United Way of Greater Greensboro Announcements

United Way Announcements

Community Resource Guide Offers Essential Information

The United Ways of Greater Greensboro and Greater High Point have worked this week to devise a Community Resource Guide for Katrina evacuees, not just those who are expected en masse, but also for those who have come to the Piedmont on their own.  While this is nowhere near an exhaustive list, it does provide information newcomers might need to know on an immediate basis.  We envision that access to additional information will be aided by the Piedmont Neighbors Care Teams.  The area United Ways are more than happy to assist as needed in addition to the regional 2-1-1 web and telephone information service.Printed copies of the Community Resource Guide will be provided to Katrina survivors as they arrive at the Red Cross and United Way offices. 

Updated Resource Guide: Feel free to duplicate this Resource Guide as you need in serving the newest neighbors in our community.  http://www.ncdisasteraid.org/docs/United_Way_Resource_Guide.pdf

Update on local assimilation of the Hurricane Katrina evacuees & our leadership role

As of today, there are over  450 evacuees, including children, who have found there way to Guilford County on their own.    

This is already straining our local system of care here in Greensboro. United Way of Greater Greensboro made emergency grants of $50,000 to the local Red Cross and $14,000 to the Volunteer Center of Greensboro earlier this week.  Local costs could exceed $500,000 if the number of evacuees continues to grow.

On Friday September 2, at the request of our City Manager, the United Way agreed to facilitate the coordination of local efforts to assimilate the evacuees. This role complements the work of our partners at the local Red Cross and Volunteer Center who rely on the annual campaign to support their operations.

The United Way has facilitated bringing together numerous nonprofit and governmental organizations as well as hundreds of leaders from the faith community to coordinate housing plans, enroll children in school and insure easy access to employment opportunities for our new neighbors.

We applaud the generous giving to national efforts, but it will take local support to deliver the broad range of service to people here in Greensboro. Therefore, we have created the “United Way Operation Greensboro Cares Fund” which will be administered by a citizen committee chaired by Shirley Frye. The Jefferson-Pilot Foundation is making the inaugural gift to Operation Greensboro Cares. 

Your last year's financial support creates a safety net of care for our community.  It also allows us to be there as new needs emerge such as caring for the evacuees in Greensboro, which is accomplished through local funding.  

North Carolina Justice Center Resources

The North Carolina Justice Center has also prepared some suggestions that may of help in our efforts to assist Katrina survivors who come to the Triad. Please review their material as a supplement to the United Way Community Resource Guide mentioned above. http://www.ncdisasteraid.org/docs/NC_Justice_Center_Resources.pdf