United Way Winners and Losers

A New Direction for United Way?

This last week saw a great deal of media attention to the winners and losers in the struggle for United Way dollars. Frankly, I don't understand it. I mean I read in detail the list of winners and losers, and I cannot find any logic. I read every article in the Plain Dealer, and the spin does not seem to translate well for what priorities were actually funded. There were kids groups that lost out (Heights Youth Centers) and there were some that were winners (Voices of Ohio's Children). I have to wonder since there was no clear pattern if this was some comment on health and effectiveness of these organizations? A few quick takes:

• There were four new groups funded who are also funded by Community Shares. We shall see how this is going to work. Until now only the merged group of the Domestic Violence Agency was funded by both Shares and United Way.
• It was a strange comment in the PD from United Way officials discouraging designations to specific groups because they have all these experts on staff to direct donations. People don't like reading , "Hey, you are too stupid to know who to donate to. We are the experts; let us do it." That is why I like Shares so much. They do not think that donors are stupid.
  
• The Neighborhood groups were split with four winners and four losers. Again, no clear pattern.
• Homeless groups were by far winners with 13 homeless direct service providers and four losers.
  
• I thought Dan Joyce's comments in the Plain Dealer were especially poignant and honest.
  
• The United Way is claiming these decisions were made by 200 volunteers. Are there really 200 experts on non-profits in our community or are these individuals who were touched by one or two groups? I guess this is some kind of representative democracy?
  
• It does not seem that self-sufficiency was the over-riding strategy or United Labor Agency which retrains workers and Recovery Resources which helps people with treatment issues would not have come up with fewer resources. They are both teaching people to get back on their feet.
  
• It does not seem advocacy/solving community problems was a big focus since the Center for Community Solutions and the Long Term Care Ombudsman were among the groups that saw a reduction.
  
• I have no sympathy for Red Cross of Cleveland, and I am glad they got fewer resources. They have stepped away from assisting in ending homelessness, and do not seem to care much about poverty anymore.
  
• I was not happy to see the Girl Scouts get less money (85% decrease) while the Boy Scouts and their homophobic policies got more money (39% increase). But I am biased in that I have two girls in the Girl Scouts.
• I had no problem with the Ombudsman being dropped by United Way, because they long ago stepped away from assisting homeless people. I was sad that the Empowerment Center got dropped, and I am worried what this will mean for the first Welfare Rights group in the United States.
  
• It was good to see the Free Clinic was finally recognized by both Shares and United Way for the value they provide to the community. Then there were also a bunch of groups added to United Way's roster that I have never heard from before.
  

Anyway, I am sure that there are many emergency Board meetings taking place this week. I have to wonder if there were too many cooks in the United Way kitchen that resulted in no clear direction. Some of our close friends like West Side Catholic, Cleveland Tenants Organization and Lutheran Metro Ministry received more money, and that is a plus. So far, I have only seen the Red Cross respond formally and with anger. They are asking for help from the community to make up the difference. Get cut by United Way--respond with anger-- and turn that into a fund raising opportunity does not make sense to me. NEOCH was not asked to participate, and we do not have much direct service left so that is not surprising. Anything that shakes up the non-profit world is most likely a positive. Some of these groups may suddenly awaken to the new reality that they must think outside their small world and start addressing the needs of consumers. More of our partner agencies were winners than were losers in the United Way reshuffling, which is a good thing. Bottom line: I think that the United Way transition is probably a beneficial to the community, and will re-order the priorities in our community. We shall see.

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.