United Way Agencies and Programs

The target population are all children (at-risk kids) ages 6-18. We aggressively provide supplemental educational assistance through Power for Life, consisting of four premier programs: Power Hour, Power Learn, Power Prep and Power Ahead. In Power Hour, Club youth complete homework with the assistance of staff and volunteers during their first hour at the Club. If they have no homework, we provide group high-yield learning, fun activities (Power Learn), they read, complete worksheets, or participate in other group learning program areas. By completing daily work and additional academic exercises, members not only obtain academic competency, but also establish structured and productive study habits, perform better in school, and gain an understanding that hard work leads to success in life.

2023-2024 Funding - $45,000

The heart of the Scouting program since its inception has been the physical and mental development of young people through an experience in the outdoors. Throughout Vermilion County, IL and Fountain County, IN, the Boy Scouts have programs for all youth ages 5 to 20. The Scout Advancement program is designed to provide a well-rounded educational experience in citizenship efforts, life skills, career options, and recreational adventures. At all levels of the Scouting program, young people are taught the value of taking care of time management, outdoor conservation, and financial stewardship.

2023-2024 Funding: - $2,500

CASA places volunteer advocates in the court system with abused and neglected children. These volunteers advocate for the physical, emotional, educational, and developmental well-being of their assigned children. CASA volunteers undergo the highest standard of training, must complete continuing education credits, and provide a unique service no other agency provides. The core of their mission is to improve the mental, physical, and emotional health of their children that they serve. There is a great need for their services in Vermilion County, and in order to serve all children, we need more volunteers. The money from United Way does just that, helps recruit and train more volunteers.

2023-2024 Funding: $10,000

Community Action Program of Western Indiana, MAC transportation program, provides transportation to and from medical providers and facilities. If this priority has been met, we transport to grocery stores, social service agencies, and senior centers. Their targeted population is the elderly and disabled population in Fountain and Warren Counties in Indiana.

2023-2024 Funding Allocation: $5,000

C.O.R.E. is a startup that came online in January of 2023, its philosophy is based on a recovery model for reentry meaning that reentry is a process that has no expiration date. C.O.R.E. works to help anyone who is system impacted connect to local resources and then be supported with a peer-to-peer coaching model led by individuals who have that same life experience.

2023-2024 Funding - $500

CRIS plays a critical role in our community. Poverty continues to be a top concern in Vermilion County, while at the same time, our population is rapidly aging. The Meals on Wheels program serves the frailest of our senior population. Four nutrient-dense meals, each meeting 1/3 of the daily nutritional requirements, are delivered twice weekly. The meals are frozen to provide safe delivery and flexibility for our recipients. When seniors come to CRIS, Senior Information and Service/Coordinated Point of Entry is their standard starting point. Through SIS assistance, seniors are connected to the programs that offer the education, financial stability, and healthy aging information/services that best match their needs. Home delivered meals and other referral services provided by CRIS are vital resources, as they serve to protect seniors’ health and independence.

2023-2024 Funding Allocation - Senior Information Services $15,000, Nutritional Program $37,000

Infant Development Program focuses on education by providing universal evaluations and developmental therapy to delayed children under the age of three. The focus is to reduce or eliminate the long-term effect of developmental delays or disabilities.

2023-2024 Funding Allocation: $5,500

Homeless Transitional Housing programs touch each impact category by providing education to adults and children who have experienced being homeless. In turn education leads to employment and income self-sufficiency. Finally, a family that is not homeless and within its own home can devote time and resources to enhancing its health.

2023-2024 Funding Allocation: $10,000

Community Day Center provides adults with development and/or intellectual disabilities with a supportive environment in which to enhance or develop functional skills for daily living. CDS assists individuals in achieving greater levels of independence, choice and self-sufficiency through individualized instruction and support at our main location and in locations throughout the community. Programming includes but is not limited to: vocational development and opportunities, community integration opportunities, independent living skills, recreational/leisure skill, functional academic skills, communication skills development, health/fitness/exercise, personal care education/support.

2023-2024 Funding Allocation: $24,000

The Financial Assistance Program at the Danville Family YMCA allows families to use the facility at a cost that is achievable for them. The goal is to increase the number of youth and adults to live healthy lifestyles and avoid risky behaviors.

2023-2024 Funding Allocation: $3,000

Dolly's vision is to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families by providing them with the gift of a specially selected book each month.

The United Way of Danville Area has partnered with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library to provide Danville Area kids with free books.

