Newsletter 
  April and May, 2019
  Women United 
  United Way of Knox County, Ohio

In This Letter
Power of the Purse 2019

Career Intelligence Workshop

Women in Recovery

Harmony Playground

Grant Allocations



Join us!

Women United
Upcoming Events

July 18, 12:00 pm
Women in Recovery Luncheon 
The Alcove  Restaurant
Garden Room
 RSVP to Allison or by phone 740.397.5721
Join Our Friends!

Upcoming 
Community Events
 

May and June:

Saturday May 18
10 am - 12 pm
Ariel Foundation Park
Kids to Parks Day
A national day of play that connects kids and families with their local, state and national parks

Ariel Foundation Park - 10 Pittsburgh Avenue, Mount Vernon

Saturdays, April 20 - May 18
9 am - 5 pm
Mental Health and Recovery of Licking and Knox Counties
Peer Support  Certification Training
For more information contact  Emily Morrison
 or call 740.522.1234

Wednesday-Friday, June 5, 6 and 7
Beginning at 6:30 a.m.
Affordable Health Screenings
Available to anyone- no doctor order needed.
Knox Community Hospital- 1330 Coshocton Road, Mount Vernon
 
1st Monday Each Month, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
the Freedom Center
Family Education Session
106 East Gambier St Mount Vernon

Get Healthy Knox County


Email for more details or to share your organization's events in the next newsletter!
In the News!

Recent Program  and Community Events

Knox Rox 
The International Women's Day Rox event was featured in the Mount Vernon News! 

Email  for more details or to share a story or event for the next newsletter.
Quick Links:
  

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"Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me."

- Cheryl Strayed


Cheryl Strayed is the author of the #1 New York Times Bestselling memoir Wild, as well as New York Times bestsellers Tiny Beautiful Things and Brave Enough. 

 
Power of the Purse 2019

We hope everyone enjoyed themselves at Power of the Purse 2019!
This event is one of the biggest fundraising events of the year for United Way of Knox County, and 2019 proved to be our biggest year ever!

The event featured a silent purse auction, a raffle, and a live designer purse auction, which were all modeled by male models with their own unique twist for each bag.

Power of the Purse 2019 raised  $70,000  to invest in programs and initiatives sponsored by Women United- an affinity group of United Way of Knox County. This group works to support the needs of women and children within the county. 
One program that holds a special place in our hearts is Ruling Our eXperiences and two ROX representatives came out to support us during Power of the Purse! 
Through our paddle raise "fund-a-cause" at the end of the evening, we were able to raise $8,000, which will be dedicated to funding girls in the ROX program and training new facilitators! 

We would like to thank everyone who volunteered their time and energy to make this event so successful, including the auctioneers  at  Jagger Auctioneers , our guest emcee Brock Evans,  all of our sponsors and contributors (a full list is available through our event program by request ), all of our models and servers, our dedicated co-chairs  Patty Workman  and  Erica Taylor ,  and everyone who attended this event and pledged their money to supporting women in Knox County.
 
A special thank you is owed to current Miss Ohio Matti-Lynn Chrisman for volunteering at this event. She reached out to us on her own after seeing some posts on social media and wanted to get involved to help improve lives in Knox County! 
We are truly part of an amazing community that chooses to LIVE UNITED!

See more photos from the event  here. 

Career Intelligence Workshop

April 11 was a very special day! The Knox Technical Center hosted another session of the Career Intelligence Workshop. 

This event is funded through a Women United grant and it helps Senior level students at Knox Technical Center learn important professional skills to get and keep their desired jobs. 
This workshop also featured a familiar face to United Way, our very own Program Director, Elizabeth Doolittle, held a spot on the professional panel. Students were able to ask professional members of the community important questions about job searching and interview skills. 

Not only does this workshop allow the students to learn valuable professional skills, such as resume building, interview skills, job search strategies and networking; but it also imparts the necessary "soft skills" that are often overlooked, including personality profiles, body language, communication types and financial literacy. 
This workshop prepares students for professional life in many ways. Beyond the classroom-based workshop, students are also taken out to purchase clothes for professional interviews and a new pair of shoes at Shoe Sensation. 
The Career Intelligence Workshop makes a profound difference in the lives of young people who are not necessarily considering attending a four-year or two-year college experience, but are instead focused on starting a career immediately post-graduation. 
These skills are imperative for all young professionals to learn and Women United is able to provide the funding to make it happen! 

Women in Recovery Breakfast

One of our favorite quarterly events are our Women in Recovery breakfasts. They bring diverse women together to share vulnerable stories and inspirational journeys. 
Gathering in the Garden Room of the Alcove Restaurant on April 18, Women United members were able to hear testimonies from women who have battled addiction and fought for recovery.

These Recovery events are extremely important to Women United, as assisting women in their recovery journeys is a passion area for our organization. 
Kara and Cristie are two clients from our partner agency, The Freedom Center. They bravely shared their extremely personal and moving journeys through life and recovery with all of us and we could not be more grateful. 

These events consistently remind us of the empowering work we do for women in this community! To see more photos from the April 18th event  click here!
Our next Women in Recovery event will be a new experience, as we are shifting away from breakfasts and transitioning to luncheons. 
Please join us at our first Women in Recovery Luncheon on July 18 at noon at the Alcove! RSVP to Allison or through Facebook! 
 
Harmony Playground Ribbon Cutting

We were so honored to attend the  Knox County Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting for the  Knox County Board of Developmental Disabilities Harmony Playground on April 25.

This project is close to the heart of Women United and United Way of Knox County, as this all-inclusive playground is able to provide the gift of play to all children.

We are so fortunate to live in a community that can come together to provide this opportunity for future generations! A wonderful use of Women United grant funds! 



Girls on the Run Swag

Girls on the Run, a program made available to girls in Knox County elementary schools with the help of Licking/Knox Goodwill Industries, are all gearing up for their big 5K race in Columbus. 


Thanks to a generous Women United grant, the girls were outfitted with their special gear for race day! 



Women United is dedicated to supplying grants throughout Knox County that measurably impact the lives of women and children!
 
Like our Facebook Page!

We are delighted to introduce you to our  Women United Facebook Page! Use the page to stay current with Women United news and events. We will also be sharing updates and information from the programs that Women United supports. Give us feedback on what else you would like to see on the page!

Women United Grant Allocations
 
Do you have an idea for a project? Do you think that Women United might be interested in funding it? Have you been in recent conversation when someone mentioned a particular need in Knox County? Is there a cause for which you feel passionately? 

Now that the funds have been raised for the 2019-2020 year, our grant application is now available to fund your project!

Grant Applications are reviewed and selected for support by Women United's founding members. All grant applications are due by July 4, 2019. 

Grant awardees will be announced at the Women United Annual Luncheon. 

For more information, please email [email protected] or call 740.397.5721


Women in Recovery Luncheon

The next Women in Recovery Luncheon is scheduled for Thursday, July 18. Our meal will be a luncheon held in the Garden Room of the Alcove Restaurant and will start at noon. 
RSVP by July 12:   email Allison  or call 740.397.5721. 

Volunteer Opportunities 

The following programs and organizations are actively recruiting volunteers. 
Contact Elizabeth to get involved.

Interchurch Social Services
Knox County Locations
Opportunities vary
740.397.4825

SPI Science and Play Space 
utilize volunteers to help deliver programming to Knox County children

Women United members are encouraged to submit project ideas and volunteer opportunities to United Way for distribution to the rest of the group!