VOICEAMERICA

BENDER CONSULTING SERVICES

12/22/03

2:00 PM ET

"DISABILITY MATTERS"

HOST: JOYCE BENDER

GUESTS: BOB DeWITT AND MICHAEL HEPLER

Captioning Provided By: Caption First, Inc.

P.O. Box 1924

Lombard, IL 60148

800‑825‑5234

*****

Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) is provided in order to facilitate communication accessibility and may not be a totally verbatim record of the proceedings.

*****

>> Welcome to "Disability Matters" with your host, Joyce Bender. All comments, views and opinions expressed on this show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now, the host of "Disability Matters," here's Joyce Bender.

>> JOYCE BENDER: This may be the time of the year we need Jacob Marley's ghost to make some visits and remind everyone what giving is all about. This is Joyce Bender, and I have to tell you this is going to be one of my absolutely favorite shows. I want to first wish my greetings to all of our listeners throughout the world. I know that everyone will be celebrating Hanukkah, Christmas with their family, and I wish all of you seasons greetings and a happy holiday. And the reason this is my favorite show is, you know what, it's all about volunteerism and giving. And many of my listeners, you know I am a woman with epilepsy. I am the owner of Bender Consulting Services www.benderconsult.com and Bender Consulting Services of Canada www.benderofcanada.com and, well, at my company, one of our values is volunteerism. As a matter of fact, if you look at our Web site, you'll see that it says "We believe the greatest way to build character is by helping others." This is not preferred, but expected. And if you work for me, that's a rule. That's the way we live. And that's why I'm so thrilled to have, our guest today, and Marley's ghost today, he's on the line too, Bob DeWitt from the United Way of Allegheny County who is a spokesperson for the United Way and Michael Hepler, the President and CEO of Boys and Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania. Bob and Michael, welcome to the show.

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: Thanks, Joyce. Thanks for the invitation. Mike Hepler here.

>> BOB DeWITT: Hi, Joyce. It's Bob DeWitt. I appreciate the opportunity to be speaking with you.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Yes. And Bob, I know you are the spokesperson for the United Way of Allegheny County. What is your correct title, Bob?

>> BOB DeWITT: You can just call me Spokesperson. My full title is Director of Marketing and Communications.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Okay. We'll call you Spokesperson then.

>> BOB DeWITT: Okay.

>> JOYCE BENDER: And I want to say to all of our listeners before we start talking to our two guests that I ‑‑ my company and I are very major supporters of the United Way and I know that we have listeners, because we've already received email from listeners throughout the United States about this show, and I know that you support the United Way where you are, but since I am headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we're going to talk to Bob, who is with the United Way of Allegheny County, and Bob, maybe you could tell us first a little bit about your background and how you became involved with the United Way.

>> BOB DeWITT: Sure. Be glad to. Actually, my career began in journalism. I was most recently ‑‑ News Director of KDKA here in Pittsburgh in the late '90s and I had spent 17 years in radio news, and out of coming out of journalism school and I, for many, many years, enjoyed journalism and telling stories on the radio. But I think the thing that got me down the most was it was mostly bad news. I mean, I would look for the good news stories, but they were harder to find and, quite frankly, a lot of people weren't really interested in them. And when I joined United Way here in Pittsburgh in 1999, I decided that that was going to be my main focus, was telling good news. And that's one of the great joys of my job is to be able to get the word out to the donors and to the general public, in telling agency success stories such as the ones that Mike is going to share shortly.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Oh, that's wonderful. I have to ask you a question, Bob.

>> BOB DeWITT: Sure.

>> JOYCE BENDER: What happened to the Farkleberry cookie.

>> BOB DeWITT: You know, I haven't heard about that in the last couple of years although I used to taste them all the time.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Well, as you can see I really get into the holiday season because to our listeners, first of all, Bob, as I was explaining he was with KDKA, one of the very first broadcasting stations in the United States, a very prestigious station, but many, many years ago ‑‑ Bob, I don't know if you remember how many years ago they started the Farkleberry cookie, do you remember?

>> BOB DeWITT: Boy, I don't remember. It's a long time. Not as far back as the station but I'd hate to hazard a guess, but I'd say probably in the '50s, maybe.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Yeah. And this was to raise money for Children's Hospital.

