“To increase the organized capacity of people to care for one another.”
In lay-man’s terms we intend to empower our communities by helping people work together in a more coordinated, effective way and provide mutual support to address shared needs. We have worked hard to build up our Volunteer Hub which we work in tandem alongside GivePulse to organize our community members and continue to reach out to our agencies to provide them the opportunities that they need. We also work by connecting resources to our community members through our Ride United program, organizing and ensuring that our members are not left in the dust.
Our dream is to strengthen our social fabric so that our communities can more easily mobilize and respond to crises, and uplift one another in meaningful, sustainable ways.
Although we continue to work hard on our fundraising efforts we have taken on numerous programs and projects to not only help with our community, but better the future of the community members that benefit from it. As of right now, our goal is to continue these programs and expand to some capacity. Below are a list of each of our initiatives, and goals associated with each initiative that we intend to reach for.
Ride United – Dedicated Page
The Ride United Program was approved through our Worldwide parent for our area, as we are an area that struggles filling in the Last Mile gap. Since launching, we have filled the ‘Last Mile’ gap for local pantries and continue to expand into rural zip codes. This is being done with meetings and social media interaction to boost our visibility to the broader Southeastern Iowa communities.
Code Red – Dedicated Page
Our community is one that struggles with not only sexually transmitted diseases, but in particular, period poverty. A group came to United Way with a vision of what they wanted to do, and we have continued to help further the initiative with our own staff. In 2023 we were able to secure a grant from The Pad Project, and have worked with a supplier to continue the success that Code Red has had within the last year. In particular, we were able to assist in an event named Coat Red which was a coat drive to benefit our families that are unable to afford them.
Mayoral Volunteer Award – Dedicated Page
The Mayoral Volunteer Award is spearheaded by the Community Volunteer Alliance, a group of individuals that was reignited by our United Way. As a means to continue furthering the organization of our volunteers, we now host an award ceremony that our Mayor of Burlington (and West Burlington’s Mayor) participate in.
United In Service Scholarship – Dedicated Page
Our area struggles with celebrating not just our volunteers (thus why we have the CVA and MVA) but also, engaging the younger generations in philanthropy. We work hard to attend events that directly impact young minds, primarily career fairs and general markets. These fairs and markets allow us to speak with them and offer them insights into volunteerism. From there, we built up the Scholarship program that became the United In Service Scholarship. For our younger folks out there that give and give, and deserve a little something for all their hard work.
ALICE Lives Here – Dedicated Page
Our ALICE Lives Here initiative is one of the ways that we are strategically working through establishing the inequity in our systems for employment, education, health, food access, financial stability, and other opportunities that affect our growth. It starts with pushing our community to see the harsh realities of the gentrification in our town, outlined through our dedication with ongoing awareness campaigns. We also continue to meet with city officials to plan how to better our community members that live in the ALICE populous.
Care-E-Oke – Dedicated Page
For Giving Tuesday we decided to participate by hosting an event that only our artistic community would enjoy. A night of Karaoke, and fundraising. This event is intended as a means for us to give back to charities in our community or as a means for those that might not be able to afford it to make a meaningful donation to their charity of choice.
SingleCare Prescription Discount Card – Dedicated Page
This partnership allows our United Way to distribute SingleCare Prescription Discount Cards to our community members.
The United Way of Southeast Iowa undergoes an independent financial review annually. These documents are available for public inspection at our office or can be requested via office@unitedwayseia.org
In regards to all of our historical information that we publish and distribute digitally, we uphold that we are doing our best to research and reference what information exists. This information is shared freely, and we intend to continue to do so, as well as permit access to those seeking information regarding the history of the United Way of Southeast Iowa to reach out.
We are open to corrections, as a century is a long time for information to muddle. If you have any corrections to our shared content, then do not hesitate to state any changes that should be made directly to our social media accounts, emails, or other means of contact.
There is currently no Whistleblower Policy as per the Employee Handbook, Updated, May 2025.
You may however review the following sections of our Employee Handbook to locate information relative to a Whistleblower Policy: Ethics Code (Section 1.5), Reporting Discrimination and Harassment (Section 2.7), Open Door/Conflict Resolution Process (Section 6.5), and Reporting Time Falsification (Section 3.7).
There is currently no Document Retention Policy as per the Employee Handbook, Updated May 2025.
You may however review the following sections of our Employee Handbook to locate information relative to a Document Retention Policy: Access to Personnel Files (Section 5.1), Protecting Information (Section 5.3), and Return of Property and Information (Section 6.6).
Per the Employee Handbook, Updated May 2025:
UWSEIA is concerned with conflicts of interest that create actual or potential job-related concerns, especially in the areas of confidentiality, client and donor relations, safety, security, and morale. If there is any actual or potential conflict of interest between you and a client, donor, partner organization, volunteer, contractor or another employee at UWSEIA, you must disclose it to your supervisor. If an actual or potential conflict of interest is determined to exist, UWSEIA will take such steps as it deems necessary to reduce or eliminate this conflict. Several examples of conflict of interest which should always be avoided are set forth below, and similar situations must be scrupulously avoided.
1. If an employee or member of his or her immediate family has a financial interest in a firm which does business with UWSEIA and the interest is sufficient to affect the employee’s decisions or actions, the employee must report the interest to UWSEIA and must not represent UWSEIA in any such transaction;
2. No employee or member of his or her immediate family shall accept gifts from any person or firm dealing or seeking to do business with UWSEIA under any circumstances from which it might be reasonably inferred that the purpose of the gift is to influence the employee in the conduct of UWSEIA business. Such gift should be returned with a note of explanation. Employees are not prohibited from accepting advertising novelties such as pens, pencils, and calendars or other gifts of nominal value when circumstances clearly show that such gifts are offered for reason simply of personal esteem and affection;
3. No employee shall directly or indirectly give, offer, or promise anything of value to any representative of any financial institution in connection with any transaction or business that UWSEIA may have with such financial institution; and
4. No employee should directly or indirectly engage in conduct which is disloyal, disruptive, competitive, or damaging to UWSEIA.
All employees and Board Members of UWSEIA are also subject to and must comply with UWSEIA’s additional Conflict of Interest Policy governing certain conduct by UWSEIA’s leadership. A separate document for review and signature will be provided.