With a vision to bring the community together, it was only natural that Lake Area United Way and United Way of Porter County combined forces. On Friday, October 1, the two entities did just that by officially joining to create United Way of Northwest Indiana at a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted at its Valparaiso office at 951 Eastport Center Dr.
Every year, the United Way organizations across Northwest Indiana are able to help over 22% of the Region’s households. The purpose of creating United Way of Northwest Indiana is to break down the borders between what was previously two entities to streamline the program’s support and capabilities.
“This merger allows the organization to be able to be more fluid and go where that help is needed, expand on the things that they're doing that are so great in Lake County, and expand them to other counties. It’s really one plus one equals 27,” said Vice Chair of United Way of Northwest Indiana Heather Ennis. “We've got great people doing great work that is all just going to be exponentially magnified by the opportunities for all of these people to say, ‘Oh yeah, look at this energy over here,’ and so I'm so excited about it.”
Magnifying the opportunities and capacity to better serve not only Porter County and the Lake Area but also all of Northwest Indiana has organizations and agencies who have partnered with one or both of the United Ways in the past excited for the future.
“I'm very excited about it because we were working with both Lake and Porter before this,” said Community Outreach Manager of Catholic Charities LaShawn Jones-Taylor. “It makes sense that they partnered together; it expands what we can do within the community and it doesn't leave us that border in between which is awesome. I think it's going to be a phenomenal change that will reflect in the community and for the families we serve.”
While the United Ways are now combined into one, the already existing offices in Valparaiso and Griffith will still be open to continue to serve its partners and communities. This inspires confidence in smaller agencies and organizations that they will still receive the support they are accustomed to and more through this merger. One of these small agencies is Porter County Association for Handicapped Children and Adults (PCAHCA), one of United Way of Porter County’s first agencies.
“We’re United Way's smallest and only all-volunteer agency in Porter County. We feel really good that they're still going to have sites in both locations,” said Service Chairperson and Treasurer of PCAHCA Diane Stevens.
When this merger was officially in the works six to eight months ago, one of the foundations that needed to be laid to pave the way for a successful merger was the appointment of new leadership. President of Strack & Van Til Jeff Strack had been involved with Lake Area United Way for the past four years and was delighted to accept the position of board chair of United Way of Northwest Indiana upon invitation.
“When they asked me if I'd be interested in becoming the board chair, I was honored and humbled and thought it would be a great opportunity to give back to Northwest Indiana, which has been so good to my family over the years,” Strack said.
During his four years at Lake Area United Way, Strack gained insight into how the merger would expand the capacity to serve the Region.
“In early 2021, we really started to focus on the why. Why does it make sense? Why do we want to do this? It always came back to making that impact in people's lives and focusing on how we help families thrive here in Northwest Indiana through all our support and the different services,” Strack said. “Each United Way had different avenues of going about that, but with the combining of the two, we can now offer much more support and services to all of Northwest Indiana.”
To learn more about the establishment of United Way of Northwest Indiana and its greater capacity to serve, visit www.unitedwaynwi.org.
