Funded Programs

2023-2024 Funded Programs

Total Funding allocated for 2023-2024 is $203,054.32 For more information about a funded program, click on the agency name to learn more!
 

Education: Helping Children and Youth Achieve Their Potential
$42,541.54 Funded

Scouting Scholarships: $3,758.25 Grant
The Boys Scouts of America is designed to incorporate activities and learning experiences that strengthen young people's attitudes and actions toward God, family, country, and community. This scholarship fund will help make it possible for those who need help with expenses to participate.
 
Earn While You Learn: $4,475.00 Grant
Provides parenting education, pre-natal care information, life skills classes, and over 100 lessons to educate expecting parents and give them the opportunity to earn Baby Bucks to use towards free car seats, cribs and mattresses.
 
Project Respect School Programming: $3,300.00 Grant
The program offered in school helps to educate Defiance County youth to make healthy choices as they begin to experience life. Presentations include subjects that many youth do not discuss with their family members. The discussion allows youth to hear and understand the potential danger/ hazards of risky behavior and gives them helpful suggestions to avoid this behavior, the importance of good choices, and better self-esteem.
 
Therapeutic Riding: $4,250.60 Grant
Children and youth emotionally bond with horses, instructors, volunteers and other students through a weekly one hour session helping to promote social and emotional development. Funds will be used to pay for tack equipment, hay and farrier services.
 
United Way of Defiance County
Imagination Library: $13,000.00 Grant
Offers a new age-appropriate book to children from birth to age 5 mailed monthly to their homes to encourage early literacy. Since the program launched in 2009, 45,856 books have been delivered to Defiance County residents enrolled in the program.
 
United Way of Defiance County
Kindergarten Camp: $15,000.00 Grant
Offers a week-long Kindergarten experience for students entering Kindergarten that are identified during screening as needing additional preparation. These students are taught social skills, following instructions, holding a book and fine motor skills including writing their name.

 

 

Essential Services: Providing a Quality Safety Net
$52,897.28 Funded

Disaster Services: $3,031.33 Grant
Serves people affected by disaster and continually strengthens the capacity of communities for disaster response, recovery, and readiness. Provides immediate emergency needs for food, clothing, and shelter. 
 
House of Ruth: $8,340.10 Grant
Offers a safe, secure, and confidential place to reside at no cost to victims and their families, as well as access to a 24-hour hotline. Victim advocates are available and provide emotional support, linkage to services, assistance with obtaining protection orders, and court advocacy and accompaniment.
 
Defiance Board of Developmental Disabilities
Family Support Services: $2,000.00 Grant
Provides services and financial assistance to aid a family in providing the best care for their loved one.
 
Mobility Manager Program: $2,394.22 Grant
The mobility manager will develop and maintain effective working relationships with all levels of staff, community leaders, government representatives, customers, and the public. This work will be done through the promotion of available resources as well as identifying opportunities for enhancements.
 
Rapid Rehousing: $8,837.72 Grant
Provides an intervention designed to help families exit homelessness, increase self-sufficiency, return to permanent housing and stay housed. 
 
Operation Clean Duds
Free Laundry Program: $3,053.70 Grant
Provides an intervention designed to help families exit homelessness, increase self-sufficiency, return to permanent housing and stay housed.
 
Emergency Assistance: $10,740.21 Grant
Provides emergency assistance to avoid disconnections that will cause a further financial burden. Assistance in the prevention of water, gas, and electric shut-off is provided and helps avoid hazardous situations in homes that have small children, senior citizens, or individuals with potentially life-threatening illnesses.
 
Emergency Medicine: $2,000.00 Grant
Provides life-sustaining prescription medications and supplies and gas vouchers for out-of-town life-sustaining medical procedures for clients that are unable to pay because of lack of insurance or income.
 
Emergency Shelter: $4,500.00 Grant
Provides short-term assistance with shelter to insure that no one is sleeping on the streets or in uninhabitable environments in Defiance County.
 
Homelessness Prevention: $6,000.00 Grant
Provides short-term assistance with rent/mortgages to avoid evictions and prevent homelessness.
 
St. Vincent DePaul Society  
Emergency Assistance Program: $2,000.00 Grant
Provides emergency assistance to avoid discrimination in utilities as well as rent assistance to avoid evictions.
 

