Oshkosh Area United Way (OAUW) awarded 45 community programs, including five new programs, with the annual United Way Community Investment grant process to address the growing needs in Oshkosh and surrounding communities.
“In the past year of uncertainty due to the economy, our donors continued to support our community campaign and help their neighbors who desperately need assistance,” said Beth Oswald, CEO and President of Oshkosh Area United Way. “While we didn’t see a significant increase in donations in 2022, we’ve taken a strategic approach to maximize our impact. The result of these efforts allowed us to offer an additional $55,000 of support to our local programs for 2024.”
The grants are funded by the annual OAUW Community Giving Campaign and are given to programs that improve access to resources for Youth-Focused Education, Mental Health, and Financial Stability. The grant process is available to programs serving residents in Southern Winnebago County that offer services in these impact areas.
Each impact area is overseen by a volunteer committee that reviews and interviews each program applying to ensure that the applicant has measurable outcomes and impact in the community. Over 15 volunteers are involved in the Community Investment Grant process, giving nearly 175 hours of their time to our area. OAUW is grateful to those community members who continue to lead this process and ensure that donations are allocated to those programs making the most impact in Oshkosh and the surrounding area.
Oshkosh Area United Way is proud to announce 2024 funding for the following local programs:65
Program:
211
Access to Jobs
Advocacy
Back to School Fair
Be Great Graduate Mentoring Program
Bonus 10 Food Bucks Program
Bridges
Community Engagement
Community for Hope
Counseling
Counseling
Dementia Support
Early Intervention Program
Education
Emergency Shelter
Empowerment Advocacy
English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
Eviction and Homelessness Prevention
Financial Counseling
Food for All
Food For Kids
General Educational Development (GED)
Growing Readers
Helping Ourselves; Mental Health Response Led by
Communities Impacted
Home Visits
Membership
Member Scholarships
OFD Mental Health Initiative
Oshkosh Area Home Delivered Meals
Peer Response Team
Radford Kids
Reaching Out
Resource Coordination
Respite
Rise Up
Road to Work
Robert Glass Focus on the Children Program
Sexual Abuse Treatment Program
Skills Enhancement Program
Social Emotional Mental Health Programming
Solutions Sober Living
The Traveling Closet
Tiny House Village
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA)
Youth Mentoring Programs
Organizations:
United Way Fox Cities
GoTransit
Reach Counseling
Back to School Fair
Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh
Oshkosh Saturday Farmers Market
ADVOCAP
Covey
Community for Hope
Reach Counseling
Samaritan
Fox Valley Memory Project
Valley Packaging Industries
Reach Counseling
Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services
Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services
Oshkosh Area School District
Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc
Goodwill Industries
Oshkosh Food Co-Op
Oshkosh Area Community Pantry
ADVOCAP
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
People of Progression
Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin
Girl Scouts of Northwestern Great Lakes
Oshkosh Community YMCA
Oshkosh Area Fire Department
ADVOCAP
Solutions Recovery, Inc.
Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh
Girl Scouts of Northwestern Great Lakes
Day by Day Warming Shelter
Covey
Oshkosh Area School District
Winnebago Literacy Council
Tri-County Dental
Reach Counseling
ADVOCAP
Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh
Solutions Recovery, Inc.
Community Clothes Closet
Oshkosh Kids Foundation
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Big Brothers Big Sisters
“These grants are important because they support community organizations that are meeting the most essential needs of our community while helping end the cycle of poverty,” said Houa Xiong, Vice Chair of Community Impact. “I also appreciate all the volunteers and United Way staff who worked so hard during the process. Our community is fortunate to have so many incredible nonprofits that provide much-needed services to our residents.”
In addition, the Oshkosh Area United Way funds and manages Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which mails an age-appropriate book to each enrolled child in our community every month, ages 0 to 5, free of charge, and VolunteerOshkosh.org, which allows nonprofits to list volunteer needs year-round and for community members to volunteer.
OAUW also manages the LIVE UNITED Community Vault, which collects and distributes essential supplies like shampoo, deodorant, baby wipes, and toilet paper to nonprofits to help our area’s most vulnerable neighbors. This allows families to put those dollars toward essentials like gas, groceries, and utilities.
Oshkosh Area United Way will be accepting applications for the 2025 Community Investment Grant during the month of May 2024. The application is available to organizations serving the Oshkosh Area United Way’s service area that offer programming to improve resources for Youth-Focused Education, Mental Health, and Financial Stability.
For more information on the above programs or the 2025 Community Investment Grant, contact the Oshkosh Area United Way at oauw@oshkoshunitedway.org. To continue your commitment to the Oshkosh community by donating to the 2023 Community Giving Campaign, visit www.oshkoshunitedway.org/donate.