>> BOB DeWITT: Yes. And KDKA, both radio and television, are still very closely connected with Children's Hospital.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Yes, that's wonderful. And for our listeners, what used to happen is that you made a donation to get one of these delicious cookies, but of course, there are people giving very, very significant donations for one of those cookies, weren't they, Bob.

>> BOB DeWITT: Yeah, and I feel kind of guilty, as you say that, because I used to ‑‑ they used to just hand them to me.

[Laughter]

>> JOYCE BENDER: Uh‑oh.

>> BOB DeWITT: And so I knew about them from the taste point of view but it really, in all seriousness, it's been a big fund‑raiser over the years for KDKA.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Well, I remember that very well. Well, Bob, about the United Way, can you give us some idea, when did the United Way start here in the United States?

>> BOB DeWITT: Sure. Actually, the movement that is now United Way started way back in the 1800s, actually in 1877. It actually came over from Liverpool, England, a similar type of fund‑raising organization that really was a single short‑term combined appeal initially for food, shelter and medical supplies. That's how it began in England, and then it arrived in the United States around the turn of the century in Denver. A group of ministers came together to say, "We need one united appeal," long before it was ever called the United Way. It arrived in Pittsburgh in 1908 as something called the associated charities. One fund‑raising drive. And in 1922, the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce got many fund‑raising groups in the Pittsburgh region to combine into one campaign and then in 1927, the Welfare Fund of Pittsburgh was chartered. Over the years, it became, from the Welfare Fund it turned into the Community Fund. You may remember that from ‑‑ then the Community Chest, the United Fund. The Community Chest, of course, you see on the monopoly games. That's the old United Way. And then in the 1950s, it was the United Fund of Allegheny County and until about 30 years ago, it ‑‑ the United Fund and the Community Chest merged into the United Way of Allegheny County.

>> JOYCE BENDER: That is really great. And to all of our listeners, so you know, our show, "Disability Matters," is about helping people with disabilities, and of course that's one of the reasons I have ‑‑ I am such a supporter of the United Way, but the reason that I was so excited to have this show during the holiday season is because it so much fits with the holidays, and many people sometimes forget that throughout the year, other than right now, and I'm hoping that after this show, that all of our listeners will make a commitment to continue it throughout the year, not just at the holiday time.

But, Bob, maybe you could give our listeners some idea. Here in Allegheny County, how many agencies do you help? And how many people are affected by this?

>> BOB DeWITT: Sure. Well, first, the most important thing to tell you is that there are two ways to give via United Way. You can give to United Way, which is the United Way Impact Fund, which we'll talk more about, and that's 71 agencies, and Mike's agency, Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania, is one of those 71 agencies. And then you can also give through United Way, which is contributor choice, and we have about 2,000 health and human service nonprofits in the Pittsburgh region that receive contributor choice money through United Way.

In terms of the number of people, these agencies ‑‑ more than 2,000 of them in all ‑‑ serve about 800,000 people just in Allegheny County, out of a population of about 1.2 million people.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Wow! So this counts elderly, children, everyone?

>> BOB DeWITT: It ‑‑ these help people such as ‑‑ such as seniors, such as kids. The United Way Impact Fund, which is a pool of contributions that are allocated to partner agencies, that get measurable results in improving our quality of life, the Impact Fund tackles issues like ending child abuse and neglect and supporting quality early care and education, quality daycare, providing food, shelter and clothing back to the original mission of United Way's predecessors, helping the homeless, keeping seniors active and independent. Those are just some of the issues that United Way tackles.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Yes. And I saw on CNN the other night, Bob and Michael, that over 40% of people homeless this year are families, you know. Not just what people sometimes envision in their mind as the homeless man. Not that that person doesn't need our help also.

>> BOB DeWITT: Yeah.

>> JOYCE BENDER: And that many of the people that they talked about on CNN actually are people sometimes who have very minimal ‑‑ minimum wage, but are still living at the poverty level. You know, and have had to go to shelters and different places for help. And so I just can't imagine how many people that you really do, you know, have an influence on through what you're doing.

Now, our chairman ‑‑ you have a ‑‑ there is a chairman every year for the United Way campaign.

>> BOB DeWITT: Right.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Who ‑‑ tell our listeners about our chairman this year.

>> BOB DeWITT: Sure. In Pittsburgh, the campaign chairs of the United Way campaign are David and Karen Shapiro. David is chairman and CEO of Giant Eagle, the supermarket here, and a big supporter of the United Way Impact Fund, very passionate about the work that it does and about the importance of giving to the United Way Impact Fund. David Shapiro has been a terrific leader for us in yet another challenging fund‑raising year as we try to get the message out about the Impact Fund.

