One of the purposes for which the United Way is organized is to assess the needs of the community. In 2005, the United Way of Adams County secured a 4community grant through the Indiana Association of United Ways to assess the community’s needs and strengths.  In partnership with the Adams County Community Foundation, Adams Memorial Hospital, Purdue Extension and the Decatur Public Library, the United Way gathered data, conducted focus groups and individual interviews of key leaders and used the report to identify an urgent community issue to address.

Through our collaboration, the United Way and its 4community partners brought together financial and other resources to address the number one community issue identified by the assessment-economic development and county-wide planning.

Fragmentation of funding and services has created silos of service, each one dealing with a separate part of a solution.  Non-profits and various levels of government tackle separate pieces of a social problem without addressing the root cause.  The United Way wants to bring community members together to figure out “what matters” to them.

Currently the United Way of Adams County is looking into another 4community grant for 2008.