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Thank you to our Local Sponsors!
A.L. Webster Foundation
John P Cadel Foundation

The Elmwood Community Playground and Civic Group is a 501c3 neighborhood organization that has been bringing people together since 1954. We are dedicated to making our community a great place to live, work, and play while preserving the unique character of our neighborhood.

Through their various activities and events, they create a sense of community and foster a spirit of fellowship among our members. They are committed to creating diverse, safe, and stimulating enviroments for all residents to enjoy.

They are working towards stabalizing the living and economic situations of vulnerable families and individuals by providing a space for them to access viable homeownership opportunities.

2023-2024 Funding - $1,000

Many times, individuals and families impacted by trauma need intensive services to assist in their recovery and healing. Gateway Family Services of Illinois provides Trauma-Focused Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (TF-EAP) to improve relationships and to help individuals and families to heal from trauma. Gateway utilizes the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) from Bruce D. Perry, MD, PhD., Principal at the Neurosequential Network and Senior Fellow at Child Trauma Academy and the Natural Lifemanship model of trauma focused-equine assisted psychotherapy based on the neuroscience of human and horse brain development, the impact of trauma, and the role of relationships in recovery and healing. Sessions incorporate science-based principles for building healthy, connected relationships aimed to help individuals and their families, including the implementation of Equine Connected-Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EC-EMDR). This comprehensive approach addresses the impact of trauma that has taken place throughout one’s development to help individuals and their families achieve success and healing in all arenas of their lives.

Gateway Family Services incorporates mounted work (riding horses) in sessions to assist individuals and families with improving self-regulation skills and increasing intimacy between horse and human, as well as providing an opportunity to process trauma and strengthen their human relationships. According to The Natural Lifemanship Institute, “Studies show the functionality of the brain in people who have experienced trauma (such as abuse, neglect, combat, or natural disasters) is often compromised due to disorganization of connections in the brain. This often results in individuals struggling with emotional regulation and impulse control and the ability to appropriately handle even minimal stress.” Gateway Family Services utilizes the rhythmic, patterned, repetitive movement inherent in riding a horse to create, increase and reorganize connections in the brain, thereby increasing the brain’s ability to manage emotions and impulse control. The horse is able to provide the rhythm required to effectively heal the impact of trauma on the brain until the individual is able to independently provide that rhythm.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Equine Therapy /Animal-assisted Therapy "has shown to be effective in treating patients, including combat Veterans, with PTSD, depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorders and other chronic mental illnesses."

Trauma is something that we cannot escape. It is impacting each one of our lives. It may be with our co-workers, our friends, those we teach, those we lead or even our own family. Locally, trauma permeates our county and impacts the way individuals build relationships with themselves and with others. Staggering statistics (taken from the Vermilion County Community Health Plan) demonstrate the impact of trauma in our state and Vermilion County: suicide is the leading cause of death in Illinois; drug arrests increased steadily since 2012; child abuse and neglect rates in Vermilion County are double the rates of the entire state of Illinois; and crime is the highest rate, surpassing all the surrounding counties.

These staggering statistics show the dire need for intensive, trauma-informed services to be provided in Vermilion county. The unique and innovative services provided by Gateway Family Services help individuals and families heal from the trauma they have experienced. As they heal, the generational cycle of abuse, neglect, crime, and drug addiction begins to change, as well. The funds granted would enable Gateway to increase the services offered to help children and families heal. We know that when individuals find personal healing, they are far less likely to pass along the abuse and neglect to the next generation. Through United Way granted funds, it would not be like throwing a pebble into the water: there is significant immediate benefits, as well as countless ripples that are nearly impossible to measure or count.

Individualized: Our services also include neuro metrics from the Neurosequential Network led by Bruce D. Perry, MD. PhD. These metrics allow our team to identify areas of the brain that have been impacted by trauma. We then develop individualized plans to meet those needs to build a healthier future for the individual and the family. Intensive: Our individualized approach includes working closely with all of the systems of the individual or family—home, school and community. Our intensive approach works to help create a healthier system for the individual and family in order to ensure greater success. Innovative: Our comprehensive approach makes our agency one of the most unique in the state of Illinois. Our clinical team has extensive training and experience in treating trauma. Our training and approach have significant focus on the traumatized brain.

2023-2024 Funding Allocations: $24,000

The G.I.R.L. Outreach Program serves students in statistically low-income areas through community partners. The curriculum is designed to encourage girls to achieve 5 outcomes proven to benefit the lives of girls, encourage leadership and contribute to socio-emotional health and long-term success in life, personally and academically. These outcomes include positive values, challenge seeking, healthy relationships, community problem-solving, and a strong sense of self.