Financial Stability: Promoting Self-sufficiency and Financial Wellness
$17,500.00 Funded

Workforce Development: $6,000.00 Grant
In collaboration with Northwest State Community College, Ohio Means Jobs, Defiance County Workforce Development, and Defiance High School, the Workforce Development program offers training in three different educational tiers focused on automotive skills, construction trade skills, and holistic character development. 
 
Legal Assistance: $5,500.00 Grant
Provides free comprehensive civic legal assistance to low-income people, addressing issues of domestic relations, domestic violence, access to education, eviction defense, housing conditions, disability law, access to government benefits, and consumer issues.
 
Financial Opportunity Center: $6,000.00 Grant
The Financial Opportunity Center provides strategies that will empower low-income and vulnerable consumers to make informed choices that improve life skills, self-sufficiency and financial capability.
 

 

Health: Improving Peoples' Health
$90,115.50 Funded

Counseling: $5,768.50 Grant
Provides therapy for individuals affected by abusive behaviors such as sexual assault and domestic violence as well as other mental health issues. Treatments available include individual, family, marital counseling, and group therapy. Also provided are parenting programs and bullying prevention programming for schools, churches, and the community at large.
 
Defiance County General Health District
MyPlate Program: $2,000.00 Grant
This USDA evidence-based nutrition program introduces the importance of eating from all five food groups in addition to the importance of physical activity. Offered to 3rd grade students in all Defiance County elementary schools, the MyPlate Program is presented over four individual course lessons discussing topics such as: the five food groups, portion sizes, sugar content in drinks, and physical activity, just to name a few. All lessons include hands-on activities to engage the students in learning the nutrition concepts including a taste testing of various fruits and vegetables. 
 
Hicksville Community Service Center
Summer Food Program: $4,000.00 Grant
Services a healthy meal five days a week throughout the summer to children in the Hicksville community. 
Path Center Transportation: $7,750.00 Grant
Provides rides to and from the Path Center where people can enjoy a free nutritious meal, activities, and socialization in a healthy and non-judgmental atmosphere. It is an opportunity to prevent isolation for community members with limited income, mental illness, or in the recovery process.
 
Summer Food Program: $7,595.78 Grant
Serves a healthy meal five days a week throughout the summer to children. In 2018, 53% of children are eligible for free or reduced meals in Defiance City Schools during the school year. This program allows those children to have access to a meal during the summer as well.
 
One Step at a Time
Remedy Live School Program: $1,000 Grant
An interactive school assembly engaging our youth on the topic of mental health.
 
Serenity Haven: $9,501.22 Grant
Provides chemical dependency and mental health treatment to women. Services include assessment, group, individual and family therapy, parenting classes, mental health counseling by licensed counselors and licensed social workers. A psychiatrist is available on site as well as a full pharmacy, pharmacist, pharmacist tech, and primary care doctor.
 
United Way of Defiance County
Back Pack Buddy: $45,000.00 Grant
Provides kid-friendly and nutritious food 35 weekends of the school year for children who qualify for free and reduced lunches at all public elementary schools in Defiance County.
 
United Way of Defiance County
Feeding Success: $7,000.00 Grant
A personal care item and food pantry is stocked in every Defiance County middle and high school that allows counselors, teachers, administrators and coaches the opportunity to access items when needs are presented.
 
Zion's Lutheran Church
Innkeepers Pantry & Community Meal: $500.00 Grant
Provides a monthly community meal with distribution of pantry goods. 
 
 
Give with a Lasting Impact:
United Way of Defiance County
Provides a resource for agencies and organizations to list their volunteer needs, in-kind donation requests, advocacy, and employment needs, as well as community events. Community individuals can seek out needs in the community and events, and connect with the agencies.
 
United Way of Defiance County
Endowment Fund
Ensures that the United Way of Defiance County will leave a legacy for future generations, in addition to funding projects and programs today. Many donors are passionate about leaving a long-term legacy, in addition to sharing today’s dollars. This will assist in fulfilling the donor’s passion, as well as touching more lives today, tomorrow, and in the future.
 
 
 

Ways to donate:
Fill out a Pledge Form or donate online by credit card. You can allocate your donation to a specific program on the pledge form or note this under "special instructions" when you donate online.