>> JOYCE BENDER: And I just want to add, I know David personally, and to our listeners, people with disabilities, he is a major advocate for the employment of people with disabilities.

As a matter of fact, this year I was very honored to receive the New Freedom Initiative Award from the Bush Administration, which was given to me for an individual in the United States that has furthered the employment of people with disabilities, but it was also given to four for‑profit corporations and five nonprofit agencies. Now, what a great surprise when I saw that out of the entire United States, one of those corporations was Giant Eagle. And can you tell us about that?

>> BOB DeWITT: I didn't know that about that award, but I can tell you that Giant Eagle ‑‑ I can confirm that Giant Eagle is a wonderful supporter here in the Pittsburgh community, very involved in community service in not only their work with United Way, their work with greater Pittsburgh community food bank and their work to try to end hunger. Very important corporate partner here in Pittsburgh.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Yes, that's right. And I'm very proud to have him as our Chair, because he has helped in so many different areas. He really has. Both of them. Really good people.

Well, we may have to take a break here in a minute, but why don't we take just a few seconds, and if we have to take a, break, we'll come back. Bob, if you could explain David's position, his feelings, about the Impact Fund. And maybe you could first tell our listeners, again ‑‑ I know you explained this briefly ‑‑ how the Impact Fund is different than just passing through money to some designated group.

>> BOB DeWITT: Sure, sure. That's a real challenge that we face here in Pittsburgh. About half of the money that we raise is designated away from the Impact Fund, which is unrestricted or undesignated. Half of that money goes to a specific agency, one of these 2,000 agencies, and as the campaign has gotten larger every year ‑‑ I mean, that's been the way we used to measure our success, did you hit goal, did you raise more money you did the previous year.

What we're finding in the last three years, agencies like Mike's, the Boys and Girls Clubs, there's less and less money to allocate from the United Way Impact Fund. And, again, the Impact Fund is that pool of unrestricted contributions that we allocate to United Way partner agencies that we know are getting measurable results in improving our quality of life in the issues that I had mentioned earlier, some of which are ending child abuse and neglect, supporting quality early care and education, good daycare, providing food, shelter and clothing, and helping the homeless, keeping seniors active and independent. That's what the Impact Fund does, and we talked about David's passion, and quite frankly it's all of ours, for the United Way Impact Fund, and it's a challenging message because there are so many different issues there. If you support the Cancer Society or the Epilepsy Foundation or Make-a-Wish or Children's Hospital or any of the larger well‑known agencies, you know specifically what that issue is and you have a connection with that need or that issue.

But when it comes to the United Way Impact Fund, there's several ‑‑ there's so many different issues that you support, so many different needs that you help meet, and sometimes that's a challenging message in getting that out to donors, because they have such a strong connection with a particular issue or agency.

>> JOYCE BENDER: And of course I ‑‑ I agree with David that I think this is very important, because you really can still make a donation to whomever you want to through the United Way, and yet at the same time make another donation to the Impact Fund.

>> BOB DeWITT: Right. Yeah, it's not an either/or.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Uh‑huh.

>> BOB DeWITT: You can do both. As you said, you can support those issues that you care about, those particular causes, and you can also ‑‑ we ask you this year, especially, to give to the United Way Impact Fund if you never have given to the United Way Impact Fund. Other communities, by the way ‑‑ it's called the Community Fund, it's sometimes called the community care fund. Different United Ways ‑‑ and there's about 1400 United Ways across the country ‑‑ each one has its own name. Some others call it the United Way Impact Fund but it's the same general issue. It's the unrestricted money that United Way raises, and then allocates to its own partner or member agencies, and the work is so important. And, you know, many of these agencies ‑‑ some are more well‑known ‑‑

>> JOYCE BENDER: Hold on one minute, Bob. We have to go to a quick break. This is Joyce Bender. And then we'll be right back with Bob DeWitt and Michael Hepler.

>> Welcome back to "Disability Matters" with Joyce Bender. If you have a question or comment for Joyce, or her guests, please call toll free at 1‑888‑335‑5204. Now, back to "Disability Matters." Here's Joyce Bender.

