United Way of Lake County Supported Programs 

Birthright Lake Inc.

Baby Formula Program

Birthright Lake, Inc. offers EMERGENCY FORMULA to our clients during the first year of the baby's life when Mom is unable to nurse or baby is in need of supplementation. The Formula supplement is available for the child once a month to improve and enrich the child's nutrition and health. We offer the formula on an emergency basis and as a supplementation to the clients WIC and Food stamp/SNAP benefit, to patients of UH and Cleveland Clinic in Lake County in which are on specialized formula, and to Lake County residents in financial straits as needed. Due to the generosity of the United Way Lake and to individual donors, we have been able to provide our clients who have children 12 months and younger, 1-2 cans (30+ oz) of formula once a month during the first year of the child's life.

Catholic Charities

Hispanic Outreach

Catholic Charities of Lake County seeks funding for its Hispanic Outreach and Emergency Assistance program, with case management to achieve self-sufficiency. We seek an increase in support to strengthen Hispanic outreach and link emergency assistance to case management, providing clients with concrete steps towards self-sufficiency. The path to self-sufficiency begins with meeting basic needs, e.g. food and housing security. For Hispanic individuals, self-sufficiency also begins with trusted people who help with language, cultural barriers and immigration concerns. Hispanic outreach, case management, and emergency assistance are effective gateways to achieve self-sufficiency and stability. Our administrative assistant is the initial point of contact, listening to client's challenges and offering direct assistance and/or effective linkage to community partners. With the emergency need addressed clients are better able to work with a case manager to overcome longer-term needs.

Cleveland Rape Crisis Center

Services for Survivors of Sexual Abuse in Lake County

CRCC offers free counseling, crisis intervention, victim advocacy, and outreach for survivors of sexual violence and their non-offending family members, as well as prevention and training programming. These activities for Lake County are offered in CRCC’s Mentor office, which opened in 2019. 2024 marks CRCC’s 12th anniversary of expansion into Lake County; services for Lake County residents began in 2012 when CRCC entered a partnership to co-locate an office at Beacon Health (now Crossroads Health). United Way of Lake County funding will support CRCC’s trauma-informed services, which will measurably improve the quality of people's lives in Lake County by addressing their needs after the trauma of sexual violence.

Crossroads Health

Ohio Early Intervention

Crossroads Health's Ohio Early Intervention (OHEI) provides services that promote children’s growth and development and supports families during the important early years of a child’s life (0-3). Early Intervention is a statewide system that provides evaluation and coordinated early intervention services to families with children under the age of three with developmental delays or disabilities. According to Zero to Three, research identifies a key investment for kindergarten readiness is to "make Early Identification and Intervention available for children with learning difficulties, at risk" and those who experienced or experiencing trauma (zerotothree.org).

Fine Arts Association

Creative Arts Therapy

Creative Arts Therapies (CAT) is very important to The Fine Arts Association (FAA). Among our goals is to make the Arts accessible to everyone, no matter their background, ability level, or aspiration. FAA's CAT programs use art, drama, music and dance to illicit changes in behaviors - to improve mood, increase language and communication skills, or whatever changes may be needed for the client. FAA's CAT services are provided by licensed / board-certified therapists and are designed to address mental health needs including behavioral, physical, cognitive, social and emotional disabilities. Evidenced-based and clinical use of art, drama, dance, and/or music provides interventions to work on objectives and goals designed by a therapist, for the client and provides a more natural way of working on defined goals and objectives because these therapies are interactive and engaging. CAT uses integrative techniques to captivate the soul, body and mind in ways that verbal expression cannot.

Forbes House

Domestic Violence Shelter

Forbes House operates a 24-hour helpline and residential shelter that is a safe haven from abuse while empowering individuals on their healing journey. Our trauma informed, survivor centered program is designed to shelter, advocate, educate and elevate victims of domestic violence into survivors! Our immediate goal is to provide safety and then promote healing. We advocate and educate victims as they navigate the justice system, gain financial self-sufficiency and confidence as they overcome the psychological effects of abuse. Our services address all possible needs including counseling, danger assessments, housing, employment, education, support group, skills classes and court advocacy. We provide: Shelter: safety planning, shelter, basic needs, crisis line Advocacy: personal, court, housing, coordinated benefits, relocation Outreach: evidence-based education/prevention, law enforcement, corrections, Support: Individual and group counseling, skills, transportation, aftercare

Kidney Foundation of Ohio/Lake County

Medication and Transportation Grants

The Kidney Foundation of Lake County’s mission is to provide monetary grants in aid for medication and transportation for the support of kidney disease patients who are Lake County residents who are transplanted patients and/or are undergoing medical therapy through dialysis or medication. Our clients must meet the guidelines of being a Lake County resident and have a household income that is 250% of the federal poverty level. Grants help with the cost of transportation to and from dialysis treatments and medical appointments, medication costs, and utility shutoff emergency grants. We have expanded our coverage to include supplements as prescribed by the physician along with a one-time COVID grant for specialized dialysis treatment.

