As United Way of East Central Iowa continues to focus on our communities’ most critical needs and measurable results in our three impact areas, we are also finding new ways to become engaged with groups which can be helpful in reaching these goals.
I-Food Initiative
United Way of East Central Iowa became actively involved with I-Food, a regional food planning initiative, in June of 2007 as Co-Chair of the Social and Cultural Environment Subcommittee. The project is coordinated by Christine Taliga with Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development. The project has received grants from the Leopold Center and the Greater Cedar Rapids Area Foundation to carry out the initiative and continues to seek additional funding. Other Sub-Committees include: Bio-Physical Environment, Political-Economic and Food. The goal of the initiative is to form a Regional Food coalition that seeks to identify, create and develop a localized food system plan for the Cedar and Iowa Valley regions.
Human Service Transportation Advisory Committee
United Way partnered with East Central Iowa Council of Governments (ECICOG) and the Linn County Regional Planning Commission to form a committee to review rural and urban transportation needs. The committee included individuals from health and human service agencies as well as transportation providers. The committee’s main purpose is to identify and transportation needs and develop action plans to meet those needs as a part of a regional and urban transportation development plan. In August, three committee members were granted an all expense paid trip to attend a Transportation Coordination Conference in Washington D.C. The committee members created action steps and timeline around four priority areas including: 1) Iowa City/Cedar Rapids Shuttle, 2) Cross County Shuttles, 3) Mobility Management, and 4) Youth Transportation. The committee’s next steps are to engage community stakeholders and seek out grant opportunities to move the priority areas forward.
For additional information on United Way's Community Impact programs contact Leslie Wright at 398-5372 ext. 15, or lwright@uweci.org.