What is United Way and what do we do in the community? United Way of Hwy 55 serves the counties of Coffee, Moore, and Warren by increasing access to Education, Health, Income, and Basic Essentials. Every year we call for nonprofit applications through our thorough allocations process. The allocation committee conducts interviews with each nonprofit and chooses our partners for the year. This year we have distributed funds to 19 local nonprofits in 3 counties. In addition to sending funds to local nonprofits, we stay in constant contact filling needs and sharing resources. UWHWY55 collaborates with local churches, organizations, community individuals, and businesses to meet the needs of the community, while helping with projects/initiatives. We would not be able to impact as many nonprofits and community initiatives without our donors. It is your support that has made 2021 so great and impactful. Thank you!
Our year highlights began with a “Fundraising 101” Zoom workshop in January that Rupa Blackwell presented to 30 local nonprofits and organizations. We appreciate Mrs. Blackwell for presenting this subject and teaching new/creative ways to fundraise during Covid. In July, Bonnie Gamble presented a “Grant Writing” Workshop to those in the community. We plan to do more workshops in 2022 and they are available to anyone in the community interested in learning different areas.
Community involvement and supporting initiatives/events were of high importance. UWHWY55 are active members of 3 Chambers: Tullahoma Area Chamber of Commerce, Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce, and McMinnville-Warren County Chamber of Commerce. We set up a UW table with local nonprofit material and resources at a Tullahoma Parks and Rec family event in April and in August a Coffee Co Children’s Advocacy Center event celebrating a moral painting at the Manchester soccer field. We also took part in the “Joe Moon” Street Dedication in July by The City of Tullahoma and the Tullahoma Parks and Rec Dept. The Director attended the “Think Tullahoma 2040” meetings and listened/learned as the community spoke about concerns and their vision towards an even better Tullahoma for generations to come. UWHWY55 also entered the Tullahoma Christmas Parade which was a joy to be apart of.
The Director spent time at each nonprofit touring the location and meeting with each Director/staff members and presenting checks. The amount allocated to local nonprofits this year was $40,000. Jack Daniels donated pallets of hand sanitizer, which we distributed to many nonprofits. We appreciate their partnership. We provided breakfast for the UPS drivers in October, thanking them for their campaign. UWHWY55 and The Salvation Army collected donations for the Waverly flooding, which the Tullahoma Fire Dept picked up. We continued to provide rental and utility financial assistance (and food) to many families and individuals.
On Oct 29th, we hosted our first annual “Hwy 55 Golf Classic”. Cherokee Distributing and Jack Daniels were our Title Sponsors with 28-hole sponsors. Thank you to our 5 contest sponsors too: Payless Auto, Manchester Nutrition, Master of Ceremonies, and Vanderbilt Tullahoma-Harton Hospital. Also, those businesses that donated auction items like 2 smokers, JD barrel and tour, bike, local artist painting, monitor, and more. We could not have had a golf tournament without players, so thank you to those that participated on a rainy day. Last, but not least, the volunteers that made the day run smoothly. Takes a village!
To end the year, United Way of Hwy 55, along with many community members, churches, and organizations began The Tullahoma Emergency Shelter Project. The Stakeholders are: The Salvation Army, Shepherd’s House, Michelle Brown, Alderman Rupa Blackwell, First Christian Church, Tom Murdock & Pam Bussell, Cedar Lane Church of Christ, Steven Hovater, Trinity Lutheran Church, Alex Hoffner & Karl Smithson, First Presbyterian Church, Stephen Yates, First Baptist Church, Brooke Shasteen, First United Methodist Church, Rickey Wade, King’s Cross Church, Christine Jones, Robert E. Lee Elementary- 1st Grade. The mission of the Tullahoma Emergency Shelter Project is to provide a safe, warm place to shelter overnight for our community members who are experiencing homelessness. Secondary to this goal, the project aims to help foster a sense of community for these people. TESP aims to be open from December to February from 9pm-6am. The month of December it is at Trinity Lutheran Church. Monetary donations can be sent to PO Box 27, Karl Smithson is the lead volunteer coordinator that trains and oversees the process. The committee would like to compensate him for being on site nightly. Our goal is $800/month for Dec, Jan, and Feb. Please write checks to United Way of Hwy 55 (Subject-Tullahoma Emergency Shelter) at PO Box, Tullahoma. Other donations welcomed are snacks, bottled water, blankets, mats, hygiene products, towels, etc. Donations can be dropped off at Smart Bank in Tullahoma or 101 W Lincoln St, Room 105. We thank everyone that has donated and supported this project.
