Lois Buntz Reviews 2011
Christoph Trappe, Manager, United Way of East Central Iowa
“Well, thanks for joining us today. I’m here with CEO Lois Buntz of the United Way of East Central Iowa. We are looking back at Fiscal Year 2011, which ended June 30th, 2011, of course. And we asked Lois to talk to us a little bit about what stands out from last year. So, Lois what are some of the highlights that come to mind?”
Lois Buntz, President & CEO, United Way of East Central Iowa
“Well, last year was a record year for United Way. Not only did we raise a record number of funds, $10,512,000, but we also made significant progress on our community impact goals. And that’s really what’s the most important is how we touch families, children and seniors in our community. I’m especially proud of the fact that we have launched four early education programs. Read Every Day which is an early literacy program. Play and Learn which is a parenting group. We also have Kids on Course which is a new program; we’ve started with the Zach Johnson Foundation. And also our Youth Achievement Corps where we will be doing tutoring and mentoring with students in elementary and junior high school. We have also partnered with Kirkwood College to work with the PACE program and help young adults stay in school and finish their degree.”
Obviously, in our health area, we’re working really in a great partnership with our Women’s Leadership Society to help the CommunityHealth Free Clinic. So there’s been a lot of really great things happening this year.”
Christoph:
“So, of course, it sounds like a good year in the past year, but how about looking forward? I mean are all the problems solved or is there more work for us to do?”
Lois:
“Well, I wish all the problems were solved, but that’s not the case. Unfortunately, in our community we see a poverty rate that continues to grow. And we know we are still very much in a recovery mode from the flood so we are touching more families than ever. We see more middle class families that are in need, and calling our food pantry for services, or calling 211 for information. So, we’re going to continue to be out there and help as many people as possible.”
Christoph:
“It sounds like we have our work still cut out for us. To wrap us up here, United Way also moved in to a new building; the Human Services Campus of East Central Iowa right here on 7th Avenue SE. How has that impacted staff? It’s a lot…it’s a very nice building; a lot of light comes in, right? How has that impacted staff and staff’s output?”
Lois:
“Well, we were very excited to move into the Human Service Campus in January of 2011, along with 12 other nonprofit agencies. And I think the great part is there’s a lot of collaboration that can now take place because many of us are now co-located in this facility. But I think for our staff it has been extremely beneficial because not only do we get to be downtown and be part of the community, but the productivity has also been going up because, I think, people just feel brighter and happier about being not only in the facility but being able to be part of the community, and have daylight too.”
Audio:
[gplayer href="http://unitedwayofeastcentraliowa.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/lois-annual-report-2011.mp3" ] Podcast with Lois Buntz [/gplayer]
