Submitted photo Cathy King, right, of United Way of Bartholomew County, accepts EMPath’s Most Impactful Award recently.
Submitted photo Cathy King, right, of United Way of Bartholomew County, accepts EMPath’s Most Impactful Award recently.
United Way of Bartholomew County has earned a national award for its use of a social services tool providing holistic financial and job coaching to struggling residents.
EMPath, also known by its full name of Economic Mobilities Pathways, presented United Way of Bartholomew County with the Most Impactful Award. EMPath is a Boston-based nonprofit that works to eradicate poverty across the United States. Its mission is to provide nonprofits with the tools they need to reduce poverty in their communities.
United Way of Bartholomew County was given the award as the first nonprofit organization in the country to successfully implement the Bridge to Self-Sufficiency program. The Bridge to Self-Sufficiency gives community members who need assistance tools and resources to chart their course out of poverty and into self-sufficiency.
Bridge coaches work with individuals one-on-one on job and budget skills to design an individualized path to their full potential. The Most Impactful Award is reserved for an organization that demonstrates a large impact on their community and significant gains in outcomes.
In 2023, United Way of Bartholomew served 250 adults on the bridge. United Way of Bartholomew County’s bridge work is a critical piece of its Avenues to Opportunity program, which utilizes partnerships in the community and the social services sector to give vulnerable individuals the tools and resources they need to reach their full potential.
Avenues to Opportunity is one strategy United Way of Bartholomew County is utilizing in its 1,000 families out of poverty in 2,000 days five-year initiative.
“We are getting even better at this (poverty work),” said Mark Stewart, president of United Way of Bartholomew County. “And because of that, I believe we’ll finish early at meeting that 1,000 families goal. We felt it was a pretty bold goal when we set it last year at the annual meeting.”
Stewart mentioned that the process of getting out of poverty and on the path to self-sufficiency is varied for many.
“For some, that’s a five-year journey,” he said. “For others, it might be a one-year journey. … But typically, it tends to be about a two- or three-year journey. Having that long-term approach helps us to develop people’s human capital.”
Keys to self-sufficiency are housing stability; mental and physical health; and long-term financial management, according to Stewart.
The award was accepted by Cathy King, community impact director of United Way of Bartholomew County.
“United Way of Bartholomew County, Cathy, our coaches, and other volunteers work daily to help our most vulnerable neighbors reach their full potential,” Stewart said. “This critical work takes the entire community, and we are grateful to have access to strong partnerships and to the best, nationally recognized social service tools that allow us to make a difference in Bartholomew County every day.”
