Years of ServicePrograms and Initiatives
How United Way Helps
2022 Funded Agency Programs and Descriptions
Information is from Grant Requests
Funding for JULY 1, 2022 to JUNE 30, 2023
Note: Funding amounts for July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023 can be found here.
The Arc Gloucester
Camp Sun ‘N Fun
The Arc Gloucester’s Camp Sun ‘N Fun respite program is designed to provide a full, independent, outdoor camp experience for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). The program provides a safe and enjoyable environment while enhancing the camper’s abilities and increase socialization skills which, in turn, increases their ability to be a productive contributor to their community. For families and caregivers, this program is the only relief they receive from the non-stop, day-to-day, 24/7 care needed for an individual with I/DD. The last 2 years have solidified the need for this respite. Campers and caregivers were in constant contact expressing their increased stress and anxiety due to not being able to access overnight respite and having that special get-a-way Camp Sun ‘N Fun has provided in the past. The agency did everything it could to provide a temporary relief in 2020 through a Virtual Camp option, allowing the campers to involve their caregivers in the Camp experience. In 2021, the agency provided weekly in-person lifelong learning and day camp options to help relieve that stress. The agency and program are moving forward with returning to the full camp experience in 2022.
Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence
School-Based Mentoring in Gloucester County
Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence (BBBSI) provides professionally supported one-to-one mentoring to children in Gloucester County using the BBBS model, designated as an “Evidence-Based Practice” for preventing substance abuse, adolescent crime, anti-social behavior, aggression, and delinquency among mentored youth. In Gloucester County, we offer “Community-Based” (CB) and “School-Based” (SB) mentoring. With CB mentoring, relationships are year-round; mentors (“Bigs”) interact with families and see child mentees (“Littles”) 2-4 times per month on weekends and/or after school. Activities together take place in the community. Mentoring matches commit to at least one year in the program, with many relationships lasting far longer. In our SB mentoring program, students from Rowan University volunteer and are matched to Gloucester County children who attend Glassboro Child Development Center’s after school program. Matches meet weekly. College Bigs provide Littles with a nurturing relationship, friendship and ongoing support for at least one school year. Throughout their involvement in the program, Bigs and Littles interact with and receive support from dedicated, trained, professional staff.
Boy Scouts of America, Garden State Council
Scouting Positive Impact
True to its mission, the Council prepares young people to make ethical choices over their lifetime by instilling in them the core values of Scouting. Scouting provides a comprehensive structure that teaches young people to help others and encourages personal values of good character, good citizenship and personal fitness that allow them to achieve their full potential. The main area of concentration will be the underserved communities of Gloucester County, with an emphasis on promoting and recruiting young boys and girls who may not otherwise have the opportunity to join due to financial constraints. A recent study by Tufts University over a 3-year period found the Boy Scouts build positive character. The study also found that the longer a youth stays in the Scouting program, the higher the character attributes were developed. By providing quality programs for the youth of Gloucester County, they will have the opportunity to learn about citizenship, develop leadership skills, and build character that will enable them to make moral and ethical decisions in their daily lives.
Center for Family Services
Mother Child Residential
Center For Family Services’ (CFS) Mother/Child Residential Program (MCR) meets the basic needs of vulnerable women and children and empowers homeless women to achieve a better life for their families. Upon arrival, residents complete an intake to identify their unique needs and develop an intensive case management plan. MCR offers on-site counseling, educational classes focused on baby bonding, parenting, anger management, behavioral health, domestic violence, healthy relationships, sexual violence, financial empowerment, cooking, substance abuse, housing, career and educational opportunities.
Center for People in Transition
Steps to a Career
The Steps to a Career Program assists clients in achieving self-sufficiency after experiencing the stressful situation of separation, divorce, domestic violence, being widowed, or the total disability of their spouse. The program works with clients in overcoming the psychological and physical barriers due to the crisis they experienced, and helps in choosing career paths and employability. The program assists with resume creation, conducting their job search, sharpening their interview skills, and keeping the job once they obtain it.
FamCare
Special Medical Services Program
All uninsured and underinsured clients living in Gloucester County are able to receive routine reproductive health care services (RHS), cancer screening and diagnostic testing provided by the Special Medical Services Program (SMS). RHS includes gynecologic exams and age-appropriate thin prep pap tests, testicular exams for men, referrals for diagnostic ultrasounds of the breast, pelvis, vagina, and on rare occasions the scrotum. Services provided on-site include blood pressure screening, HIV and STD testing, as well as health education. Beneficiaries of United Way of Gloucester County funding are clients at or below 250% of the federal poverty level (FPL). FamCare’s ability to deliver cost-effective preventative care contributes to improvement of health outcomes for Gloucester County residents. United Way funding will ensure seamless access to preventative and diagnostic services for low-income, uninsured women and men in Gloucester County.
