YOUTH
OPPORTUNITY
IN FLOYD, POLK, & CHATTOOGA
20%
Children Chronically Absent
from School
27%
Children Living in Poverty
48%
Children Living in Households Unable to Afford Basic Needs
EDUCATION GRANTS
United Way’s Education Grants are specifically designed to empower our interns to navigate their internship experiences successfully. These grants offer interns critical financial assistance to cover expenses directly associated with pursuing their education, ensuring students have the opportunity to focus on their professional development and achieve success without financial stress, while empowering them to focus on growth, learning, and making meaningful contributions to our mission.
YMCA THRIVE
United Way directly funds a certified STEAM teacher who brings rich, hands-on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math experiences to THRIVE, building confidence, curiosity, and a love of learning in young people at Restoration Rome. This investment does far more than add “extra activities” after school—it weaves project-based learning into a program where youth also receive daily nutritious meals and nutrition education, emotion-management and social-emotional support, mentoring, and safe spaces to play and grow.
Because THRIVE is a family-strengthening model, the same young people who benefit from STEAM labs and health-focused learning also see their families supported through food access, financial assistance for sports and camp, and connections to other Y programs under one trusted roof. In this way, our partnership is a powerful catalyst: it equips a skilled educator, deepens academic, nutritional, and social-emotional growth for children in challenging circumstances, and reinforces a broader safety net of food, care, and belonging for their entire family.