COVID-19 Community Response

The United Way of Green County is uniquely positioned to understand the comprehensive needs of our entire community. We know that right here in our communities, there are families without enough food to eat. We know people who are struggling to keep their homes. We know people who are worried because they can’t pay their bills. We know families that are struggling with new and unexpected childcare needs. We know people are struggling with mental health needs. We know that people are lonely and feeling the impact of social isolation. It is because we know these people and care about them deeply that we knew we needed to do something to help. Shortly after the pandemic hit, the United Way of Green County developed the COVID-19 Community Response Fund. It was designed to address the needs of our community that developed as a result of the pandemic, to provide resources to organizations in Green County who are working to serve those impacted by COVID-19, and to address the economic consequences of this outbreak in the most efficient and comprehensive way possible. To date, the United Way of Green County has been able to help support the following programs and organizations:

• Salvation Army to provide emergency shelter, rent and utility assistance to the people who need it most
• Rainbow Childcare to provide one month’s worth of food to the center
• Family Promise to help people new to their homes be able to stay in their homes
• Men’s Resource Center to help with their transitional housing program
• Reach Green to help support critically important early childhood services
• Backpack Buddies program to help provide food to families
• Orion family services so that they can continue to reach and serve the most vulnerable
• Monroe Preschool so that they can improve safety measures by having a hand washing station in the classroom
• Monroe Park and Recreation department to help provide expanded childcare services during school closures
• Monroe Main Street to expand SNAP food share benefits for fresh food at the farmer’s market
• Multicultural Outreach Program to provide a relief package for families directly impacted by COVID-19
• Pleasant View Nursing Home to provide amplification systems for residents to improve communication and reduce isolation while people are wearing masks.

Our work is not done yet. While we have been able to help many people and organizations, we know that needs continue to increase, and requests have far outweighed the funding we have available. Further, this will be a critical year for the United Way as we not only continue to respond and recover from the pandemic, but also work collaboratively to assess our needs and work to rebuild and re-imagine our communities. For example, we know we have significant childcare needs in all of our communities. United Way is working hard with many community partners to develop a long-term plan to help address these needs. Now, more than ever, we are in this together!

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Teresa Keehn | Executive Director
United Way of Green County, Inc.
1717 10th Street | Monroe, WI 53566
(608) 325-7747 | unitedway@pecbell.com