In this issue:
- A Message from our President/CEO
- Buy a T-Shirt to Support United Way
- Welcome to our New Board Members
- Masks of Wellness
- How Do I Volunteer?
Upcoming
- KWWL Telethon
- Over the Edge
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A Message from our President/CEO:
Dear Friends of United Way,
June is usually a very different time for us all. Normally it means excited kids playing as they get out of school, graduations, outdoor activities, and if we are lucky, family vacations. Instead, our community has had to change and we at United Way have had to adjust too.
Typically, we are wrapping up our fiscal year and preparing our print materials to share our outcomes with donors. While we are still doing that, we are also involved with disaster relief efforts, convening community partners to share accurate information and addressing barriers in the areas of food scarcity, childcare, healthcare, and brain health and more. As our community responds to this economic and healthcare crisis, our nonprofit network is here to offer supports where we need it the most. United Way is able to bring business and nonprofit sectors together for problem-solving and to streamline communication to best address the ever-changing, local needs. That is what it means to Live UNITED.
- The local FEMA board awarded over $76,000 to local food providers in Dubuque County this month.
- Our Get Connected volunteer portal continues to be a valuable one-stop location for people to find meaningful volunteer experiences.
- Our 2-1-1 Information and Referral line continues to receive our frequent updates so that local referral information is accurate for community members seeking assistance.
- Over the Edge planning has resumed as we know our community will need us more this year than ever.
- June 1 marks the start of our new United Way funded partner network that consists of 31 local organizations, all supporting the health, education and financial stability of approximately 40,000 community members.
- Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/UnitedWayDBQ/) live events each Friday at 11:45 am continue to share local resource information with the community.
All this is happening and so much more, while we work together, to build our community back up, helping each other LIVE UNITED.
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Danielle Peterson
President/CEO
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Buy a T-Shirt to Support United Way
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United Way of Dubuque Area Tri-States is partnering with Elite Ink printing to design an exclusive T-Shirt!
Not only will you have the most stylish shirt in town, $10 of every shirt purchased goes to the United Way of Dubuque Area Tri-States' Community Impact Fund. Your T-shirt purchase will benefit the 40,000 lives in our community that are impacted by United Way.
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Welcome to our New Board Members
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Jessie Ehrlich
is the Vice President Retail Manager for MidWestOne Bank. She has been with the bank for 20 years, starting her career in college as a part-time teller. As she worked her way through her bachelor’s degree at Clarke College, she was also able to work her way up within the bank, eventually becoming a manager in 2003. Since that time, Jessie has continued to manage at different offices within the bank and is currently working at the Asbury office, serving their business and personal clients in all aspects of their banking needs.
Jessie began volunteering with United Way early in her banking career by joining the Business Campaign Cabinet performing non-profit reviews. Eventually, she began assisting with small business fundraising efforts and now resides on the Resource and Development Committee. Her involvement with United Way is in excess of 10 years.
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Julia Holdridge
is the Director of Colleague Resources Business Partner at
Sedgwick
Dubuque, IA. Julia has held progressively responsible HR roles for the past 24 years (10 of these years in the non-profit sector) and is certified as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) by the Human Resources Certification Institute and Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP). She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Resources from Loras College and a MBA from Clarke University. Julia currently serves as Board Secretary for the Tri-State HR Association (TRIHRA) where she previously held the Board Treasurer role as well. Julia also previously served on the Board of Directors for the Dubuque Area Swimmin’ Hurricanes (DASH) and St. Steven’s Food Bank. Julia and her husband Shane are licensed foster parents and enjoy spending time with their two teenage daughters and a new puppy.
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Andrew Sherman
is the
IBM
Site Leader as well as a Senior Manager overseeing Service Management Support for IBM North America clients. He moved to Dubuque in 2009 from Aurora IL with his wife and two boys to build and manage a team in the new IBM Dubuque Center. His oldest son is in his second year at Clarke University and his youngest son will be a Senior at Hempstead HS.
He is on the Board of Directors for the Fountain of Youth as well as the Dubuque Chamber of Commerce. He and his family have a wonderful schnauzer who loves that he is working from home these days.
