State Grant to Help Fund Mobile Resources Connector Initiative

News Release
2/23/2021

$999,737 Grant to Help Fund Innovative Mobile Resources Connector Initiative Powered by Brown County United Way
Brown County United Way is partnering with more than 20 local nonprofit agencies to create a new program that will bring essential services to where people live and work.

GREEN BAY—Brown County United Way is the recipient of a nearly $1 million state grant to help fund an innovative new initiative that will bring essential human services designed to help people achieve life stability to where they live and work.

The Mobile Resource Connector Initiative received $999,737 from the state’s Equitable Recovery Grant Program, designed to support community-based organizations working to increase equity and eliminate disparities in communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic statewide. The initiative being funded is the collective work of a multi-agency advocacy council led by Brown County United Way, focused on creating community solutions that strengthen every person and every community in Brown County. This is the single-largest grant Brown County United Way has received in its nearly 100-year history.

According to Robyn Davis, Brown County United Way President and CEO, services will be taken out to individuals by the agencies through the use of three mobile resources: a passenger van, a class C RV, and a semi-truck and trailer. The focus of the services will be health, early childhood, education, economic support and housing.

“Social connection is at the heart of social service,” said Davis. “By decentralizing the delivery of these services and bringing them to the people, we believe we can destigmatize what it means to ask for help and remove the barriers many people have for receiving help.”

An essential component to the initiative’s success will be making the vehicles inviting and user friendly. Davis says community navigators will accompany each vehicle so that individuals and families can begin their interaction by engaging with a peer. Welcoming branding and promotional materials in multiple languages will also be developed.

The program’s agency partners will determine the services offered and locations based on caller data from 2-1-1 and customer input. The intended populations for the initiative are underserved individuals and families who struggle to attain and maintain stability in their education, health, housing and financial wellbeing due to structural and institutional barriers current systems and society have erected.

“The initiative will increase equity and eliminate disparities by creating a robust, accessible, coordinated service delivery model that brings multiple sources together in one place, tailored to the needs of the people who can’t come to where those services have traditionally been offered,” said Davis. “This approach will enable us to meet people where they are and connect them to resources when they are ready.”

Once fully operational Davis foresees the program and vehicles being utilized up to 60 hours a week, every week of the year. Based on initial projections, she anticipates the initiative will reach more than 18,000 people annually.

The grant, which allows for expenses through 2024, will fund personnel, promotional and vehicle maintenance and operational costs. The partnership is in the process of securing donors to obtain the three vehicles.

The community partners currently working on the program are the City of Green Bay, Achieve Brown County, ASPIRO, Boys and Girls Club of Greater Green Bay, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Green Bay, Community Services Agency, Connections for Mental Wellness, Curative Connections, Encompass Early Education & Care, Family & Childcare Resources of Northeast Wisconsin, Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin, Foundations Health and Wholeness, House of Hope Green Bay, Literacy Green Bay, NeighborWorks Green Bay, N.E.W. Community Clinic, New Community Shelter, The Salvation Army, Volunteer Center of Brown County, Wello, and the YMCA.
Gov. Tony Evers announced the grant as one of 125 grants totaling more than $82 million. The Equitable Recovery Grant Program is administered by the Wisconsin Department of Administration.

About Brown County United Way:
Founded in 1925, Brown County United Way (www.browncountyunitedway.org) is a center for community-based strategies. Through direct fundraising, grant making, community mobilization, and advocacy efforts, Brown County United Way leverages all of its organizational resources and deep local partnerships to advance targeted community solutions. With the help of more than 500 community volunteers from all community sectors, Brown County United Way is dedicated to finding solutions to the community’s most pressing human-services issues.