Girl Scouts of Central and Southern NJ
Leadership Experience
As Girl Scouts builds girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place, we endeavor to bring the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE) to more girls. The GSLE is a collection of experiences through which girls find sense of self, build healthy relationship skills, and connect to their communities in ways that enable them to be empowered and confident problem-solvers. Girls accomplish this through a variety of program elements including events, troop meetings, earning badges, outdoor adventures at camp, and community service projects. Girls are supported by staff and highly trained volunteers who facilitate the Girl Scout process – Girl Led, Cooperative Learning, and Learning By Doing in guiding girl and troop activities.
Glassboro Child Development Centers
School Age Program
Our School Age Program at Bullock School will change somewhat for the 2022-2023 school year, as Glassboro has sold one of its buildings to Rowan University. Additionally, instead of GCDC serving grades PreK-3 at Bullock School, it will now include grades 4 and 5. Our agency’s 21st Century Community Learning Center grant will help us to serve these 3rd, 4th and 5th graders at no cost after school, but our PreK-2nd graders aged 4-8 will not receive assistance if they are ineligible for a childcare subsidy. These low- to moderate-income families known as ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) have been hit hard by the pandemic and without our program and this funding, it leaves a gap of 60 Gloucester County children who would otherwise not be able to enroll. For 11 weeks during the summer, we will provide Camp Horizon Summer Learning Camp, Monday through Friday from 7AM – 6PM. For 41 weeks, we offer after school programming from 2:30PM – 6PM for 60 students from ALICE families at a reduced rate of at least 50% of the state’s private cost. The programs include academic assistance and enrichment, all meals, health and physical activities including outdoor education, STEM and Arts programming, and service learning. All parents will either be working or attending a school or training program.
HollyDELL
Twenty-One Plus (T.O.P.) and Growing Opportunities (G.O.)
Community-Based Involvement Program
The HollyDELL Community-Based Involvement Program provides community outings for the clients who attend the HollyDELL adult programs (T.O.P. and G.O.). Community outings are an integral part of the adult programs. Clients participate in a variety of activities in the community, which allow them to work on academic, life, and social skills in related community environments. Most recently, the clients have gone into the community to participate in programs and activities such as Get FIT at Rowan University, and hayrides at local farms. They have attended shows at the Rowan planetarium, shopped at the Amish Market and mall, and enjoyed being with their peers while bowling and visiting local parks.
Recreation and socialization add meaning and richness to our clients’ lives, and are equally as important as eating well, getting enough sleep, and taking medications properly. For individuals with physical and developmental disabilities, it is especially important to find safe, comfortable, and fun activities in the community. Participation in recreational activities with others can lead to increases in: self-confidence, happiness, a higher morale, and building relationships. Physical benefits of recreation can include an increased sense of well-being, increased strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination, as well as an increased attention span.
We take the time to discover what each client finds fun and interesting. Activities such as playing a game, participating in a movie day or craft project, walking, swimming, biking, exercise class, yoga or bowling allow clients who might not regularly feel comfortable in the community to have fun with others in a safe way. Socialization and recreation are key components to their, and everyone’s, lives.
Literacy New Jersey
Adult Literacy in Gloucester County
Literacy NJ will recruit, train, match and support volunteer tutors to work with adults in Gloucester County who struggle with literacy skills. Tutors will provide free, one-to-one and small-group instruction to Gloucester County residents in basic literacy, preparation for the high school equivalency (HSE) exam and English as a Second Language (ESL). During the pandemic, Literacy NJ expanded these services to include essential digital literacy instruction using Northstar Digital Literacy. Imagine trying to navigate the health crisis and resulting economic upheaval when you struggle to read, write and speak English, or understand the digital world. This is reality for so many Gloucester County families. Our adult literacy students struggle with everyday tasks many of us take for granted: describing symptoms to a doctor, helping children with distance learning, sending an email or scheduling a vaccine appointment. In addition to being disproportionately affected by the pandemic and economic upheaval, adults with low incomes and low literacy are more likely to lack the technology skills that are a necessity in the job market and daily life.
