Salina Area United Way Announces 2024-2025 Funded Partners

Salina Area United Way has announced their 2024-2025 Funded Partners include Central Kansas Mental Health Center, Independent Connection Inc. and Pawnee Mental Health Services.

“We are so excited to welcome back the previous Salina Area United Way Funded Partners,” says Claire Ludes, Executive Director of Salina Area United Way.  “We look forward to once again uniting with these thirteen incredible nonprofit organizations for our 2024-2025 Campaign season to ultimately serve our community in the most effective way possible.”

This past 2023-2024 Campaign year, Salina Area United Way has surpassed its Campaign fundraising goal of $600,000 by raising $842,237 and were awarded $932,735 in grant funding to go towards their Early Childcare Initiative totaling $1,774,972 to give back to the 13 2023-2024 Funded Partners and their seven Early Childhood Care Centers.

“Being a Funded Partner with the Salina Area United Way allows us to focus more on services and our programs, and not have to dedicate more time to fundraising,” says Paul Forrester, Executive Director of CAPS.  “In 2023, the funds provided from the Salina Area United Way were utilized for education purposes through our Happy Bear and Bully Prevention education classes to all students across the communities we serve.”

Central Kansas Mental Health Center is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization, and is designated as the Local Mental Health Authority for the following counties: Saline, Dickinson, Ellsworth, Ottawa, and Lincoln.  Central Kansas Mental Health Center's mission is to make life better in their communities by providing excellent mental health services, education and integrated care which exceeds patients' expectations.

Headquartered in Salina, Independent Connection serves nine North Central Kansas counties, including Cloud, Dickinson, Ellsworth, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Ottawa, Republic and Saline.  Independent Connection Inc. is a Center for Independent Living (CIL) that provides an array of independent living services to people with disabilities.  Like all CILs, they are a consumer-controlled, community-based, cross-disability, non-residential private non-profit agency designed and mostly operated by individuals with disabilities.

Founded in 1956, Pawnee Mental Health is a private, not-for-profit Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) and Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC).  Pawnee provides a full range of mental health, substance use recovery, and crisis services for residents of 10 North Central Kansas counties, including Clay, Cloud, Geary, Jewell, Marshall, Mitchell, Pottawatomie, Republic, Riley and Washington counties.

For more information about Salina Area United Way’s 2024-2025 Funded Partners or their upcoming 2024-2025 Campaign, visit www.unitedwaysalina.org, or contact the Salina Area United Way office at (785) 827-1312.