United Way’s new executive brings ideas and challenges to FR Kiwanis

Front Royal Kiwanis Club President Dianna Evans presents Dawn Graves with check for United Way of Front Royal-Warren County. Photos by Malcolm Barr Sr.

Dawn Graves introduced herself to Front Royal Kiwanis July 12 as the United Way’s new executive director who has brought new ideas to the program.

Graves has come in from the cold, so to speak, after years of working with non-profits in various parts of the country, most recently in Arizona.  She returned to Front Royal with her family less than a year ago to take the local United Way job.

It’s appears to be a restructuring of an appeal that until four years ago was sublimated into the Winchester and Northern Shenandoah Valley United Appeal.  At that time, it changed its structure and its name – now the United Way of Front Royal-Warren County (United Way FRWC) – and gained the ability to aim the funds it raises strictly to local causes.

Example: Last year, Graves reported United Way allocated $85,000 to support efforts such as the St. Luke Community Clinic dental center, distributing money only to similar community organizations within Warren County.

She described a new program, ALICE, which is an acronym for Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed.  The ALICE population of the county comprises individuals and families who “work hard, earn more than the official federal poverty level” but still have a hard time making it.

“They struggle to afford the basic necessities, including housing, food, child care, health care, and transportation,” Graves said in her effective and off-the-cuff presentation, which projected her feelings for the people in need in this community.

She said an advisory board is being established to study data that will, among other things, identify gaps in services that are not addressed by many individual programs (say the Salvation Army and other non-profits) that United Way could fill.

She asked if Kiwanis was interested in proposing a nominee to this board.

“The nonprofit community needs to work together to provide the programs that are needed by our community, but also not to re-invent the wheel.  If there is a provider of a service that’s needed, let’s partner and work together to maximize our impact,” she told Kiwanis members.

For information, and for anyone interested in joining the advisory panel, contact Graves at – info@frontroyalunitedway.org

Now, with the arrival of Graves and the support of its board of directors, “Live United” or the United Way (FRWC) is shifting its business model to be increasingly community oriented.

“We’ve shifted our grant-making process to open opportunities for new agencies to apply for funding,” Graves said, adding that United Way is “actively looking at the issues our community members face; while looking to donors, agencies and other stakeholders for solutions to address these issues.”