Oshkosh Area United Way (OAUW) awards more than 40 community programs with the annual United Way Community Investment grant including four new programs that address the growing needs in Oshkosh and surrounding communities.
The Community Investment grants are funded by the annual OAUW community campaign and look to move the needle in areas of mental health, early childhood development, and steps to a living wage. The grant process is available to programs serving residents in the Oshkosh and surrounding communities that offer programming 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 strong financials. Over 40 volunteers are involved in the Community Investment Grant process, giving about 1,000 hours of their time to the community. 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 the Oshkosh community.
Oshkosh Area United Way is proud to announce 2022 funding to the following local programs:
| Program: | Organization: |
| Bridges | ADVOCAP |
| Skills Enhancement Program | ADVOCAP |
| Homeless Job Placement | ADVOCAP |
| Oshkosh Area Home Delivered Meals | ADVOCAP |
| Mentor 2.0 | Big Brothers Big Sisters |
| Youth Mentoring Programs | Big Brothers Big Sisters |
| Back to School Fair | Back to School Fair |
| Radford Kids | Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh |
| Trees from Seeds Mental Health | Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh |
| Great Futures Start Here Mentoring | Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh |
| Empowerment Advocacy | Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services |
| Emergency Shelter | Christine Ann Domestic Abuse Services |
| Community Engagement | Covey |
| Respite | Covey |
| Resource Coordination | Day by Day Warming Shelter |
| Home Visits | Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin |
| Financial Counseling | Goodwill Industries |
| Membership | Girl Scouts of Northwestern Great Lakes |
| Reaching Out | Girl Scouts of Northwestern Great Lakes |
| Eviction and Homelessness Prevention | Legal Action of Wisconsin, Inc |
| Making the Ride Happen | Lutheran Social Services of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, Inc. |
| Kids Programming | Oshkosh Area Community Pantry |
| OFD Mental Health Initiative | Oshkosh Area Fire Department |
| English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) | Oshkosh Area School District |
| Rise Up | Oshkosh Area School District |
| Summer Climb | Oshkosh Area School District |
| Dolly Parton Imagination Library | Oshkosh Area United Way |
| Member Scholarships | Oshkosh Community YMCA |
| Food for All | Oshkosh Food Co-Op |
| Bonus 10 Food Bucks Program | Oshkosh Saturday Farmers Market |
| Education | Reach Counseling |
| Counseling | Reach Counseling |
| Advocacy | Reach Counseling |
| Sexual Abuse Treatment Program | Reach Counseling |
| Solutions Recovery, Inc. | Solutions Sober Living |
| Robert Glass Focus on the Children Program | Tri-County Dental |
| Growing Readers | University of Wisconsin Oshkosh |
| Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) | University of Wisconsin Oshkosh |
| 2-1-1 | United Way Fox Cities |
| Be Well Fox Valley Food As Medicine | United Way Fox Cities |
| Road to Work | Winnebago Literacy Council |
“We are grateful to the community partners who applied for funding, the volunteers who reviewed all the programs to make sure they were having an impact, and the community for supporting United Way to make this all happen,” said Jennifer Skolaski, Vice Chair of Community Impact. “It’s hard to make decisions when there are so many needs in our community, but we feel better when we have dedicated volunteers that are trying to help community partners leverage the great work they’re already doing. It’s inspiring to hear from agencies that are going above and beyond to help those that most need it, and the success stories of their hard work. In a year where we need it most, we’re appreciative that the community can work together to take care of one another.”
Oshkosh Area United Way will be accepting applications for the 2023 Community Investment Grant during the month of June 2022. The application is available to organizations serving the Oshkosh Area United Way’s service area that offer programming in mental health, early childhood development, and steps toward a living wage focus areas.
For more information on the above programs or the 2023 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 2022 campaign, visit www.oshkoshunitedway.org/donate.