Happy Tuesday, Friends!

Everyday we make an impact and our mission is successful because of YOU! This month, we are welcomed with an introduction from our new Director of Resource Development, Nick Swartz. Read below to learn more about him and how to register for our upcoming golf tournament. We look forward to seeing many of you there!

Meet Nick Swartz, UWGCV's new

Director of Resource Development:

Hello UWGCV supporters! I hope you all had a chance to enjoy the sunshine this spring!

My name is Nick Swartz and I am the new Director of Resource Development here at UWGCV. I started in March and have been amazed by the efforts of both the UWGCV team and our incredible community of supporters in the Chippewa Valley. I’m looking forward to contributing to these efforts moving forward!

As the Director of Resource Development, I will be working with community members, businesses, and organizations to help maximize our ability to have a positive impact on our local communities. We are incredibly fortunate to have such an active group of Program Partners who take on the diverse set of challenges that impact the lives of many of our friends and neighbors throughout the Chippewa Valley. My goal is to ensure we have the resources and community support needed to help these incredible organizations continue strengthening the quality of life for all those who call this home. We’ll be working to further this goal in a number of different ways including our annual golf outing coming up on June 3rd over at Lake Wissota Golf & Events. This is our single biggest fundraising event of the year and we would love to see you out on the course! If you are interested in signing up or finding out more about ways to support, please let me know!

I grew up over in Norton Shores, Michigan before heading off to school at Michigan State in East Lansing (Go Green!). From there I moved out to Grand Junction, Colorado where I spent three years before meeting my now fiancé Sarah and making the move to Eau Claire. The past two years here have been spent taking advantage of all the wonderful parks in the area, hitting up the local record and book stores as often as possible, and indulging in as many of the fantastic restaurants as we are able to visit. During the rest of my free time you can usually find me out at the dog park with our pup Ziggy, trying to sneak in a quick round at one of the local golf courses, reading, or cooking a delicious meal.

I am very thankful for the opportunity to work with UWGCV and so many individuals who are passionate about making this community a wonderful place to live for all who call it home. Looking forward to meeting and working with many more of you in the years to come!

Nick Swartz

Director of Resource Development

United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley

We invite you to come and learn how influential

our Program Partners are!

Impact Tours provide the opportunity to learn more about the issues affecting our community and how you can support the efforts of local nonprofits by donating to United Way.

For each tour, we visit multiple United Way Program Partners throughout the scheduled time. You'll get an up-close look at the amazing work that is being done right here in the Chippewa Valley.

RSVP NOW

Request For Proposals (RFP) for the 2025-2028 grant cycle is now available. The RFP along with additional application information can be found by clicking the button below.

This RFP has four initiatives - Health, Education, Financial Stability and Basic Needs - with the Bold Goals of:

Health: Improve the mental health of Chippewa Valley residents.
Education: Children in the Chippewa Valley will enter school ready to succeed.
Financial Stability: Chippewa Valley residents will achieve self-sufficiency through employment training and personal money management skills.
Basic Needs: Chippewa Valley residents will have access to food, shelter and medical services in their time of need.

FIND MORE INFORMATION HERE

The Chippewa Valley Village Child Care Provider Network, a dynamic community initiative aimed at supporting and empowering family child care providers, has received funding from the Wisconsin DreamUp! Grant to support the community-led effort.

The Chippewa Valley Village Child Care Provider Network holds monthly in-person meetings, providing a supportive space where child care providers can come together, share experiences and exchange valuable insights. These gatherings foster a sense of camaraderie and collaboration, as providers connect with like-minded individuals facing similar challenges and accomplishments. The network meets the second Tuesday of every month from 6:00-8:00 p.m. in the Pines Room at 29 Pines Family Restaurant & Lounge in Eau Claire.

LEARN MORE HERE!

When you support UWGCV, you are investing in collaborative, innovative, research-based and results-focused initiatives. These initiatives coordinate the work of local programs, service providers and community stakeholders in the Chippewa Valley. Together, we're working to solve our community's most pressing problems. Each Program Partner is funded under a specific initiative that is driven by a bold goal that keeps everyone working toward the same mission. Each newsletter we'll talk about how the featured program fits into our initiatives.

EDUCATION BOLD GOAL:

Children in the Chippewa Valley will enter school ready to succeed.