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Michelle
Schmelzer, GBDS, VBS
has worked in the Employee Benefits Department at The Friedman Group for over 18 years. She specializes in exploring alternative and creative ways of keeping employer benefit costs down while maintaining an attractive benefit package. Her expertise is in group and voluntary benefits such as dental, vision, life, disability, accident, hospital indemnity and critical illness.
Michelle and her husband, Cole, have two children. Riley will complete her nursing studies at Kirkwood College in the upcoming year, and Ben is headed off to college.
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Karen Babler is a financial analyst at John Deere and has been employed there full-time for 18 years, the last 15 of which being at the Dubuque Works location. Karen is originally from Hazel Green, WI and attended Loras College, earning degrees in accounting and finance and an MBA from University of Iowa. Karen currently lives in East Dubuque with her husband and two children. She has volunteered with the United Way in some capacity for the last 10 years including serving on the audit and budget review committees and volunteering with the Women United group. Karen shared, ”The United Way is a valuable organization in our community, and I am looking forward to serving at a board level. ”
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Launched in May 2020 by two Iowa doctors, 'Mask of Wellness' is a positive approach that promotes responsible behavior that is necessary to keep society open during this pandemic while benefiting social, physical, and economic wellness.
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When you invest in United Way, you invest in your community. Listen as Gary Dolphin, the Voice of the Hawkeyes, explains how United Way is helping those in need.
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We are encouraging people to go to
testiowa.com
and complete the new State of Iowa assessment to determine if you are eligible for a COVID-19 test. The assessment will take you approximately 5-10 minutes.
- To request a test, anyone can visit the website to complete the short assessment and determine testing eligibility.
- Testing will be prioritized for those who have symptoms, for those who have come in contact with a positive case, or for essential workers.
- Based on the assessments gathered from around the state, drive through test sites will be set up in various areas for registered individuals to be tested.
- If testing is needed, you will be scheduled for a free drive-through test. You will receive the date, time, location, and instructions.
- You can take an assessment more than once and it does ask about underlying health conditions.
- If you test positive for the virus, you will answer more questions to help prevent spreading the virus. You may be asked where you have traveled recently and who you have been in contact with.
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United Ways of Eastern Iowa are partnering with KWWL Channel 7 to host the
COVID-19 KWWL Telethon for the United Ways of Eastern Iowa.
On June 30th, KWWL will be hosting the telethon and encouraging Eastern Iowa to donate to United Way. People are able to donate either by texting WEFIGHT to 91999 or visiting the website link below.
Every dollar counts towards helping us fulfill our mission of connecting people and resources to advance the health, education and income of those in need in our community.
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Sign up to Go Over the Edge!
Interested in Edging (or rappelling) off the roof of the Hotel Julien Dubuque building and raising money to help nearly 40,000 people in our community?
Over The Edge is a unique opportunity for individuals and organizations to raise money and support United Way of Dubuque Area Tri-States. All funds raised will go to our Community Impact fund which supports
31 LOCAL partner agencies impacting health, education and financial stability/income.
Help take us Over The Edge!
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The Fountain Of Youth Program's overall mission is to eradicate Generational Poverty. They assist people who have been or are currently in poverty as well as people who have been or are currently incarcerated with goal setting in relation to basic life skills, knowledge of self and others, citizenship, education, and financial literacy.
They need volunteers for:
- Administrative Assistant
- Programming
- Grant Writer
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The Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens provide the community with a space of beauty, relaxation, inspiration and education. The park provides the community with opportunities for volunteer service. The park could not exist without their exceptional volunteer force!
They need volunteers for:
- Gift shop Volunteers
- Office Volunteers
- Japanese Garden Area Volunteer
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The Dubuque County Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program is in need of trained CASAs. In recent months, there has been approximately 90 children placed in relative or foster care due to abuse or neglect by their caregivers.
Currently, Dubuque only has 11 CASAs, so many children do not have a CASA to advocate for them, as each CASA is only expected to work with one family for the duration of that case in juvenile court. We need community members willing to donate 10-15 hours each month to help change the story for a child and family.
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Whether you make a one-time gift or set up recurring monthly payments,
every donation matters
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We are stronger together!
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