Our Work

Too many of our children enter kindergarten without the fundamental skills to learn and grow properly. Access to quality pre-k programs is either not available or not affordable for many Huntington County families. We recognize the importance of children being academically prepared for the challenges of education, and want to guarantee a higher success rate for kids around the county.

It is our goal that every child enters school feeling ready and prepared to learn.

Hundreds of children and teens become disenfranchised with school each year. When children are led down the wrong path they are at greater risk of becoming victims of a crime, dropping out of school, and never seeing graduation. The United Way of Huntington County advocated for stronger family involvement and community engagement. Teachers should be able to concentrate solely on the child’s academic career. The fact is a dollar invested early in a child’s academic life yields $8 in future earning potential.

All identified students should have access to age-appropriate mentors and other academic supports.

Huntington County Schools provide a quality education in which all students may benefit, and our graduation rate has climbed to 90%. However, we struggle to keep graduates here, matching them with sustainable employment, and recruiting them back after college graduation. The industry term is “brain-drain”. We need to make sure our graduates find Huntington County to be THE place to sink their roots.

We want to retain and attract the best and brightest young people into Huntington County

Across Huntington County, individuals and families find they are unable to afford the basic necessities of life including food, shelter, clothing, transportation, or health care. Before any work can be done toward financial stability, emergency situations must be stabilized.

The United Way of Huntington works to ensure families’ basic needs are met by providing immediate assistance in the event of an unforeseen crisis.

Too many families in our area are just one emergency away from a crisis. Our hard working neighbors are struggling to make financial ends meet, or worse, are spiraling. Families need better access to every available financial education opportunity, which assist with financial sustainability,.

Our goal is to increase and ensure financial stability for working families.

When a family is unable to meet their basic needs, it not only affects their financial standing, but it also can affect their physical, emotional, and mental well being. Basic necessities like food, clothing, shelter, and safety must be in place before an individual can look to furthering their own wellness.

We work to ensure that people within the community are getting the resources they need to take care of their health.

According to the recent community health report, obesity, prenatal care, and smoking are areas of concern and are severely affecting the health of Huntington County. Local community conversations have revealed that people are concerned about drug abuse and are interested in prevention.

Supporting community members as they pursue a healthier lifestyle for themselves is another one of our top priorities.