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Jim Owen to Chair 2023 Heart of Missouri United Way Campaign

Apr 13, 2023

Columbia, MO – Heart of Missouri United Way is excited to announce that James C. (Jim) Owen, President and CEO of Missouri Employers Mutual, will chair the 2023 Campaign. “It is an honor to serve the United Way in this capacity,” Owen said. “I support the United Way...

Courtney Daviess Promoted to Chief Community Impact Officer

Jan 25, 2023

Columbia, MO – Heart of Missouri United Way, an organization fighting for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community, has promoted Courtney Daviess to Chief Community Impact Officer. In this role, Courtney will be responsible...

Alaina Leverenz Promoted to Chief Communications Officer

Jan 17, 2023

Columbia, MO – Heart of Missouri United Way, an organization fighting for the health, education and financial stability of every person in every community, has promoted Alaina Leverenz to Chief Communications Officer (CCO). As CCO, Alaina will provide strategic...

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The Value of Volunteering

by Andrew Grabau | July 17, 2024 | Blog | 0 Comments

Heart of Missouri United Way recently hosted our Week of Action. What began only last year as a Day of Action has quickly grown into an inspiring week for hundreds of individuals who chose to “take action” and help tackle some of our community’s toughest problems. Our...

ASPIRES Project

by Heart of Missouri United Way | March 25, 2024 | Blog | 0 Comments

Heart of Missouri United Way is excited to announce the ASPIRES Project, a capacity-building partnership with the City of Columbia. This project continues a meaningful partnership between United Way and the City and allows us to significantly expand the capacity of...

2023 Year in Review

by Alaina Leverenz | December 19, 2023 | Blog | 0 Comments

We are so excited to share and celebrate the accomplishments of Heart of Missouri United Way, its volunteers, and team members in 2023. GOAL 1: ADVANCE COMMUNITY IMPACT UW Board of Directors approved 15 new Health and Basic Needs grants at 14 partner organizations. We...

Reducing Food Insecurity in Our Community

by Heart of Missouri United Way | November 9, 2023 | Blog | 0 Comments

Food insecurity is a pervasive, structural problem that's intertwined with poverty, wage stagnation, education opportunities, healthcare access, and transportation. In Boone County, 12% of our community lack adequate access to food. This leaves many of our neighbors...

Removing Barriers to Arts for Kids in Columbia

by Heart of Missouri United Way | October 13, 2023 | Blog | 0 Comments

Academic achievement scores for minority and low-income students at Columbia Public Schools lag way behind their peers. In addition to being minorities, most of the children that attend Jabberwocky Studios programming are usually very low income, plus they have the...

BRIDGE the Gap: Comprehensive Learning Program

by Heart of Missouri United Way | September 15, 2023 | Blog | 0 Comments

“Comprehensive approaches to learning that includes both the families and teachers increases student attendance, decreases office referrals, and ultimately, increases their grade reading scores. These reading scores are significant benchmarks for long term success,...

Moving Ahead Program: Trauma-Informed Out-of-School Programming

by Heart of Missouri United Way | August 14, 2023 | Blog | 0 Comments

“When I started in 2011, only 40% of our kids were reading at grade level and now it’s about 80%. So, my favorite part of the Moving Ahead Program is helping kids accomplish the goals they didn’t think they could accomplish and seeing them realize that they have a...

Boys and Girls Club: Helping Our Kids Reach Their Fullest Potential

by Heart of Missouri United Way | July 17, 2023 | Blog | 0 Comments

Students in the Columbia community are more at-risk for attention and academic issues, emotion regulation issues, and peer relation problems compared to other kids in rural Boone County.1 At the Boys and Girls Club of Columbia, after-school and summer programming seek...

United Way Day of Action – “You’re Only as Strong as Your Community”

by Heart of Missouri United Way | June 14, 2023 | Blog | 0 Comments

On June 9, we hosted our first annual Day of Action. This community-wide volunteer event was sponsored by MU Health Care and included nearly 100 volunteers who worked on projects for City of Refuge, Coyote Hill, Love Columbia, Mid-Missouri Legal Services, Services for...