UWHWY55 2022 plans include an event at Jack Daniels April 23rd …..stay tuned. We will continue our “Hwy 55 Classic” golf tournament and move it around yearly to the 3 counties we serve. Ashley Abraham, Director of UWHWY55 states, “We will continue to increase our community involvement in the counties. And more volunteer involvement at the local nonprofits. I want to be more hands on and roll up my sleeves (as well as Board Member activity) to see the impact our nonprofits are making in our community.” Another goal is more donors, so that we can allocate more. Funds raised here, Stay here.” Abraham goes on to say, “We could not have made as big of an impact in many areas of our community without YOU-local businesses and individual donors. Thank you for a successful 2021!”
Partner Nonprofit Year End Reports
Part of what United Way of Hwy 55 does is distribute funds to local nonprofits every year. We would like to show how your donated dollars have made an impact in our community. Though we have 19 wonderful nonprofits this year, we have highlighted a few, sharing the number impacted and inspiring stories.
- Coffee Co Children’s Advocacy Center
104 N Spring St
Manchester, TN 37355
(931) 723-8888
A 6-year-old boy walked through the doors of the Coffee County Children’s Advocacy Center, and he looked scared, nervous, and unsure. We will call him Johnny (because our cases are confidential, of course). Most of the children we serve, just like Johnny, feel worried the first time they come to the center – and this year, we received referrals for more than 300 children who have experienced severe abuse. We know children can feel afraid and unsure, but we provide them with the necessary support to help them begin the healing process. Our goal is to help Johnny, so he can thrive.
Our forensic interviewer talks with the children when they first come to the center. And this conversation is as important for finding out what happened to the child as it is to show the child that someone wants to listen, understand, and believe. Our family advocate supports the child and caregivers, providing information about helpful resources for everyone involved. Through this difficult time for all family members, our family advocate walks with them on the path to healing.
Our mental health professional provides therapy to children. We offer trauma-focused mental health services. Therapy brings emotional healing to children. Reporting suspicions of child abuse is extremely important, so we can stop abuse and provide intervention services. Early intervention is essential for the wellbeing of children and society.
In addition to intervention, we need to prevent child abuse. We work to prevent child abuse by educating the community and raising awareness. Our outreach coordinator provides free child abuse training – training more than 120 social workers, first responders, medical professionals, and community members this year. The training educates participants to recognize signs of abuse and to react responsibly to suspicions of child abuse. We ask every person in our community to join us on our quest to end child abuse. All services we provide are free to children, families, and the community. We work hard to apply for grants and raise funds, so children and their caregivers can receive help at no cost.
Join us on a worthy quest, which helps children like Johnny regain trust in people and society. We must work to prevent child abuse and support children, so they can enjoy a safe childhood and a happy life.
- Good Samaritan of Tullahoma
210 E, Grundy St
Tullahoma, TN 37388
(931) 455-7353
Our mission at Good Samaritan is to aid families in need and crisis situations, to offer counseling about services available from other social agencies in our community and offer guidance about household management. We invest in seeing lives changed; working to break the cycles of dependency among those who are able bodied to work, by first finding the underlying causes of those who have become dependent upon the community assistance programs.
During this year, the Ministry office was open for 224 days and provided food to 548 families (602 adults/321children). We provided Dignity items for 67 families (166 adult/56 children). The Good Samaritan provided Financial Assistance — Utility Assistance to 215 families (335 adults, 192children), Rental Assistance to 39 families (41 adults, 46 children), Medication to 3 families (3 adult, 0 children) and those experiencing Homelessness to 22 families (22 adults/0 children.) Through our Project Help Fund we aided 12 families (19 adults, 4 children) with their utility bill (these clients present with disabilities or are elderly). For our COVID Community Care Fund we aided with 18 families (28 adults/17children). For our Project Baby Boom – we assisted 31 families (52 adults/43children. Two hundred and four families were given dog/cat food. Forty-four families given clothes, coats, shoes, household goods or furniture (48 adults/25 children).
The cost for assisting 215 families with utility assistance, and 39 families for rent was $27,064.23. We assisted 548 families with food which equaled $27,400.00. During the months of January – November 2021 through our various programs, we assisted 1,203 families which consisted of 1,316 adults and 704 children.
