Our Work

United is the Way We Thrive.

United Way of Rock River Valley is a nonprofit organization that has provided foundational support to the Winnebago County area for over 100 years - and has adapted to address the everchanging needs of our beautiful community.

Continue reading to learn how we maximize the local impact of your investment and the steps we take to make it a reality.

 


 

Father and son reading a book from United Way on the couch

Our Mission

United Way of Rock River Valley unites the collective power of our community to improve lives.

Mobilizing for Change

Community is where we draw our strength and share our hope. We believe in the power of people—united through a common purpose—to accomplish anything we set our minds to. United is the Way we come together so everyone thrives.

Our Vision

We envision a future where everyone has a seat at the table, working together so that every person in Winnebago County has the opportunities and resources to succeed.

 


 

What Does United Way Do?

We are experts in identifying community needs. We invest. And we solve problems. We use collective impact strategies to create partnerships and networks in the community that may otherwise not have happened, combining our efforts for bigger impact.

Our service model allows us to constantly adjust our approach year over year to ensure our work is effective. The model is as follows:

service model graphic (explained below)

Service Model

  1. We evaluate community need
  2. We raise money to address need
  3. Local non-profits propose programs
  4. We evaluate and fund the most effective proposals
  5. Needs are addressed
  6. Non-profits report their impact... 

...And the cycle continues. Armed with new data and feedback from our agencies and the community, we re-evaluate the community need and our actions to address it.

 


 

Areas of Impact

Our work currently falls into two categories: Youth Opportunity and Community Resiliency. These "impact areas" help us organize the initiatives and programs we work on and give us a simple way to explain what we do.

father and young son share a book together. It's so cute.

Youth Opportunity

Helping young people realize their full potential through United for Literacy.  

Top down view of multicultural people sitting around a table and strategizing together.

Community Resiliency

Addressing urgent needs of today to build a better tomorrow through the 211 Helpline and Strong Neighborhood Houses programs.

 


 

Why Support United Way?

When it comes to supporting a charitable agency, you have a lot of choices. So why support United Way? IMPACT. Our superpower is our ability to inspire neighbors, donors, volunteers and partners from all backgrounds to help us create innovative solutions to community problems.

When you support United Way, you can be sure your donation will make a difference in meeting the community's biggest needs. We are:

  • Local
  • Efficient
  • Impact-Driven
  • Results-Based
     

How You Can Support Our Mission: