Imagine having to make decisions about whether to buy groceries, fill prescriptions or pay the mortgage when it is impossible to pay for all of the bills.

It only takes one circumstance—a divorce, a death, a job loss, or an illness—to force a family to seek help. Many families who sought help over the past year have never struggled like this before.

United Way of Tampa Bay provides much needed support through community partners and funded agencies who are working to provide basic living needs like shelter, food, clothing —the “safety net”of life—to face the challenges of surviving without self-sustaining means of support. United Way invested in 52 funded programs at 33 agencies during FY ’09 serving more than 300,000 families and individuals. Funded programs focused on United Way’s three intermediate outcomes:

• Individuals’ basic needs for food, shelter, and clothing are met Individuals live healthy lives, coping with crisis and preventing/managing chronic conditions Individuals live in a safe environment with independence and dignity

United Way also developed specific programs and initiatives to help individuals and families survive these challenging times:

• United Way developed a special task force called Stop Hometown Hunger. This unique collaborative brought together some of Tampa Bay’s most active food banks to work together through a cooperative awareness campaign.Through June 30, 2009, seven new community food drives collected more than 14,800 lbs. of food to benefit families and individuals. This amount of additional food provided 925 Tampa Bay families of four with three meals a day for five days, or a total of 11,396 meals.

• United Way Disaster Services provided 48 disaster preparedness and recovery trainings to almost 1800 individuals. United Way has convened, facilitated, or served in a technical advisory capacity to 13 state, regional, and local disaster-focused entities, serves on five boards developing strategic and collaborative plans to augment emergency management response.

• United Way facilitated the distribution of Federal Emergency Food and Shelter grants to more than 200,000 families in Hillsborough & Pinellas County. The majority of those assisted purchased groceries and hot meals and received rent and mortgage assistance.

United Way-funded programs that address these basic needs challenges include:

• United Way invested in programs that provide a safe haven and supportive services – including outreach – to 25,760 individuals affected by domestic violence

• More than 150,000 telephone calls were received by 2-1-1 call centers for information and referral and crisis management

• United Way also invested resources in sheltering programs during the year that provided a safe place to sleep for 4,303 families and individuals

United Way ensures our community has access to services that help people deal with crisis, overcome barriers to success, and meet their basic needs. Such investments ensure that a foundation of care and support exists during times of trouble for those who call Tampa Bay home.