Lisa Humenik returned to the club to share information about her new position at United Way of Wisconsin, where she is the director of operations. 

As the membership association for all 39 United Ways across the state, its three priorities are managing the 211 service, receiving grants as the fiscal agent for the member associations and offering networking, support and learning opportunities for all the state’s United Way agencies. 

United Way of Wisconsin also hosts the Great Rivers Conference for 900 United Way associations and provides statewide initiatives and opportunities for collaboration. 

Overall, each individual association helps individuals navigate health and mental health services, and provides referrals for food and shelter. The statewide association also produces a report on ALICE, measuring how much of the population is able to afford the basics to live. 

United Way agencies also promote volunteerism through the Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster. 

ALICE an acronym for Assets Limited Income Constrained Employed. It describes income needed to afford the basics of rent, food and utilities, along with the costs for those, but nothing extra. In Wisconsin, 34% of the population meets that threshold; in Waunakee, that number is about 17%. 

The 211 service – a number to call, to look up online, to text or chat with – helps connect individuals needing housing, access to food or other resources to state agencies designed to help, such as the Division of Public Health or the Department of Workforce Development. 

In the past year, Wisconsin’s 211 has had 362,166 contacts, and the top need is for housing. 

Lisa said a new exciting project is in the planning. WIRE, Wisconsin Information Referral Exchange, will soon be launched with health care providers who, upon learning of a patient’s need for greater access to food or social services, can plug that into their MyChart as a referral and have an agency such as a food pantry contact them.

United Way of Wisconsin is funded through state grants and contracts, federal grants and membership investments. 

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Other News: 

-Club members will be working on the Rotary Lights Display Saturday morning and could use help starting at 9 a.m. at Village Park. 

-Bunko is planned for Monday night at Rex’s. 

-Be sure to sign up as a greeter for the Rotary Lights display.

-Santa is visiting the Waunakee Village Center Dec. 2, and club members will provide cookies. You can bring them to the Nov. 30 meeting. 

-The DeForest Rotary Club is taking orders for its holiday cheese and poinsettia sale. 

-Jon Townley has looked through all of the Rotary pennants club members collected while visiting other clubs across the world. We have 75 from different U.S. clubs, the most from South Carolina. They represent 29 states in all. Twenty-five are from different countries. Now we just have to figure out what to do with them.

Guests: None

Visiting Rotarians: None

Birthdays: Nov. 21, Gabriell Hamele

Anniversaries: None. 

Greeters: Nov. 16, Tom Kennedy and Troy Salisbury; Nov. 23, Thanksgiving, no meeting; Nov. 30, Jean Elvekrog and Roberta Baumann.To sign up to greet or to find out if you are greeting, visit: 

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805054CAAAA2CA7F85-44320149-2023#/