This summer, I had the privilege of working with the United Way of Mid Rural New York (UWMRNY) in Norwich, NY, through a fellowship offered by Colgate University’s Upstate Institute Field School program. UWMRNY is a non-profit organization committed to ensuring every person in the communities it covers has access to education, healthcare, financial stability, and basic needs.
There are more than 1,500 United Way organizations globally, and UWMRNY specifically serves four counties in central New York: Chenango, Madison, Delaware, and Otsego counties. Rather than directly providing services themselves, UWMRNY holds an annual fundraiser and redistributes these dollars to other non-profits within its region. The funded programs primarily target the Asset-Limited Income-Constrained Employed (ALICE) community; people who work every day yet still struggle to make ends meet to afford basic, critical necessities. A large amount of the money raised comes from payroll deductions, calculated amounts withheld from an employee’s salary designated as a charitable donation. Through this funding, countless non-profits are able to deliver indispensable services to provide a helping hand and uplift those most in need.
Besides fundraising and reallocating donations, UWMRNY is also steadfastly involved in supporting its communities through several crucial initiatives. To just name a few, UWMRNY co-chairs the Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD), is a member of the Dental Task Force, sponsors the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, and provides microloans. COAD’s mission is to proactively look for methods to mitigate against all kinds of disasters at the local level and foster collaboration between organizations to develop preparedness and effective coordination during disasters. The Dental Task Force is a collaboration of more than 10 local agencies providing schoolchildren with dental hygiene kits and oral health education. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library gives one free book per month to children from birth to age five to strengthen early childhood literacy worldwide, and the micro loan program provides families with limited resources a loan of up to $2,000 for an emergent, unanticipated expense.
One of the most impactful things I learned during my time at the United Way was how complex the issue of poverty is. In the region, a remark one might hear is that impoverished people just need to “work harder,” but that misconception couldn’t be any farther from reality. Through attending countless meetings, webinars, and interviews with non-profits, their directors emphasized that impoverished people are struck with multifaceted barriers preventing them from becoming employed. One common barrier is that people can’t get to their jobs without a car, and they can’t afford a car because they don’t have a job. Additionally, ALICE are often not eligible for loans to help pay for a down payment on a vehicle. So, what are other ways someone could get to a job? Public transit, perhaps? Unfortunately, there is limited, if any, public transportation in the region, and one of the only alternatives available, volunteer drivers, is extremely limited.
Circumstances like this truly exemplify that there is not a “one size fits all” solution to poverty. My work this summer tackled this very issue. The first project was to create a digital ALICE simulation, similar to a poverty simulation. This is an interactive simulation guiding participants through an ALICE family’s expenses for one month. Participants had to make an “Impossible Choice” each week as their finances continued to shrink. One example of an Impossible Choice in the simulation is “Do you pay $100 for a babysitter because your child’s school was canceled, or do you stay home and lose a day’s wages of $125?” It’s difficult choices like these that ALICE families face every single da,y placing them at a significant disadvantage in the world.
Simulations are particularly effective in education and empathy building because participants are forced to step into the shoes of someone else and weigh the costs of each critical decision they make. By becoming active participants, people can begin to build greater knowledge on poverty through navigating extreme financial constraints. Even more so, the simulation is a critical piece of campaign material due to its wide applicability. Whether the simulation is used in an online webinar or in-person campaigning, it is distinctly important because it provides community members an opportunity to conceptualize poverty through a tangible method and possibly inclining them to donate.
The second project was to direct a promotional video highlighting funded partners. Before developing this video, my supervisor and I spent a lot of time conceptualizing how to create effective media that both educates and builds empathy. We decided the video should highlight solutions, not problems, to create an uplifting and hopeful tone. The video would also be separated into four sections, each dedicated to one of United Way’s focus areas: community resiliency, healthy community, financial security, and youth opportunity. Within these four sections were clips of interviews with funded partner leaders sharing how United Way funding impacts their organizations. When picking funded partners to interview, we thought it was crucial to include organizations from all four focus areas, as well as all three counties UWMRNY covers. I conducted and recorded six interviews in total: Madison Rural Health Council, Family Planning of South Central New York, The Place, Chenango Health Network, American Red Cross of the Southern Tier, and Community Action Partnership of Madison County. In addition to interview clips, I also included statistics about the number of individuals each organization served the previous year. This campaign video will be shared online through UWMRNY’s YouTube channel, its website, and in-person campaigning, ensuring a wide audience can hear United Way’s mission. The end goal of the video is not just to inspire donations, but to spread the word on who the United Way is, who they fund, the people they are committed to serving, and showcase their longstanding community involvement.
As a political science major, my fellowship was greatly connected to my studies because I was able to witness firsthand how federal and state legislation impacts non-profits and their ability to serve. I wanted to be a part of the Upstate Institute this summer to learn more about the region I have called home for the past few years; this fellowship was the perfect opportunity to embrace the collaborative nature of community-based research, combining the field expertise of the United Way staff with the skills I have gained at Colgate to create an observable difference in underserved communities. I am confident that my time with the United Way has strengthened my advocacy skills, and I can only hope the role I played this summer will incite empathy and care as the region continues to heal, so all can have a brighter future. — Emery Furgason ’27