United Way of Northeast Louisiana is a nonprofit that focuses on helping people and improving the communities. Through volunteers, donors, partner agencies, and staff, United Way seeks its goal of having individuals and families achieve their human potential.
United Way of Northeast Louisiana covers the twelve parishes from the Mississippi River to the Arkansas border.
Janet Durden, president, said "Our United Way really does focus on three major areas. We fight for the education of our children and youth, so they are successful in school. We are absolutely focused on economic and financial stability for our families so that they can sustain their life as well as advance their selves in all kinds of areas. Then the third area is health. Health for both the individual as well as the community."
United Way is working on an event to help children prepare for the upcoming days of school. Ready4School is a school uniform drive for children in Northeast Louisiana. United Way is collecting items such as new socks, shoes, belts, backpacks, and gently used uniforms.
Sixteen various schools in the area are already involved with United Way NELA through a year-round reading program called Read-Learn-Succeed. These schools will be distributing the items from Ready4School.
United Way NELA has multiple locations for donations to be dropped off. These locations include United Way of Northeast Louisiana in Monroe and Ruston, Chatham Branch Library, Jackson Parish Library, Lincoln Parish Library, Union Parish Library, Ollie Burns Branch Library, and Ouachita Parish Public Library- Main Branch.
Another upcoming project that United Way of Northeast Louisiana is the Heirship Project. This project works on helping individuals gain a clear property title to a home or property that a relative left to them. Over the next few months, United Way is partnering with Wesley Eby Johnson with E & P Consulting, LLC to provide several free workshops. Durden said, "It really makes a difference. It allows people to get their business straight." More information and the schedule and locations of the workshops are available at The Heirship Project or by calling 211.