher but we plan to also bring in leaders from the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. Workshops will be held at The Breathe Center. Volunteers will be used and are required to have an annual criminal background check.
• Workshop topics include but are not limited to: Communicating with Educators, Understanding the IEP and 504 process, Applying for Katie Beckett, Waiver Applications, Georgia Medicaid, Transitioning to Adulthood, Understanding and Applying for Guardianship, Planning for the future, Understanding Autism, Job Training, Self Care for Caregivers, Assistive Technology, Dental Care for IDD, Finding a Medical Specialist