(New Braunfels) — United Way will continue to have a strong presence in Guadalupe County. United Way of Comal County (UWCC) is stepping in and will soon be expanding its territory into Guadalupe County.
UWCC Executive Director Terry Robinson says they are excited to be able to service both counties.
“We have been kind of hoping for a long time to be able to combine our communities. So what we are doing is, we’re just expanding our territory. We are not picking up everything that has gone on with United Way of Guadalupe County. From my understanding, they will be shutting down their doors, and they have formally released — in the United Way network — their service area. Our United Way Board of Directors, who really are the driving force behind everything we do, sat down and have had conversations for the last couple of months and said we would love to expand our territory,” said Robinson.
Robinson says for 80 years, UWCC has provided deep and meaningful support to those in need in Comal County. She says it now makes sense that they will also be picking up and continuing those services in Guadalupe County.
“I have so many friends that live in Guadalupe County and so many friends that live here but work in Guadalupe County. And I’m in and out of there quite frequently. We’re members of the Chamber. We do so many things collectively. Many of the agencies that we have been funding for many, many years also provide the same services in Guadalupe County. And it’s always been tough for them when they seek grants to say, ‘okay, I’m only covering these people because it’s the funds from Comal County.’ Now we’re going to be able to say that we’re going to support them for the people that live in both counties,” said Robinson.
The move was created after the Guadalupe County United Way decided to dissolve its operation and release its service area. Robinson says they are excited about the expansion into Guadalupe County, but she knows there’s some organizational work that still needs to be done.
“It’s going to take us a little bit of time to raise funds to be able to provide those grants to them. And I’m hoping the community will be patient while we do that growth. We’re looking at bringing on a few people from Guadalupe County to join the board now and expanding that number as time goes on. We are bringing in United Way of Texas in February to do a big strategic planning session to help us figure out how to do this. We don’t want to come in and dictate, this is how we’re doing things. We want to get all of the input from our supporters in both counties to help us figure out how to make this work. And that’s in both the grants that we give out and the fundraising that we do,” said Robinson.
While the group works on its long-term plans for the expansion, Robinson says there will still be ways for people to immediately show their support for the work done by the United Way.
“In the short term, if donors want to support this United Way that we’re merging together, they can certainly write a check to the United Way of Comal County. They can go online to our website at uwcomal.org and make a donation. And in the notes, they can say they want it to go to support the growth into Guadalupe County. I don’t know when — and again, this is all going to be in our strategic plan — when or how we’re going to start giving out grants. We’re on a different cycle than what Guadalupe County has historically been. So that’s kind of in the long term how we’re going to tackle that, how the volunteer board of directors is going to decide. But in the meantime, if they would like to contribute, that’s going to go a long way in helping us be able to start getting those grants out to those agencies that are in need,” said Robinson.
Robinson says they know that help is needed in Guadalupe County. She says that’s why any contributions would be helpful during this transition period.
“We are already getting calls from people that need help with food on the table, utility assistance with this cold front that we’ve had coming in, and even rental assistance. So if people want to contribute, that’s, I think, the real big area right at this moment, because those are the calls we’re getting right at this moment,” said Robinson.
Jenna Vinson, board president of United Way of Comal County, says this decision was not made lightly or quickly by their board. She says the board took time to analyze the situation and make sure that UWCC could adequately serve both counties. She says they are proud to take this additional step to serve and support residents in both Comal and Guadalupe counties.