Maryville Addiction Treatment Center
Community Recovery Support Services
The Community Recovery Support Services program utilizes Certified Peer Recovery Specialists (CPRS) to assist individuals in achieving and sustaining long-term recovery through one-on-one assistance and support. CPRSs focus on helping clients to succeed in four dimensions that support a life in recovery: 1) Health – learning to overcome, manage or more successfully live with the symptoms and making health choices that support one’s physical and emotional well-being, 2) Home – a stable and safe place to live, 3) Purpose – meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school, volunteer work, or creative endeavors; increased ability to lead a self-directed life; and meaningful engagement in society, and 4) Community – relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love and hope. Using person-centered planning, CPRSs mobilize recovery support services based on each individual’s unique needs, priorities and preferences, increasing the likelihood that clients will successfully implement and continue with the plan long-term. This, in turn, reduces the likelihood of relapse. CPRSs play an important role in helping clients advance their wellness and recovery in the community through linkages and support resources. They offer an understanding ear and support from the perspective of one who has also personally experienced addiction, treatment, and recovery.
Repauno Preschool Day Care Center
Infant and Preschool Childcare and Early Education
Our program is geared toward the young children (ages 0-6) of low- to moderate-income families who live and/or work in Gloucester County. The program consists of full-time childcare, early childhood education, and nutritionally balanced meals provided within a safe and nurturing environment by childcare professionals. This allows the youngest and most at-risk Gloucester County residents the opportunity to develop independence, confidence, and a positive sense of self along with the world around them.
Samaritan Healthcare & Hospice
Center for Grief Support
The years 2020 and 2021, and the ongoing pandemic, resulted in a need for Samaritan’s Center for Grief Support to massively adapt to the necessary restrictions regarding face-to-face individual and group counselling. Beginning in March of 2020, our efforts became even more focused on healing those in need. Even throughout 2021, it has become continually evident that the mechanisms that support such as that received from United Way of Gloucester County were able to make possible – especially related to online individual and group counselling sessions – will likely remain in place even as we all hopefully return to a sense of normalcy in the future. Online individual and group counselling sessions, we discovered, are accessed by family and loved ones near and far. Grief is a painful companion that recognizes love and loss. With the overlay of Covid-19, grief seems to permeate so many aspects of life and magnifies the pain of losses. We have all been upended with changes to our traditions and rituals that allow us to honor life and death in very personal ways; that allow us to connect and grieve as a community. The amazing village of Samaritan’s staff and volunteers have risen to new heights of dedication and service, adapting bereavement services for social distancing and for our remote working environment. They compassionately listen to the stories of our bereaved and work with spiritual support counselors to connect the bereaved to traditions and rituals that bring healing, and give them safe spaces to find connection in a time of deep disconnection. Our Center team works tirelessly and has explored new and creative ways to provide 1:1 counseling and support groups by telephone and virtual platforms. The thousands of cards, letters, and phone calls that the Center team sends and makes seems to mean even more today.
Volunteers of America, Delaware Valley
Eleanor Corbett House – Supplemental Housing Program
The Eleanor Corbett House – Supplemental Housing Program (SHP) serves individuals who would otherwise be ineligible for housing benefits through the Gloucester County Board of Social Services or Work First New Jersey (WFNJ). During the course of their participation in the SHP, individuals served will work with case management to complete a comprehensive risk/needs assessment and an Individualized Service Plan (ISP); develop budget and savings plans; participate in Rent Smart Tenant Education curriculum; establish linkages to the community and its resources; and develop strategies for obtaining permanent housing.
In providing service to this population, VOADV aims to meet the immediate needs of each family in order to lessen the impact of first-time or episodic homelessness, and to promote the stabilization, wellness and resiliency of each family unit. VOADV is also committed to ensuring that children – who are particularly impacted by unexpected changes in housing status – remain in their home school district, as per the McKinney-Vento Act. Through culturally responsive and strengths-based assessment and case planning, VOADV’s long-term goal is to assist families in achieving and maintaining economic self-support and self-sufficiency so upon discharge from the program, they are less likely to return to homelessness.
YMCA of Gloucester County
School Age Child Care (SACC)
The YMCA School Age Child Care program is a program in partnership with 3 local school districts to provide out of school enrichment for children grades K-5. The program addresses issues like learning loss, social development, and physical well-being. This program fills a need for working class parents whose jobs require them to work outside of school hours. Per DataUSA, most residents of Gloucester County are commuting 29 minutes to and from work daily. Our program allows parents to have a safe place for their kids before and after school, while also helping the kids develop social and academic success. A second need for our program is for those kids who need the extra attention to help them stay on track with their peers. The Y Program is able to work with kids on an individual basis, helping them to maintain grade levels academically and socially.
