United Way addresses community’s overlapping educational needs

Editor’s note: This is the third in a four-part series on the new focus and goals of United Way’s annual campaign.

It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes an entire partner network to help educate them.

In case you missed the first two entries in the CDT’s four-part series on Centre County United Way, here’s a quick primer.

With the launch of its 2016 campaign, the organization is attempting strengthen the bonds of its pre-existing partner network. Last week’s story focused on how the CCUW, the Centre County Women’s Resource Center, the Centre County Youth Service Bureau and the YMCA banded together to bring Stewards of Children to Central Pennsylvania.

This Sunday, the spotlight shifts to the wacky and wild world of education and the umbrella effect it has both within the community and the partner agencies of the United Way.

“Without the funding United Way provides our school we would not be able to offer the programming we do to the children and families in our care,” said Barbara Geist, director of Park Forest Preschool.

The school was founded in 1967 to ensure that the children of parents who could not afford the cost of preschool still received an education.

Funding is one of the more obvious benefits of the school’s association with the United Way, but those connections also help broaden the scope and efficiency of its mission.

Partner agencies such as Strawberry Fields provide assistance to students with speech or developmental needs, Centre Volunteers in Medicine fills a gap for parents struggling to pay for medical services and the Food Bank of State College donates large cans of food.

The preschool itself has in turn provided care to children referred by the Centre County Women’s Resource Center.

“I feel our collaborations work well. As partner agencies continue to learn about the other agencies in more depth, I feel the partnerships will continue to grow and we will work together even more than we do now,” Geist said.

This is equally true of the Child Development and Family Council of Centre County Inc. and its “Child Care and Education Safety Net Program for Children and Youth.” That particular initiative helps parents to secure child care and education services while they are work, job training or attending to other immediate needs — and is funded by the United Way.

“As a CCUW agency we ware part of a family of agencies who can offer one another support and sharing of knowledge and resources. Our partner agencies provide us with sources for resources to refer our families to and opportunities to better serve our families and their children,” said Ann Walker, executive director of CDFC.

If the CDFC doesn’t have the resources at their fingertips to directly help a family in need, they can refer them to the appropriate agency, like, for example, Park Forest Preschool.

CDFC also works regularly with the Centre County Women’s Resource Center, offering a safe place for children with a parent who may be a victim of domestic violence.

Reading, also, is fundamental. The CDFC works with the Mid-State Literacy Council to put books into the hands of kids.

“Through collaboration we can provide a stronger voice; opportunity for creative solutions to problems; enhancement of program services,” Walker said.

Kids, as it turns out, are not the only demographic who benefit from a strong grasp of the written word.

The Mid-State Literacy Council’s mission to increase literacy throughout the area — the U.S. Census showed that 11 percent of Centre County adults are illiterate — also brings it into contact with people who are seeking help from other CCUW organizations.

“For example, a woman, a single mother, who needs to learn to read to obtain employment, take the bus and read prescription labels was referred from a partner agency,” Amy Wilson, executive director of the Mid-State Literacy Council, said.

According to Wilson, her organization has worked with the CCWRC to develop resources for low literate and limited English speakers, to help them better access help related to domestic abuse.

“Each year, the literacy council helps more than 300 individuals obtain skills to improve their lives,” Wilson said.

Reading definitely opens up doors.

CentrePeace Inc. is a used furniture and household goods outlet and another rung in the CCUW network. The organization works closely with partner agencies such as Catholic Charities and Housing Transitions to identify clients in need of mattresses, appliances, silverware and anything else you would expect to find in the average home.

Thom Brewster, the organization’s executive director, said that CentrePeace has been working with incarcerated individuals and returning citizens since 1975. He believes that the need for social services in Centre County is growing faster than ever.

“It will become more important than ever going forward that we, as a United Way team, connect folks as quickly and efficiently as possible with the goods and services available to them,” Brewster said.

This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 6:18 PM with the headline "United Way addresses community’s overlapping educational needs."