Lake County Free Clinic

Case Management

Lake County Free Clinic is the only no-cost, non-emergency, whole-person healthcare clinic for uninsured (95 percent) and underinsured (5 percent) Lake County residents. After an initial pilot that demonstrated hypertensive and diabetic patients saw improved numbers following calls to address social determinants of health needs, the clinic launched case management as a service in April 2021. This program offers vital service to LCFC patients. The case management department serves as the point of entry for underinsured patients, ensuring they meet the clinic's eligibility requirements. The department provides Medicaid or well-insured patients with referrals to a more appropriate provider. The department also gives patients one-on-one support to address the basic needs impacting their quality of life, including access to affordable public health insurance, transportation, food, housing and interpreters, appropriate referrals to area social service agencies, and regular follow-up care.

Dental Care for Lake County Residents

LCFC is the only provider of no-cost dental care in northeast Ohio, offering exams, cleanings, x-rays, simple restorations and extractions, along with dental education and supplies as available. Following a more than three-year program suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic and LCFC's operations in a temporary location, dental services resumed in August 2023 with one volunteer dentist who is offering exams, x-rays, fillings and extractions; she is also working closely with the dental hygiene students from Lakeland Community College who volunteer once a week to offer cleanings. Two hygienists volunteer in three monthly clinics to offer cleanings, and a second volunteer dentist began serving on-site in March 2024. Previously, LCFC's dental program had a primary focus of addressing immediate dental needs. Now, the dental clinic joins LCFC's whole-person focus, and preventive care, including in-depth education, and regular cleanings are the priority.

Medical Care for Lake County Residents

Since 1971, Lake County Free Clinic has worked to ensure underserved adults and children have access to no-cost, quality healthcare. LCFC is the only truly free clinic in Lake County: LCFC does not bill to provide care to patients. In 2023, 96 percent of medical appointments were for patients who were uninsured, and 3.4 percent were for patients paying into public or private insurance plans with unaffordable co-payments. LCFC's medical program provides preventive, acute, and chronic care appointments with a medical provider, laboratory and pharmacy assistance, appointments with specialists in fields like audiology, orthopedics, pediatrics and cardiology, and education visits with nurses and pharmacists for lifestyle, medication and diagnosis education. As part of a whole-person model, staff and volunteer providers work with LCFC's case management and dental programs to go beyond a diagnosis and address the correlation between a patient's quality of life and overall health.

Lake County YMCA

Child Care

The Lake County YMCA provides affordable childcare for members of the community to ensure that every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential. The Y offers high-quality after-school programs that nurture the whole child with a blend of academic enrichment, play and social emotional learning. We’re committed to partnering with schools and families to ensure that every child has the support they need to reach their full potential.

Financial Assistance

With a commitment to nurturing the potential of youth, promoting healthy living and fostering a sense of social responsibility, the Lake County YMCA ensures that every individual has access to the essentials needed to learn, grow and thrive, regardless of their socioeconomic status. Throughout Lake County, countless people know the Y. But there’s so much more to our Y than one might think. From exercise to education, from volleyball to volunteerism, from preschool to preventive health, the Y doesn’t just strengthen our bodies. It strengthens our community. The Y is so much more than a gym. It’s a cause dedicated to youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.

Summer Learning Loss Prevention Program

The Summer Learning Loss Prevention Program is a six-week academic and enrichment program designed for rising first through fourth graders. This achievement gap-addressing program mitigates summer learning loss for struggling readers and focuses on serving low-income communities and households. The program’s effectiveness relies on three core elements: intensive literacy instruction, enrichment activities aligned to literacy, and family engagement. Currently housed at Maple Elementary within the Painesville City School District.

Lake-Geauga Habitat for Humanity

Repair Program

Our repair program is a recent expansion that goes beyond the traditional Habitat model of building new homes. Our Repair Program includes Home Preservation, Critical Home Repairs, Veterans Home Repairs, and Aging-in-Place. The FY '24 goal for the Home Repairs and Senior Homeowners to Aging-In-Place is to complete 20 projects at an average $5,000 per project. This project will serve our local community members, seniors, and veterans, who are low to moderate-income and have an immediate need for critical home repairs but cannot afford to pay for them. Our Aging In Place program is focused on the needs of senior-aged and senior veteran homeowners who wish to remain in their homes. It is a collaboration with University Hospitals and Lifeline, Inc. With the grant and other support funding, the Veterans and Senior Homeowners program recipients are not charged for the assessment and repair services.

