By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Last year felt different from the years during the coronavirus pandemic for the United Way of Greater St. Joseph.
President Kylee Strough says things felt back to normal as services bounced back to how they were prior to 2020.
"We saw a lot of our programming return to things we recognized," Strough tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. "For instance, through our profit and education initiative we were able to get career speakers back into classrooms and school settings to share with students about career paths they might want to consider in their educational journey."
Strough says volunteers were also able to get back into schools for reading programs and the United Way was able to relaunch Leadership St. Joseph in person, after being virtual during the pandemic.
After a bounce back of services last year, the United Way of Greater St. Joseph has its eyes on this year, setting some new goals.
This year, Strough says one big goal is helping the homeless population in St. Joseph. Strough says that involves working with several other agencies and the city to formulate a good system.
"So, we're working on making sure that that system is solid and strong, but also that it's evident to those in the community and they know where to turn when they're experiencing homelessness or when they run across somebody who they are concerned about," Strough says. "So, they know where to turn and connect them for assistance."
Strough says another focus this year for United Way will be putting an emphasis on the early care and education realm, focusing on getting kids ready for kindergarten.
Strough says to accomplish these goals it's going to take communication, coordination, and collaboration with other agencies to accomplish these goals.
"We have a limited amount of resources within our community, whether that be money, people, expertise, et cetera," Strough explains. "The better we can be at working together, at sharing our resources, and making sure that we're acting in a coordinated and collaborated method, the stronger our community will be at the end of the day."
Strough says no matter what the topic is that's how things will be approached to achieve the goals of helping the community.