Tim Marshall on UnSplash
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"A Community by its very definition is made up of a mixture of life experiences….when we all pull together…THAT is a community."
“Within our community there are many organizations that we are unaware of until we need their services. The United Way buoys up communities like ours so that we flourish. A Community by its very definition is made up of a mixture of life experiences….when we all pull together…THAT is a community. The United Way nurtures these agencies ,that we don’t know about, so that …if by chance life throws a curve ball, there are ways for us to get tools in which to begin building our own lives again.” (Lighthouse for Grieving Children Founder Jo Fallon.)
If you ask the average person what the United Way does, they will generally respond "good". Or they may mention helping to alleviate poverty (sometimes with the mistaken proviso that poverty is not a big problem in Oakville).
What does "Good" mean on the ground, in the lives of our friends and neighbours? Over the past few months, Oakville News has highlighted the agencies United Way supports in our town. Every one of these agencies has experienced more challenge because of the pandemic. Every one needs your help. None of us knows when we or someone we care about will need help in return. While poverty alleviation is a significant United Way objective, many of its agencies provide support for problems that know no socio-economic boundaries.
Here are some of those stories
Helping Women through trauma, crisis and transition: Halton Women's Centre
Supporting the children of new immigrants to transition into Oakville schools: HIPPY Halton
Helping people recover from addiction: Hope Place Centres
Helping those with mental health and addiction issues find employment: STRIDE
Being there for those in despair, isolation, or contemplating suicide: Distress Centre Halton
Providing support for victims of sexual assault and working to prevent it: SAVIS
Integrating newcomers: Halton Multicultural Council
Home visiting for dementia Care, palliative Care, retirement homes: Acclaim Health
Psychotherapy regardless of means: Thrive Counselling
Helping victims of intergenerational family abuse: Radius Child and Youth Services
Parenting guidance and support for newcomers: Oakville Parent Child Centre
Addressing hunger and saving the planet by rescuing food: Food for Life
Helping children deal with the loss of a parent or sibling: Lighthouse for Grieving Children
Using the arts to create resilience and help children reach their potential: ArtHouse
Many thousands of Oakvilleans are helped by the United Way, and often they themselves are not aware of it. They are helped in myriad ways. None of us can predict when we might need one of the many agencies the United Way supports. Nor do we know at any given time which agencies most would need our funding. The United Way ensures the agencies will be there when they are needed, and that those in most need get the funds they need when they need them. The United Way vets the agencies and provides development assistance.
One of the very best ways you can help your community is by donating to the United Way. This is the height of their annual campaign, and a donation now will mean a tax deduction for you for 2021. Many of us have charities we have a connection to, of course. But none of us know the depth and breadth of need in our community the way the United Way does.
None of us knows when we or someone we care about will need help
Oakville prides itself on being the City that calls itself a Town and acts like a village, and helping the United Way is one of the best ways possible to fulfil that aspiration. The continuum of agencies acting independently yet coordinating their efforts through the United Way, each run by people passionate about those they serve, relying on your donations and the help of volunteers, provides specialized help in ways no tax-funded bureaucracy could.
As Canadians, we all know that there aren't many goals scored without assists. We all need assists to score and, in hockey as in life, an assist gets the same points as a goal. If you can give an assist now as 2021 draws to a close, please make a donation: tax credits are the assist the government give us all to assist each other. Happy New Year to all.
Many of us have charities we support for personal reasons. However, there is a wide variety of needs in our community. The United Way goes to great lengths to identify these needs and find and assist strong agencies with good processes to address them. United Way funds mean these agencies can spend more of their resources helping Oakville residents and less of them looking for money. As donors, we can’t know the best way to spread our donations around, but donations of all sizes from many Oakvilleans can be turned to their best effect through the United Way. And who knows when we, or someone close to us, will need help from one of these services. Our donations to the United Way ensure they will all be there for us if that day comes.
