WARREN, Ohio – For the United Way of Trumbull County, 2022 was a year of transition. Christine Cope took over July 1 as president and CEO, and one month later the organization moved to 295 Harmon Ave. NW in Warren.
Trumbull United Way will celebrate its 100th anniversary March 23. Cope says as the United Way of Trumbull County approaches this milestone, the organization will look back on what has worked for the community, what continues to work and what will work in the future.
In 2022, the organization again partnered with schools for Reading Great by 8. The program gives kindergartners and second-graders transitioning to the next grade a summer boost to help their reading skills.
More than 5,000 children in Trumbull County are enrolled in the Imagination Library and the organization hopes to increase that number by at least 5% in 2023, Cope says. Also, the Born Learning Trail in Perkins Park will soon be joined by the Story Walk Trail, a fun, educational activity that places the pages from a children’s story along a trail in a community.
The organization is partnering with the Trumbull County Educational Service Center to support English-learning students and their families by providing helpful resources as they transition to life in a new community.
This year, United Way also will focus on small, one-time grants for community organizations working on “great ideas” and creative projects that bring people together to improve quality of life for county residents, Cope says.
The organization has also decided to move to a two-year funding cycle for traditional allocations to longtime partner agencies.
Cope and the board of directors see an opportunity to work alongside community stakeholders to shape the future of the organization as it emerges from the effects of the pandemic and the loss of General Motors, Trumbull United Way’s largest workplace campaign and corporate donor.