Program Description:

Child Care Partnership is a program of Western Dairyland EOC. We are the local Resource and Referral agency serving Buffalo, Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, St. Croix, and Trempealeau Counties including the Ho-Chunk Nation since 1988. Child Care Partnership Program (CCP) works with parents, child care providers and communities to develop highly competent children through quality child care programming.

Child Care Food Boxes

We're here to give you an overview of what our Program Partners do to impact our communities. We asked them to answer a few quick and direct questions for better insight as to what they do, how they do it, how United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley (UWGCV) supports them, any immediate needs they may currently have and any other notes they'd like you to be aware of. Here's what Western Dairyland EOC had to say:

Please tell us who you are and what you do to strengthen the Chippewa Valley

CCP strives to provide information for parents to help them identify and locate quality child care specific to their needs and connect them to community resources; use onsite technical consulting and coaching to improve quality and encourage child care providers and caregivers to implement best practices; and increase availability of childcare options for families and communities. With funding through the United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley, CCP is supporting children, families and childcare programs in the Chippewa Valley and working diligently to prevent expulsion of children. This is done through onsite coaching with childcare programs on challenging behaviors, ensuring children are fed and come to childcare ready to learn, and helping reduce financial burdens of families with past due balances. We are collaborating with Feed My People Food Bank on this project to reduce food insecurity for children and their families to ensure children are fed and arrive at childcare ready to learn!

How does UWGCV strengthen your program?

Support from the UWGCV was pivotal in expanding programming into the Chippewa Valley to be able provide onsite coaching and resources for childcare programs who are on the brink of expelling children due to challenging behaviors or financial struggles.

Children are consequently experiencing stability to remain in their childcare program, build social emotional skills and gain the skills to be successful for school & beyond!

What is your greatest

program need?

We are consistently hearing from families their greatest need is for their children can

remain in safe and stable programming and them remain employed at their jobs. Through donations, CCP is able to help families with past due balances or financial barriers they encounter.

For more information about

Western Dairyland EOC

Please contact:

Renee Ernsting

715-836-7511

renee.ernsting@wdeoc.org

418 Wisconsin St

Eau Claire, Wisconsin. 54703

Or visit their website at childcarepartnership.org

and follow their social platforms

Thank you Western Dairyland EOC for working with parents to provide quality resources & child care to youth in the Chippewa Valley!

The CHIP DIP Summit Concludes!

Thank you to everyone who joined us in the Chippewa Valley Digital Inclusion Partnership (or CHIP DIP for short!) meeting summit. This three-meeting series brought together over 30 community members and leaders to identify local digital inclusion issues and work towards bridging the digital divide in the Chippewa Valley. With several upcoming digital inclusion grant opportunities, four action teams will continue meeting regularly to plan and implement projects to connect our community to the internet, devices, digital literacy, and more. The four action team topics are: Accessibility, Affordability, Technology Education & Support, and Trust & Security. Help connect the Chippewa Valley and email Amber Scharenbroch to join an action team today!

Want to make a difference? Click here!

VOLUNTEER TODAY!

In collaboration with Visit Eau Claire, we’re able to bring local volunteer opportunities to one accessible digital platform. ChippewaValleyVolunteer.com is a one-stop shop when you’re looking to be a volunteer or to recruit volunteers.

VOLUNTEER | RECRUIT | MAKE A DIFFERENCE

CHECK OUT OUR NEW VOLUNTEER RESOURCE

Keep up to date with all of our future United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley events. Find multiple ways to get involved and give back! We hope to see you at our upcoming events listed below:

STAMP OUT HUNGER

Stamp Out Hunger is the largest food drive in the Chippewa Valley and is back on May 11, 2024! United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley is partnering with the National Association of Letter Carriers to hold this event. We are looking for volunteers to help drive around the postal carrier routes collecting food items in Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire for this year's Stamp Out Hunger event.

We are also looking for local organizations to hold workplace drives from May 1 until May 9, with all donations picked up by the USPS on Friday, May 10. Non-perishable goods or cash donations are accepted. For Stamp Out Hunger to receive credit for the donations raised any credit card donations must be made through this link. Checks can be made out directly to:

Feed My People Food Bank

2610 Alpine Rd

Eau Claire, WI 54703

Please consider helping those experiencing food insecurity by signing up and spreading the word that volunteers and workplace drive locations are needed. Interested? Follow the link below to sign up as a volunteer or host a workplace drive.