Lake-Geauga Recovery Centers

Residential Child Care Worker

Neveah Ridge is a residential treatment center for substance use disorders that welcomes pregnant women & women with children ages 5 & under. These women receive specialized & enhanced services to meet their unique needs & help establish a solid foundation in recovery & long-term sobriety. By providing stable, respectful, & structured treatment for this special population, our goal is to increase the birth rate of drug-free babies & support the newly recovering individual’s transition to the community as functioning, independent citizens. With funding from United Way of Lake County, we added a Residential Child Care Program as a support to promote family unity & provide nurturing, educational opportunities to the children while their mothers are in the most intense part of their treatment. Due to the very favorable impact this has had on the women’s treatment and recovery, parenting skills and family relationships, we are requesting continued funding to support this program.

Lifeline

211

Lifeline’s mission is to help low-income people rise out of poverty and become more self-sufficient and we believe that one of the first steps to self-sufficiency is knowing where to ask for assistance. This is what 211 does. It connects those in need to the services that can help them. 211 is an easy-to-remember number to call when you need non-emergency help or access to health or human services, but don’t know where to start. It is a toll- free 24-hour/365-day/year service so local residents can get the help they need when they need it. Our database curator maintains an extensive and current database consisting of 454 organizations and 980 services and are trained to ask the right questions to help direct callers to the providers who can help. Our database is also available 24/7 on our agency’s website and our team is available by text 24/7, as well.

Dolly Parton Imagination Library

Lifeline’s Lake County Imagination Library is an affiliate of the Imagination Library of Ohio and the international Dolly Parton Imagination Library. In an effort to improve kindergarten readiness, instill a love of learning and bolster literacy rates, the program provides one new book each month mailed to enrolled children under the age of 5 at no charge to the family. Lifeline actively outreaches and enrolls new children weekly and then each month places the book order for all of our kids and pays the invoices. Currently over 6,800 Lake County children receive a new book each month courtesy of Lifeline’s Lake County’s Imagination Library. We hope to grow that number to over 7,500 children by the end of FY2025.

Security Deposit Program

This program is a multi-faceted approach to helping low-income residents obtain and maintain safe, stable and affordable housing through financial assistance with security deposits and/or first months’ rent, property safety assessment and education. At its core, this program serves to make affordable housing an option in Lake County, particularly given the high costs of rental housing and the waiting lists for vouchers. But in addition, this program also addresses the safety needs of the tenants and provides training on how to be a good neighbor and tenant, as well as basic financial literacy education. This comprehensive approach to housing placement is the only one of its kind in Lake County and helps hundreds of households each year.

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance

Lifeline’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program (VITA), is a partnership with the IRS to provide high quality, free tax preparation services to low-income residents to help ensure that they claim all of the various credits that they qualify for. We also provide financial literacy and asset building information to our participants. Our tax clinics have been hugely successful—over the last 14 seasons, 2,415 tax filings have been made by our volunteers, including 890 that claimed the EITC. $2,988,979 in returns have been brought back into our participants’ wallets. Our volunteers have logged 5,409 hours in training and tax preparation over the 14 seasons.

Lake County Guardian Program

The Lake County Guardian Program exists to address the individual health and safety needs of Lake County’s most vulnerable populations. Guardians, appointed by the Lake County Probate Court, work on behalf of the elderly, developmentally disabled and those struggling with mental illness who cannot make decisions or advocate for themselves. Guardians play a vital role in the health and safety of these community members who need the support of a caring person who is able to advocate for their needs and make the best decisions possible for their well-being. When a family member or trusted friend cannot be named a guardian, Lifeline's Guardian Program is named the Guardian of the Person for that ward and they are trusted to our care.

NAMI Lake County

Ending the Silence

NAMI Ending the Silence is a free presentation designed to give audience members an opportunity to learn about mental illness through an informative PowerPoint and young adult testimony. The program promotes youth mental health awareness by educating those individuals with whom youth have the greatest interaction – their peers, family members, and school staff. There are three types of Ending the Silence presentations: Students, School Staff, and Families. Each presentation outlines symptoms of mental health conditions and gives attendees ideas about how to help themselves, friends, or family members who may need support. Ending the Silence is provided completely free of charge to all.

Project Hope for the Homeless

Homeless Shelter

United Way has funded the homeless shelter which includes an adult wing open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. to serve men and women. Families enter separately 1 p.m. - 7 a.m. M-F and 2 p.m. - 7 a.m. weekends. Total capacity is up to 50 beds for both wings. Included are meals, showers, linens, hygiene items, clothing and laundry vouchers, educational and recovery groups, optional spiritual support, and weekly 1:1 meetings with a professional staff member who helps guests set and achieve goals or referrals to help them achieve their most abundant life. We also offer an aftercare program which meets the needs of former guests through educational workshops, care packages, referrals, events and linkage to housing subsidies; and Hope House, a 3-unit transitional housing program for people ages 62+. There is also a Welcome Home program where guests preparing to move into housing may shop for free for household items and small furnishings.

