Right now in Pickens County, a child is sounding out a word she didn't know yesterday. A father is filing his first tax return without paying a fee. A mother is calling 211 instead of skipping rent. A child is naming a feeling she's never had words for before.
None of them know your name. All of them feel your hand.
Your gift to United Way of Pickens County moves through this community in ways most donors never see. It funds the volunteer who reads with a struggling third grader every Tuesday. It pays for the books a toddler brings home from her first school visit. It keeps the 211 line answered at 2 a.m. when someone needs to know where to turn. It does all of this through four connected Impact Areas: Education, Financial Security, Mental Well-Being, and Community Resilience.
You make it possible for a child to walk into kindergarten ready. For a family to keep more of what they earn. For a young heart to find help before worry takes root. For a neighbor to find shelter when a storm takes the rest.
That is what your investment in Pickens County looks like.
IMPACT AREAS
Education
A child who can't read by the end of third grade may never catch up. Your gift gives struggling readers the camps, classrooms, and reading buddies who show up week after week, powering our bold goal that 70% of Pickens County third graders will read on grade level by 2028.
Financial Security
A working family lives one car repair away from disaster. Your gift puts unclaimed tax credits, free filing help, and pathways to better wages within reach, so a hard week doesn't become a lost year.
Mental Well-Being
A child can't always say what hurts. But she can pick up a paintbrush, sit with a counselor, and learn that what she feels has a name. Your gift funds programs that meet children where they are, before stigma takes hold.
Community Resilience
When the rent is impossible, when the food runs out, when a flood takes everything, your neighbor needs to know who to call. Your gift keeps 211 answering, day or night, and keeps a long-term recovery network ready before the next storm hits.
Education Programs
Camp iRock
A summer that turns a struggling reader into a confident one. Camp iRock is Pickens County's award-winning summer program for struggling readers, run in partnership with the School District of Pickens County and Call Me MiSTER.
Preschool Pages
Kindergarten readiness starts long before kindergarten. Women United's signature program brings young children and their caregivers into local elementary schools for early literacy sessions, with a book to take home from every visit.
Lantern
Parenting is hard. Help arrives by text. Lantern sends free, age-tailored messages to parents and caregivers of children prenatal to age 8, with bonding activities, brain-building tips, and local Pickens County resources, in English and Spanish.
Born Learning
The first five years shape the rest. Born Learning helps parents and caregivers make those years count, with interactive walking trails at ten Pickens County locations and age-by-age guides for the journey from birth to kindergarten.
Financial Security Programs
Free File
A free hour with a trained volunteer can mean hundreds of dollars back in a family's pocket. Free File is the volunteer-driven program that prepares taxes at no cost for low to moderate income Pickens County residents.
Pathways at Work
Employees come to work carrying things their bosses never see. Pathways at Work brings a free, confidential United Way Success Coach on-site at Pickens County workplaces, helping employees navigate whatever life throws at them.
Mental Well-Being Programs
Expressive Arts Therapy
Some feelings come out in paint, in music, or in motion before they ever come out in words. Expressive arts therapy gives Pickens County children a guided way to work through anxiety, grief, and worry, with support from licensed therapists.
Community Resilience Programs
211 Resource Line
Free, confidential, and answered around the clock, 211 connects Pickens County neighbors to food, housing, utility help, healthcare, and more, by phone, text, or app.
Long-Term Recovery Group
Rebuilding after a disaster takes months, sometimes years. The Long-Term Recovery Group is a coordinated network of agencies, faith communities, and neighbors that walks with Pickens County families through every step of recovery.
Community Investment
Volunteers from across Pickens County review grant requests and fund programs that move our community forward. Each Impact Area has its own Impact Council that focuses strategically on priority issues to ensure meaningful, measurable outcomes for every dollar you give.
Have a Question?
For more information about the Mental Well-Being programs offered through United Way of Pickens County, contact Karen Culley, 864-826-8102.