United Way Initiatives

The goal of United Way of Southwest Missouri & Southeast Kansas is to create long-lasting changes by addressing the underlying causes of problems.

The United Way helps fund initiatives established to directly address an identified community issue. These initiatives are primarily grant funded.

By funding education and income initiatives, United Way hopes to address the root causes of why people seek assistance elsewhere. Through these programs, United Way hopes to relieve the possible future burden of its partner agencies.

For more information about United Way initiatives, click on the links below:

FamilyWize

FamilyWize provides discounts on prescription medications to the uninsured and underinsured at most pharmacies. Everyday people use FamilyWize cards enabling them to get the medicine they could not otherwise afford. The savings are provided by more than 65,000 participating pharmacies nationwide that voluntarily accept FamilyWize cards and lower the cost of medication. The United Way of Southwest Missouri & Southeast Kansas is simply a distributor of the discount prescription card and therefore incurs no cost and receives no money from this program. Through support of participating pharmacies and local support services, we hope to help those in our community struggling with the high cost of necessary prescription medications.

 

Dolly Parton Imagination Library

In 1996, Dolly Parton launched an exciting new effort to benefit the children of her home county in east Tennessee. Dolly decided to mail a brand new, age-appropriate book each month to every child under 5 in Sevier County. With the arrival of the first book, the classic Little Engine that Could, every child can now experience the joy of finding their very own book in the mailbox. The first book also comes with a special poem straight from Dolly to the kids inspiring them to reach for their dreams and to never give up trying. These moments continue each month until the child receives Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come at the age of 5. This program began in Joplin in 2010 and Southeast Kansas in 2011.