For over 130 years, United Way has been serving various communities. Recently, United Way Northwest Indiana has taken that mission and expanded in to five Northwest Indiana counties.
Through an expansive merger in 2021, United Way Northwest Indiana currently serves the counties of Lake, Porter, Newton, Jasper, and Starke – creating a service area of over 800,000 residents.
“The merger consisted of a consolidation of Lake Area United Way and United Way of Porter County,” said Rich Shields, United Way Northwest Indiana chief marketing and development officer. “That, in turn, culminated into the five counties we serve today and became United Way Northwest Indiana.
A major rationale for this merger was the ability to increase United Way Northwest Indiana’s Level Up program.
“Level Up is quickly becoming our most prominent program offering,” said Shields. “Its primary focus is to assist the underemployed by breaking socioeconomic barriers.”
The Level Up program assists underemployed individuals with wraparound services and supports that advance their career opportunities.
“The Level Up program is simply a hand- up, rather than a hand-out,” said Shields.
Throughout United Way Northwest Indiana’s five-county service area, approximately 41% of the population is near impoverished. Level Up supports residents in the five Northwest Indiana counties who are currently employed, 18 years of age or older, have reliable transportation, and want to Level Up their current financial status.
Level Up services are primarily based on four pillars: education/training, career development, financial stability, and health and wellness.
“In all five counties, United Way Northwest Indiana can support individuals by leveling up their current employment positions or leveling up into a new career path,” said Shields.
“The people we serve are employed, but they are one potential mishap away from becoming impoverished,” Shields said. “We assist them by providing direct and wrap around services to break socioeconomic barriers that may hinder them from obtaining financial stability.”
Working throughout the counties of Lake, Porter, Newton, Jasper, and Starke requires a deep understanding of both urban and rural environments.
“Lake and Porter County are more urban and geographically dense whereas our other service areas are more rural and spread out,” said Shields. “Yet they all are experiencing these same socioeconomic barriers . They need career path assistance.”
A key component of the United Way Northwest Indian’s Level Up program are the navigators. Navigators connect with Level Up participants weekly and serve as mentors, supporters, and confidantes throughout the process.
“Navigators work with our participants from day one,” said Shields. “Our navigators engage, empower and encourage program participants to let them know that we're here.”
For Shields, the power of United Way Northwest Indiana is the ability to provide individuals and families with life-changing resources through navigator and financial literacy services, transportation, and childcare support.
“Throughout all of our service areas, navigators touch base with participants in a weekly cadence call for progression updates.,” said Shields. “They make sure participants are attending their classes and meeting their requirements.”
Shields notes that the exceptional thing about United Way Northwest Indiana is its non-traditional approach that focuses on an underserved, underemployed community.
“We're a non-traditional United Way focusing on this specific, underserved community that no organization is really serving. We realize this systemic issue extends a lot further than Northwest Indiana. We believe it’s afflicting many on a national level, and we get to go throughout Northwest Indiana and say, ‘We're going to help you, help you. You're not in this alone.’”