Signature Health

Geriatric Care Liaison

Signature Health Inc. (SHI) has been committed to the strategic goal of implementing Geriatric Behavioral Health Services for our region since 2018. SHI began actively providing comprehensive community-based geriatric based behavioral services for Lake County’s older adults in June 2023, meeting a need not provided by any other nonprofit. SHI currently has a four-person team providing a comprehensive range of services (including a mental-health therapist, psychiatric nurse practitioner, nurse, and case manager) in both private homes and congregate facilities. A dedicated Geriatric Care Liaison is needed to support the development and expansion of SHI’s community-based geriatric behavioral health services in Lake County. This individual will be responsible for: - executing the Geriatric Services growth plan in Lake County - maintaining partner relationships - ensuring smooth communication - ensuring delivery of high-quality, patient-centered care to older adults in Lake County.

Starting Point

Lake County Deveraux Program

Starting Point’s Lake County Devereux (DECA) Program strengthens early care and education programs’ capacity to deliver quality learning opportunities for young children. This program prepares providers to address children’s social-emotional development and connects childcare programs and families to resources that build protective factors in young children, such as self-regulation, nurturing and attachment, and social connections. The DECA Program is built on the Devereux Center for Resilient Children’s (DCRC) strengths-based and prevention-oriented approach designed to benefit all children and families with various life experiences, strengths, and areas for growth. Since a child may face increased risk factors at any point in their development, this approach emphasizes the importance of building strong protective factors for all children and their caregivers to proactively build their resiliency to adverse experiences.

The Salvation Army Corps Community Center

Emergency Services

The Emergency Services Program addresses individuals' immediate needs to eliminate impending crisis, such as food insecurity and housing instability, while simultaneously providing access to available resources that enable individuals to become self-sufficient. When a person in crisis can establish a more secure sense of existence, they gain the confidence and clarity required to engage with us in pursuing other goals that lead to self-sufficiency, such as securing employment, completing a GED, vocational training in a specific trade, or establishing permanent housing. Individuals are able to achieve a self-sustainable lifestyle and break the cycle of poverty.

Youth Learning Zone

This Learning Zone is available to youth of Lake County as an educational support program that provides a safe and secure environment for academic tutoring. In addition to improving academic performance and instilling the importance of education into students, students and adolescents are equipped with tools to build healthy relationships with peers, interact with role models to become role models themselves and make healthy decisions. Students enter the Learning Zone through school recommendation, allowing The Salvation Army to connect with struggling families, and to act as a gateway to available wrap-around services, both internally at The Salvation Army and through external partnerships.

Red Shield Homeless Services Program

The Red Shield Homeless Services Program (Red Shield) serves as an entry point for individuals experiencing homelessness who are seeking the assistance needed to achieve self-sufficiency and permanent housing. The Red Shield program offers a safe environment that creates a sense of security needed for the client to begin using the most basic skills required for independence. Operational during the day time hours, when the overnight shelter is closed, the Red Shield program offers much needed access to basic needs, case management and referrals to collaborative agencies.

The Salvation Army Lake County Service Units

Emergency Services Program

The Salvation Army Services Units provide basic needs to households experiencing financial and other crisis across Lake County. Located in small storefronts and local churches, the Service Units serve areas such as Willowick/Willoughby, Kirtland, Madison and Perry, ensuring community members do not have to contend with transportation barriers and can access support. Services include access to food vouchers, clothing vouchers, utilities assistance, prescription assistance and gasoline assistance.

Torchlight Youth Mentoring Alliance

Community Based Mentor Program

This program uses adults over the age of 18 building one-on-one mentoring relationships with children aged 6 - 18 and beyond. Volunteers go through a screening process to include a background check. All relationships are supported by a trained professional. Children on our waiting list along with matches are invited to attend monthly activities organized by casework staff. These activities allow casework staff to monitor matches more closely & to get to know the clients on the waiting list better so they can ensure the best match possible is made. Mentors offer guidance, support, encouragement, understanding, advice, friendship and respect. Our programs also provide structured community service opportunities for the adults of our community.

Wickliffe City School District

Family Resource Center of Wickliffe

The Family Resource Center of Wickliffe (FRC) serves individuals and families birth to end of life. The FRC serves as a hub to area agencies to provide services to clients, their families, and anyone in need. The center provides medical examination and treatment space, counseling and small group space, and large group and educational space. Clients are served by a variety of agencies in Lake County including: Signature Health, The Hospice of the Western Reserve, The City of Wickliffe, The Alzheimer's Association, The Lake County Health District, Forbes House, Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, Crossroads Health, College Now, Lifeline, and programs in workforce development, financial literacy, healthy living, self-defense, and others.