***Impact story: A young woman contacted me via the Good Samaritan website email. She explained to me that she had recurrent breast cancer, because of this, she lost her job, and decided to leave her husband. So, she packed up what belongings she had along with her two children and relocated to Tullahoma. She was able to live temporarily with a friend. Over the course of many emails and time, I was able to put her in contact with an apartment manager that had an apartment become available that would meet her needs! To help her get into this apartment, Good Samaritan was able to pay her apartment deposit and half of her utility deposit. Arrangements were made for another United Way agency to take care of the remainder of her utility deposit. Within a few days, she and her children were able to move into their apartment. Life is good!
The United Way allocation funds we receive, allowed us to help this family in need, and this support allows us to continue our mission: to help those less fortunate or in crisis situations!
- HAWC (Helping Animals of Warren County)
McMinnville, TN
(931) 743-7666
Our objective is to unite people and organizations within Warren County for the betterment of animals. We provide financial and volunteer support for the county animal shelter, City of Warren County, and other organizations or individuals within Warren County that are dedicated to either rescuing animals, providing low cost spay/neuter or vaccinations of pets and/or educating the public on animal welfare. To learn more go to http://ewhawc.wixsite.com/hawc. This year we met our goal of neutering 400 cats and dogs. View Chart Below:
HAWC Calendar Year (2021) to Date Spay/Neuter Report
2021 Clinics Vets Monthly Dogs (M) Dogs (F) Cats (M) Cats (F) Jan 20 19 39 5 5 16 13 Feb 12 17 29 3 10 4 12 Mar 23 0 23 2 2 8 11 April 56 32 88 10 11 27 40 May 27 1 28 1 0 11 16 June 13 30 43 4 15 5 19 July 21 9 30 2 1 10 17 Aug 22 9 31 2 5 11 13 Sept 12 12 24 4 4 5 11 Oct 14 27 41 6 7 9 19 Nov 17 25 42 3 11 14 14 Dec 0 0 0 TOTAL 237 181 418 42 71 120 185
- Coffee Co Humane Society
PO Box 252
Manchester, TN 37349
(931) 728-0903
Coffee County Humane Society is all volunteer and our major source of funding is public donations, with a few targeted grants for s/n and vet care services. This past year we were able to help provide 618 spay/neuters to dogs and cats, which includes pets of low-income families, stray cats, and pets in foster care prior to adoption. We also provided funding for 278 pets to receive needed vet care for severe illness or injury. These visits are for serious conditions which are either life threatening or severely affect the animal’s quality of life. One that comes to mind recently was a small, older housedog who belonged to a widow. The dog was having difficulty breathing and vet assessment showed moderate Congestive Heart Failure which can be helped with appropriate medication. We were able to provide this well check and needed medication for a month, giving the owner time to budget for it on an ongoing basis. This should give this little dog and owner a few more good years together.
We helped approximately 150 families with pet food during the past year. We cannot provide it monthly but can help in emergencies when a family runs short of money during the month for various reasons. We also feed some stray cat colonies throughout the county, whom we have spayed and neutered to stop the numbers from growing.
CCHS placed 105 dogs and cats in adoptive homes last year We expect this number to increase in 2022, as we are regularly holding weekend adoption events at PetSmart in Tullahoma. New members to CCHS are always needed and welcomed. Call us at 931-728-0903 for more information.
- HorsePlay Inc.
815 Westside Dr
Tullahoma, TN 37388
(931) 307-0774
Over the course of this year, we were able to hold three 8-week sessions during the spring, summer, and fall months. I am pleased to announce that we have served 54 children this year! Our services ranged from Therapeutic Riding in which we focus on meeting personal goals and recreation while students learn riding skills, Hippotherapy which is taught by a therapist and works by using the horses’ movements in a therapy session, and our Horsemanship program which are un-mounted lessons focusing on developing life skills and learning responsibility by working with the horses on ground lessons.
There are a variety of ways that I see how Horseplay impacts our families. The children here make friends, gain independence, and are held to accountability. They develop confidence in themselves, strengthen their bodies, but perhaps most importantly spend time in nature with these magnificent animals. They truly connect with their horses and volunteers. This is a peaceful place full of hope, courage, and growth. I have yet to meet anyone including staff and volunteers who have not benefited from HorsePlay, Inc. in some way.
