For Immediate Release
June 30, 2020 - Lexington, KY - United Way of the Bluegrass (UWBG) announced that it would extend its regional grant allocations for one additional year to funded partners beginning July 1, 2020. The organization made the decision to extend funding into a fourth year to ensure that funded programs and nonprofit partners across the region can maintain critical service offerings. "During this uncertain and challenging time when many funders are making cuts or reductions, we felt that the best course of action was to extend regional grant awards to our current partners, and delay the implementation of our new collective impact strategy," said UWBG president and CEO, Timothy Johnson. "The COVID-19 pandemic has created many challenges for our nonprofit sector, and while UWBG is not immune to these challenges, our board of directors unanimously supported this decision at a difficult time when our community needs stability and access to critical supports for basic needs and health and human services," said Johnson.
The organization planned to launch new collective impact programming and an updated funding model this summer. Officials hope to implement the new model and programs by July 2021, which would provide wrap-around services and support for individuals and families on the neighborhood level. "While we are disappointed to delay these exciting plans for our region, we are sensitive to the fact that the immediate needs of our Central Kentucky community have evolved greatly over the last few months," said Jonathan Kohn, vice president, community impact. "Right now our focus needs to be on response and recovery, and we want to help our partners focus on the important work at hand as more and more of our neighbors need assistance and are looking for a path forward," said Kohn.
Regional grant allocations, previously awarded in 2017 for a three-year term will extend for one additional year beginning in July to 51 Central Kentucky nonprofit organizations, and will provide funding for a total of 68 regional programs offering support and outreach in the areas of basic needs, health, education and financial stability. The organization plans to release additional details about their new collective impact strategy later this year.
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Media Contact:
Katie Williams
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
859.351.8567
About United Way of the Bluegrass:
United Way of the Bluegrass fights for the Basic Needs, Education and Financial Stability of every person in Central Kentucky. Funding supports programming in Anderson, Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Jessamine, Madison, Montgomery, Scott, and Woodford counties. For more information, visit www.uwbg.org or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
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