Impact in the Chippewa Valley

Spring is in the air!

Spring brings two new staff members to UWGCV. Nick Swartz is our new Director of Resource Development and Rhea Losano is our new Director of Marketing & Communications. If you see them out and about, please introduce yourself!

We are welcomed this month with a letter from our Digital Navigator, Jordan Garcia. Read below to register for the 2024 Chippewa Valley Spirit Awards on April 4, sign up for our April 11 Impact Tour, find information about Request for Proposals (RFP) for the 2025-2028 Application Cycle, RSVP for the third meeting of the Chippewa Valley Digital Inclusion Partnership and more! We look forward to seeing many of you at the 2024 Chippewa Valley Spirit Awards!

Meet Jordan Garcia, UWGCV's Digital Navigator:

Hello Everyone and Happy Spring!

My name is Jordan Garcia and I am the Digital Navigator at UWGCV. I started in late January of this year and am very excited to be working with such a wonderful organization that gets to serve in this community of amazing people!

As a Digital Navigator, I will be helping community members achieve short and long-term goals related to internet connectivity, devices and digital skills. We’ve recently got the program up and running and are collecting referrals for those who may be interested in the benefits this program provides! One-on-one support is a specialty and a passion of mine, and my background in Digital Infrastructure and Platforms, Marketing Support and Special Events and Fan Experience prepared me well to be a Digital Navigator.

My hometown is Fremont, Ohio, and I have spent time living in Findlay, Cleveland, Dayton and Columbus. We moved to Eau Claire in December of 2023 from South Georgia, and we are looking forward to exploring all that the area has to offer! My girlfriend and I really enjoy exploring and spending time with our Beagle/Lab mix, Sadie. The rest of my free time is spent at spin class, running, making music, reading or consuming documentaries.

I am very thankful for the opportunity UWGCV is giving me with this position. Digital Equity and Inclusion is very important to me, and I am ready to help however I can! This community has welcomed us with open arms and we could not be more happy to be here.

Jordan Garcia

Digital Navigator

United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley

Chippewa Valley Spirit Awards Tickets ON SALE NOW!

Join us on April 4, 2024, to present the following awards:

2023 Outstanding Campaign Award
2023 Spirit of the Chippewa Valley Award
2024 Community Impact Health Award
2024 Community Impact Education Award
2024 Community Impact Digital Equity Award
2024 Community Impact Financial Stability Award
2024 Community Impact Basic Needs Award
2024 Senn Award
2024 Volunteer of the Year Award

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE!

Join us and

meet some of our Program Partners!

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

FILE YOUR TAXES FOR FREE

THANK YOU for your support!

Thank you to our event sponsors, Emerging Leaders sponsors, our attendees, our performers Midwest Dueling Pianos and our host event venue Eau Claire Event District.

Due to the generosity of our supporters, we raised $10,800! Thank you for helping us support our mission to improve lives and build stronger Chippewa Valley communities by bringing resources together to advance the common good.

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 6-8 p.m. in the Pines Room at 29 Pines Family Restaurant & Lounge in Eau Claire.

LEARN MORE HERE!

This newsletter's Program Partner Spotlight is featuring Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin:

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.

HEALTH BOLD GOAL:

Mental Health of Chippewa Valley residents will improve by utilizing prevention and intervention programs.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin partners with individual donors, foundations, corporations and others to build the critical network of support that funds and enables the work of carefully matching children with caring adult mentors and provides ongoing support to the child, volunteer mentor and child’s family. The focus at Big Brothers Big Sisters is on creating long and sustaining relationships that will have the greatest impact on the children we serve. We know that having a Big Brother or Big Sister can help children reach their potential and get set on the right path in life.

Match Paint Party

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 The Open Door Clinic, Inc. had to say.

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

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin creates and supports one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. Our vision is for all youth to achieve their full potential. We partner with parents/guardians, volunteers and others in the community for each child in our program to achieve higher aspirations, greater confidence, better relationships, educational success and avoidance of risky behaviors.

We offer two different mentoring models-- community-based, where a child and volunteer meet on average for one hour a week doing activities they both enjoy out in the community they live in, and site-based, where the child and volunteer meet at a set day and time at the child's school or specific site for about an hour a week.

How does UWGCV strengthen your program?

UWGCV assists us with financial means to continue providing one-to-one mentoring free of charge to the families/youth we serve. The funding we receive helps us provide quality services to youth, families and our volunteers and maintain our qualified and professional staff.

What is your greatest

program need?

The greatest need for Big Brothers Big Sisters is volunteers who can commit to

mentoring a child for an average of one hour a week. With a waitlist averaging 75 children, we need Big Brothers and Big Sisters for the youth who need that extra connection. We also need volunteers at our fundraising events.

For more information about

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin

Please contact:

Kristin Karnes-Frederickson

715-835-0161

kristin.karnes-frederickson@bbbsnw.org

424 Galloway St

Eau Claire, Wisconsin 54703

Or visit their website at bbbsnw.org

and follow their social platforms.

Thumbs up for Mentoring!

Big Sister Ashley & Little Sister Faith enjoying Action City

Thank you Big Brothers Big Sisters for working with adults to provide mentoring to youth in the Chippewa Valley!

Feeling disconnected?

Are there ways that the internet and computers can make your life easier? We would love to hear from you about technology support you would like to see in the Chippewa Valley. No pressure, just information and friendly conversations. The Chippewa Valley Digital Inclusion Partnership has been working Clear Vision Eau Claire to host a series of three meetings to address technology issues and start working towards solutions. Everyone is invited to join us, in-person or virtually, for the third meeting! Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP by clicking on the button below.

RSVP NOW

BE A DIFFERENCE MAKER! VOLUNTEER TODAY!

Check out our new ULTIMATE ONLINE VOLUNTEER RESOURCE, ChippewaValleyVolunteer.com!

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. Visit Now.

VISIT CHIPPEWAVALLEYVOLUNTEER.COM NOW!

Keep up to date with all of our future United Way of the Greater Chippewa Valley events. Get involved and give back. See the upcoming events listed below!