IMPACT STORY: “My name is Sue Chandler and my grandson Gage started Horseplay when he was 6 years old. I am writing this to let everyone know what Horseplay means to us! Gage is vision impaired and has cerebral palsy. When Gage first started at HorsePlay he was so afraid of animals. All animals including our family dog due to his vision impairment. The first day he arrived at Horseplay he held on to me so tightly and jumped every time the mention of him riding the sweet little horse that was picked for him to ride. Second week he got on the horse thanks to the staff at Horseplay and on the drive home he asked if he could bring apples to feed the horse (Misty) with tears coming down my face I said of course. Just to clarify this child was so afraid of animals that he would stand and scream in terror if the family dog came near him and now, he is wanting to feed “his horse as he called it “apples from his hand. Well, the next week he did just that with a little assistance. He stood as still as he could and allowed Misty (his horse) to enjoy her apple from his trembling little hands, but he Did it!!! That week he wrapped his arms around our family dog and continues to do that every day until this day!!
For me, as his grandmother and one who loves him and wants him to enjoy things his brother and his peers do, I am so grateful for Horseplay and the staff who make our children feel safe and secure when they are with them. Gage feels safe to be around these beautiful animals and all animals! I cannot say thank you enough for the joy Gage gets when he is around the horses!!! Thank you, Sue Chandler”
- Hospice of the Highland Rim Foundation
101 Bragg Circle. ~ Tullahoma, TN 37388
Phone: 931.563.7439 Fax: 931.563.7482
E-Mail: HHRF@lighttube.net
www.hospiceofthehighlandrimfoundation.org
Like us on Facebook
Hospice of the Highland Rim Foundation, Inc (HHRF) a 501(c)3 nonprofit charity organization established in 2001 for sole purpose of meeting unmet needs of terminally ill patients to help reduce stress and improve their quality of life during their final days, we interface directly with hospice workers to assess the needs of patents and attempt to cover urgent expenses which are not covered by Medicare, Medicaid, insurance, or other resources. By the very nature of these requests, patients may have only days or weeks yet to live, the ability to provide timely assistance is essential to our mission.
Public donations in 2021 were $6,849.97, United Way of Hwy 55 grants $822.98, United Way of Bedford $625.00, Predators $5,000, and Fundraisers $16,065.17. From January 1, 2021 to November 30, 2021 HHRF has served 140 hospice patients in Bedford, Cannon, Coffee, Franklin, Grundy, Lincoln, Moore and Warren County with $68,745.81 in grants for food, utilities and Misc. items. Here are the statistics for just Coffee, Moore and Warren Counties:
January thru November 2021 Total Grants HHRF Grants by County 2021 Number of Grants Issued Per County Amount Per County Coffee 29 $19,298.60 Moore 4 $2,875.30 Warren 9 $1,775.00 Total for Coffee, Moore & Warren 42 $23,948.81
IMPACT STORY: Hospice had a 50–year-old male, who had cerebral atherosclerosis and was a double amputee, and wanted to sleep in his own bed. Due to his amputation, he would have trouble getting to the bathroom and had several accidents. They did not have any type of mattress protection the mattress therefore it had gotten bad. His wife was on a fixed income of only $1,249 total income for the household. HHRF purchased a new mattress, and the hospice organization purchased the mattress protection so this patient could sleep in his own bed until he passed away.
Also, this year we just recently had a request for a 73-year-old male who has heart failure on hospice care that was being severely abused by his caregiver. Hospice saw the need to get him out and requested payment towards a day stay at NHC until Medicare could take over.
- Coffee Co Childcare Center
707 Oak Dr
Manchester, TN 37355
(931) 728-0288
Coffee Co Childcare Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing Child Care to the parents of tomorrow’s leaders for over 50 years. Due to us being a small, not-for-profit, childcare center in Manchester, TN, our day-to-day operations are dependent on grants. Because of the United Way of Hwy 55 grant, we have been able to sustain 22 children. We also have been able to hire a part-time substitute/floater, as well as keep the Center supplied with masks for any who walk through our doors.
It costs full-paying parents/guardians $155.00 per week to care for their child, which includes Breakfast, Lunch, and a PM Snack. Some of the children are here for over ten hours a day and they get hungry before they go home. We provide Breakfast, Lunch, and a PM Snack for the children. The State reimburses a portion of the money for food, as we participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program. With the help of the UWHWY55 grant, we can provide a second PM Snack for the children. Currently, we are currently accepting applications for childcare, for children ages 1-5 years old. Thank you for your support for the children in our community!
