Fort Madison Area United Way’s mission is to identify community needs, develop plans to meet these needs, and bring together the resources to improve lives in North Lee County. We bring together a wide array of community partners including businesses, the faith community, governmental agencies, educational institutions, and charities to discuss community needs and explore solutions to problems.
United Way provides annual funding in three basic areas including annual grants to member agencies, one time grants for emerging needs, new programs, or emergency situations, and United Way-based projects.
Annual Grants to Member Agencies
Twenty three local organizations have member agency status and are eligible for annual funding in one of the three impact areas. View our Partners list for information on individual programs.
- People In Need – meeting basic needs and helping people make progress toward financial independence.
- Healthy Families and Individuals – providing resources for strong families and promoting the health of local residents.
- Youth and Children - facilitating access to community wide educational, recreational, and character-building programs.
United Way as Community Problem-Solver
Fort Madison Area United Way has also assumed a role as a community facilitator for researching unmet needs and finding solutions to community problems. When no other community program is addressing an unmet need, United Way brings together community partners to explore solutions and find collaborative ways to address the problem. In some cases, we provide one time grants for new ventures or we may even initiate a program usually in cooperation with others already serving the target population. View our Projects page to find details on Winterization Coupons, Budget Buddies and other programs.