2023-2024 Funding Allocation: $2,500

It Takes A Village Mentorship Program facilitates mentoring consistently throughout the year, bringing together both community leaders and children in need of extra guidance and development. Through the partnership, they are able to speak into the lives of the children using a curriculum specific to their SEL needs. This program is changing the trajectory of children's lives by giving them the tools necessary for success in their adulthood. Over 80 students at District #118 participate in this program each week. United Way dollars will allow this program to reach even more students.

2023-2024 Funding - $5,000

The PATH Crisis 2-1-1 line is a call center where someone can simply dial 211, much like 911, and receive help on the other end in the form of information to resources. Most calls are for people needing help paying their utilities or rent, needing a homeless shelter, or a food pantry. Of the 876 calls taken from Vermilion County residents last year, over 150 of those were for crisis intervention, suicide, emotional support, or someone looking for counseling services in our area. Being able to dial three digits, 211, is a lifeline to many from Vermilion County.

2023-2024 Funding Allocations: $3,790

Peer Court targets first time juvenile offenders between the ages of 10 and 18. This program provides opportunities for youth offenders to complete a comprehensive sentence that includes community service work, jury duty, a taekwondo class, tour of the Public Safety Building, and apologies or essays. Through the community service work, youth learn valuable job skills such as time management, work expectations, and are introduced to a variety of job-related fields. The community service work and taekwondo also offer the opportunity to learn the health benefits of exercise. Peer Court works with approximately 100 youth offenders per year.

2023-2024 Funding Allocation - $15,000

Teen Reach has been one of Project Success's longest funded programs from the State of Illinois Department of Human Services. This program currently operates at Salt Fork North, Salt Fork South, and Westville Junior High School. This program provides tutoring, STEM, entrepreneurship, social and emotional learning and many other life skills to the enrolled participants. Due to the program structure, Teen Reach is always in need of supplemental funding to support buying educational curriculum. There are 275 students currently participating in this local program

2023-2024 Funding - $2,500

Your United Way dollars go to help fund the Rent/Shelter Assistance program that provides emergency/temporary shelter assistance.

2023-2024 Funding Allocations: $11,000

The Prevention Education Program through the Survivor Resource Center provides education to area children and adolescents with vital information on topics such as body safety, internet and social media safety, healthy relationships, bullying, and sexual harassment. The research based, age appropriate programs provided work towards the prevention of sexual abuse and sexual harassment by providing knowledge and skills to students throughout Vermilion County.

2023-2024 Funding Allocation:

Child Sexual Abuse Prevention & Anti-bully Program - $5,000

*Child Sexual Abuse Counseling Services $9,000 (New)

The VCCAC serves child victims of abuse and their non-offending caregivers by providing services through a comprehensive, child-focused approach in a safe, neutral, environment. By bridging the gaps between law enforcement, the Department of Children and Family Services, prosecutors, and service providers during an investigation, VCCAC reduces the number of times a child has to retell their story.

As stated in the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services Annual Progress and Services Report 2021, Child Advocacy Centers “play a critical role in the coordination of investigative activities”. Vermilion County is one of the last counties in Illinois to develop a Child Advocacy Center, but is also one of the counties with the highest incident rates of child maltreatment. Vermilion County is the 12th highest county of 102 counties to have substantiated or indicated reports of child abuse. We rank 7th highest in victims who get revictimized within 6 months after indicated (fosteringcourtimprovement.org, 2014) (see attached chart). Our agency focuses on a multidisciplinary approach to provide resources and specialized services to our children and families affected by child abuse. Bringing all disciplines together to have one interview in an office that is neutral and comfortable for the child will gain better results and decrease re-traumatization. “As research has shown that this multidisciplinary approach to investigation is best practice and results in a higher prosecutorial rate, enhanced investigations and increases the well-being of families and child victims” (DCFS Annual Progress and Services Report, 2021)

Children are referred to VCCAC through the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services or local law enforcement when abuse is suspected. If you suspect abuse, call your local police department, 911, or the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services at 1800-25-ABUSE (1800-252-2873).

2023-2024 Funding Allocation: $2,500

WorkSource provides social and vocational services to persons with disabilities in Danville and throughout Vermilion County. They offer Vocational/Educational programs in-house and out in the community, with the philosophy that working provides a source of achievement and self-worth that enable a person with disabilities to live independently in our community. They also provide a Day Program and Home-Based Services for those persons with moderate to severe disabilities. While work and total social and vocational independence is not the main goal, they challenge their Day Program Consumers to participate in their in-house vocational program.

2023-2024 Funding Allocation: $5060