- THE STOREHOUSE FOOD PANTRY
607 Hickerson St
Manchester, TN 37355
(931) 409-6040
The Store House began to serve those in need to provide food and clothing through the Blessed Boutique. We rely on donations from the community. Our food distribution is every Thursday from 10am-12pm. Volunteers are welcome to help.
As this year comes to an end, we at the pantry want to say hats off to all the individuals that donatedfood to the pantry! Over 15,000 lbs. of food have been donated from people in our community to help with the food insecurity in our area. Please make note this number is not organizations that give on a weekly basis, but people that have given when they go to the grocery store and purchase extra food items. Other times, it’s individuals that say, “I don’t need all this in my pantry” and drop off those items. The number of families helped this year are 6850 (17,622 individuals) thus far with 2 weeks left in December.
Donations help keep our costs down and able to distribute more to those in need. As of right now, we are asking for canned goods, peanut butter, rice, pasta, medium sized boxes, and gas cards to use for pick-ups. Donations can be dropped off at 607 Hickerson St, Manchester. We thank all of you that have supported our mission.
- Partners for Healing
109 W Blackwell St
Tullahoma, TN 37388
(931) 455-5014
Partners for Healing provides primary care and mental health services for uninsured patients in Coffee Franklin and Moore counties.
The following table shows the patients, visits, and counties we have served between January 2021 and November 11, 2021
County Primary care patient count Primary care visits Mental health patient count Mental health visits Coffee 292 1625 37 202 Moore 10 67 2 19 Total 302 1692 39 221
In addition to these services, we also provided over 4700 free 30-day prescriptions from our in-house pharmacy. Recently we have started to provide Case management services that allow us to help patients with nonmedical needs that impact their overall health. So far, we have helped 28 patients with various needs such as access to housing, rent relief, low-cost prescriptions, low-cost phone services, etc.
A standard set of labs for a patient average $29. These labs allow our provider to prescribe needed medications more accurately. Mental health services are very expensive to provide. Our psychiatric nurse practitioner’s hourly rate is $120/hour. An initial visit is an hour and follow up visits are 20 minutes. She generally sees patients once per month, so a year’s worth of her services is approximately $560.
IMPACT STORY: A 23-year-old had a broken foot on October 1st. He had been seen in 2 ER’s and an orthopedic clinic that stated he needed surgical intervention but due to his lack of insurance, they were unable to help him. His first visit to Partners for Healing was October 21st. After this visit, we began to look for an orthopedic surgeon to perform the surgery. Our staff used family connections to request help from Dr. Brian Petersen, who agreed to do the surgery for free. Vanderbilt approved the patient’s financial aid which covered imaging and operating room services. The surgery performed November 12th and was a success. The patient has been very pleased with the results and appreciative of Dr. Petersen’s willingness to help.
Many times, our patient’s needs are beyond the scope of our primary care services and our role in these cases is it to do our best to get them connected with appropriate services from other sources.
- HOME (Homeless of McMinnville Effort)
Our mission is to honor the dignity and improve the lives of those who are unsheltered or displaced by providing meals, basic hygiene services, spiritual support, and access to resources for them to work towards self-sustaining futures. Year to date, we have served 304 adults and 41 children equaling 345. The oldest age served was 82 and youngest was 6 months.
IMPACT STORY: Billy came to us in early 2019, thru a meal delivery program, basically immediately after HOME’s inception. A U.S. Marine and Vietnam Veteran who lived alone in a stark and dank motel room quickly became the delight of all the HOME Volunteers. His thin and frail frame is headed by a thick mane of wiry gray hair and beard, twinkling sky blue eyes which lights up as he speaks, and a boisterous laugh that infected all of his visitors. None of us ever left him without a smile on our face. See, it’s very possible that we did not serve him, but he served us.
As HOME grew and we had to set guidelines, we knew that he would not fit the homeless criteria that we were about to set forth. What would we do about Billy? The HOME volunteers had quickly become his closest family, and he received a visit from us at least 3 to 5 times per week. Over the past year, we watched Billy decline. He began falling and having accidents. We brought him a wheelchair in hopes that we could help him avoid another fall. Roughly two months ago, Zach and Margarete Sutton, Emily Stefanik and their preacher were making our weekly Sunday deliveries. They could see him lying on the floor through the windows of his motel room. Billy had fallen and was very close to an unconscious state. It was estimated that he had been there at least 2 to 3 days. 911 was called and Billy was quickly admitted into St Thomas Ascension ICU where he spent the next 3 days and then additional days on the regular floor regaining his strength.
