United Way of Portage County initiated a new era of service to the community when the Board and Community Impact Committee accepted recent recommendations of the inaugural Income Advisory Council.

After meeting for over a year to evaluate research on Portage County, this volunteer group identified four critical community income needs:

Professional Development

Personal Development

Basic Needs & Practical Resources

Socio-Emotional Development.

They recommended that programs that include collaboration among community agencies, outreach and education in the community, and promotion of self-sufficiency should also be taken into consideration.

These four needs and a dashboard of key indicators and measurable outcomes will guide the work of the volunteer allocation committees as they provide funding to Portage County agencies in the coming years. As each three-year funding cycle unfolds, these metrics will enable agencies, funders and community members to assess progress in meeting the most important income priorities to help families achieve financial stability and independence.

The Income Advisory Council is the second citizen advisory council of United Way of Portage County, following the lead of United Way Worldwide and other communities in Ohio. The first citizen advisory council identified Portage County’s critical community needs for education in 2016.

The third and final area of focus will be to identify the critical community health needs in Portage County. These needs are currently being identified with the help of the Portage County Health District and the development of the CHIP "Community Health Improvement Plan".

For more information or to receive a copy of the Education or Income Advisory Council report, please contact Bill Childers, CEO of United Way of Portage County at 330-297-1424 or billc@uwportage.org.