United Way empowers people to become financially independent so that our entire community can thrive. Those living in financially unstable homes frequently struggle when it comes to other foundational basic needs. Without a stable income, people can find themselves falling behind rather than moving forward. 

22.3%

Mower County households are considered cost-burdened

11.9%

of Mower County residents live below the poverty line
SOURCE
Through funded partners, United Way of Mower County has achieved measurable success by putting individuals and families on the road to financial stability. 
Examples of Impact in 2023...

300+

individuals face fewer barriers on their path to financial stability

146

children received financial assistance to attend preschool

success stories.

Workforce Development, Inc. - ​Community and Supported Employment
"Kevin started working at Cedar Valley Services, Owatonna division in November of 2005 where he had worked competitively at McDonald’s over nine years.

Kevin moved to Austin, Minnesota after obtaining employment at Pizza Ranch in Austin. Kevin ended his employment at Pizza Ranch and began working on a CVS janitorial crew. Kevin felt he needed more support from CVS, needed a job, therefore, worked on the CVS janitorial crew. Kevin knew in a very short time that janitorial work was not the job for him.
He began his own job search but still wanted support from CVS. Kevin started working at McDonald’s on Oakland in April 2023 but after 6 months he realized that he missed working at Pizza Ranch and requested to reapply and have his old job back. Kevin returned to Pizza Ranch in October 2023.

Kevin’s immediate supervisors report that he is an integral part of their Pizza Ranch team. He is always on time and willing to work extra shifts and help out wherever he is needed; even when it is not a part of his main job duties as a dishwasher and busboy.

​Kevin reports having his job at Pizza Ranch helps him with having independence and accomplishing his goals of having professional relationships and knowing where boundaries lie. He is able to earn a competitive wage to purchase his own personal needs items and wants. Supported employment is important to Kevin, knowing when he may struggle, he always has someone to help advocate for him."
Wee Learning Center
"We had a family reach out to us that had a set of twins (boy and girl, age 4) and were looking for structure to help with their development. The parents knew something was off with the boy but did not know how to go about it but also knew they couldn't afford a full day of child care. They also were not in a preschool program nor had they been anywhere with other children.

I gave them many different options that were within Mower County not only with Wee Learning Center to help provide an education for them. The parents were working overlapping shifts by 4 hours and wanted to start the twins in a structured setting to see how things went and then would explore other options.

After receiving all paperwork, I was able to help them out by giving a discount and offering very part time to the family making an exception to the cost due to our limited funding we received for grant opportunities for child care. After a couple weeks into our program, collecting observations and doing an assessment we placed a referral for the boy.

​By having him in our program it allowed us to evaluate and get his needs met by qualifying him into the special education program, which in turn also helped his parents as the services were free and they were receiving help on how to care for him too. Through all this I mentioned we gave a scholarship on top of a reduced part time hour rate. Freeing up the boy's money allowed the girl to be here longer days and use his funds for her extended days which in turn has helped the girl grow in her development and is continuing to thrive."

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