We firmly believe that God used the volunteers of HOME not only for the past 2 years in his life, but He used them in saving Billy’s life. There is wonderful news to report that Billy has now gone on to assisted living! He is now healthy and thriving! Several HOME volunteers still visit, and he is on our Christmas gifting list as well. We simply cannot forget our Billy.
- Coffee Co Senior Citizens, Inc
410 North Collins Street
Tullahoma, TN 37388
(931) 455-2504
Coffee Co Senior Citizens, Inc. was formed to promote a coordinated program of services and opportunites for all senior citizens who are 50 years of age or older, regarless of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The center welcomed the seniors back on July 6th after being closed for many months. The center staff continued to work throughout the pandemic to assist the seniors with their needs. The staff and volunteers delivered food boxes to over 300 seniors in Coffee Co along with Meals on Wheels, shopping for senior personal needs, pharmacy needs, and pharmacy pick-ups. The staff was available Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm for assistance with faxing, mailings, shredding, and scheduling appointments.
Since the return of seniors to the center we are screening with questionaires and temperature checks (we lost sixteen active seniors and one staff directly related to the Covid). Upon entering we encourage face coverings, social distancing, and limited numbers in group activities. The weather has allowed us to provide several group activities outdoors and we will continue with the outdoor activities when possible. CCSC completed the Matter of Balance Evidenced Based program with thirteen seniors completing the class. We will finish our year on Decmeber 30th with a Memorial Celebration at the South Jackson Civic Center.
- Community Development Center
Child Development Center
111 Eaglette Way
Shelbyville, TN 37160
(931) 684-8681
The Community Development Center provides support and services to children, families and individuals with disabilities and training to childcare staff and educators. In 2021, the Child Development Center (CDC) provided early intervention services to children in Coffee and Moore Counties between the ages of birth and three years old. Children eligible for the CDC must have a qualifying disability or developmental delay. Early Interventionists at the CDC not only work with the child, but more importantly, teach parents and caregivers to incorporate learning opportunities into everyday activities.
As a result of the COVID pandemic, services over the past year continued to be provided virtually. Exceptions were made for families that were unable to participate electronically, either due to lack of technology or internet connection. Year to date, the CDC has provided services to 102 children in the area, 94 in Coffee County and eight in Moore County. Of these children, two were eligible due to hearing impairment, seven had diagnosed genetic disorders, six of the children were eligible due to severe prematurity, and two had a diagnosis of Autism.
The CDC also conducted assessments with ten additional children in Coffee and Moore Counties whose families chose not to have scheduled visits with an Early Interventionist. The assessments were used by the Tennessee Early Intervention System to track the developmental progress of these children, develop service plans, and update goals.
IMPACT STORY: There were many successes this year at the CDC, large and small, all were significant. This is the story of Ellie’s success. Shortly after birth, it became apparent that Ellie had minimal use of her left arm and hand. She was given a diagnosis of Erb’s Palsy, a condition characterized by arm weakness and loss of motion, which typically resolves itself within the first year of life. The condition did not improve. When it became time for Ellie to begin crawling and pulling to stand, limited use of her left leg was noticed. With further medical testing, it was determined that Ellie had suffered a stroke, most likely at birth. Her diagnosis was changed to Cerebral palsy.
Since Ellie was an infant, her parents have worked very closely with the Early Interventionist (EI) at the CDC, who visits the family weekly. The EI has helped them to discover ways to promote Ellie’s developmental growth during their everyday activities, as well as providing support to carry out recommendations of the physical therapist. It has been a lot of hard work, frustration, and tears for Ellie and her family, but they have been diligent, and their efforts have paid off.
Ellie is now 2 ½ years old. She is walking, and even though her gait is slightly different, her balance is good. She loves to wear dresses and enjoys spinning to see the skirt tail fly. She is unable to straighten out her left arm completely, but she is using it 75% of the time, holding items in the crook of her arm and when placed in her hand. She can even take the top off a marker to color.
THANK YOU~HAPPY NEW YEAR!
United Way of Hwy 55 would like to thank our partner nonprofits for the important and valued work they do in our community. This is just 12 of the 19 UWHWY55 partner nonprofits that were funded this year. The allocation process is repeated every year and occurs in the Spring to apply. For an entire list of partner nonprofits and contact info go to https://highway55unitedway.org/partners/. We appreciate our donors, Board Members, and those that have supported our efforts and mission. Thank you and LIVE UNITED.