>> JOYCE BENDER: And just as Patti LaBelle is saying right now, it's all about a new attitude when it comes to giving to the United Way, specifically the Impact Fund. We have as our guests Bob DeWitt from the United Way of Allegheny County and Michael Hepler, President and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Western PA who we will be asking to join us here in a minute and asking Mike some questions. But before we do that, I know we have a caller on the line. Cecelia? From the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh.

Okay. We had her. We may have lost her. Well, while we're waiting for Dr. Cecelia Golden to join us, let's get back to our guests.

Bob, you were talking about the Impact Fund. Did you have any other comments you wanted to make about that?

>> BOB DeWITT: Oh, I'm sorry, I ‑‑ I went a little bit long before the break. The last thought that I just wanted to mention was the fact that many of the United Way Impact Fund agencies here in Pittsburgh are much more well‑known than others. There's the Girl Scouts and the Boy Scouts, the Red Cross and Salvation Army, but then there are smaller, lesser‑known agencies such as the McKeesport collaborative that helps with housing and drug addiction issues out in the McKeesport area. Another one in inner city Pittsburgh helping inner city girls, and those are the kinds of agencies that simply don't have a large fund‑raising staff or marketing people to help get their message out and United Way helps to do that through conversations such as these.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Well, that is tremendous. And anyone calling in, the number is 1‑888‑335‑5204. Or you can email me at disabilitymatters@benderconsult.com, and if our producer can reconnect with Cecelia, you can get her on the line, just let me know when you've found her.

In the meantime, Mike Hepler, you are the President and CEO of Boys and Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania. Could you tell our listeners a little bit about the organization and how you first became involved?

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: Well, actually I'm wearing two hats today, Joyce. One is, I do remember the red feather agency, the sign was out in front of the boys club. Way back then, it was a boys club that I started out in, and in condensed versions. I snuck in the back door one day, heard about this place, and it then was supposed to be a fun place for kids and something to keep us off the streets and I think I was in there about five minutes and I got in trouble. Although I didn't ‑‑ it wasn't my fault, of course, but ‑‑ so over the years ‑‑ and this is back in 1958, and I think I was 10 years old at that time, and I just started going to the club more and more, and it kept me out of a lot of trouble.

By the time I was 17, I became the youth of the year in Pittsburgh as a result of the involvement in the club. And went off to Vietnam to do my patriotic duty, got wounded pretty bad and made a commitment, because at that time the guy who had pulled me off the streets in the boys and girls club had passed away, so I made a commitment to pay him back and I keep thinking, it's been about 36 years. I probably should have wrote a check way back then. But anyway, it's been, you know, the ‑‑ I guess a career where you understand the importance of what we do for children, you know, and you adopt a passion to make the growing‑up years count. And at the Boys and Girls Club of West Pennsylvania, we have eight operating branches throughout the county. Bear with me, I'm getting rid of my Pittsburgh flu here. And we also have a charter high school. We have two social ventures, a retail store, and the 1950 cafe that teaches teens, you know, the entrepreneurial skills they need to succeed in life.

We serve over 7,000 children throughout the county, and the real mission we have is to make the growing‑up years count. You know, it's something you have to work at every day. You have to provide a menu of services that really are the hooks to get the kids off the street. We are ‑‑ I guess in the ‑‑ I call it at times, the fence‑sitter business where we have so many children on the fences that have problems that we're pulling one way and the streets are pulling another way, and we've been very successful, you know, over the years, and we have a lot of prominent alumni throughout the country that attest to their ‑‑ the influence that the club had on their lives.

We do it all for the kids, and that's our only agenda is children.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Well, you know what, that is ‑‑ first of all, you have a great story personally. I mean that is a tremendous story how you, yourself, went to the Boys Club and have been involved since you were 10 years old, but also this desire to give back after you were in Vietnam. That is really a great story. I can see why you are so successful at this organization, so we're lucky to have you in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, doing what you're doing.

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: Thank you, Joyce. I appreciate that.

>> JOYCE BENDER: I also agree with you, you know, it's ‑‑ really, it is. It's like a crusade. Whenever you get involved in something like this, with children, it's like a crusade. It just ‑‑ it just overwhelms you, wanting to help young people and see what you can do to further them along. And I'm sure that our listeners in other parts of the United States, there are Boys and Girls Clubs all cross the United States, correct?

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: That's correct. There's over 3,000.

>> JOYCE BENDER: 3,000!

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: 3,000. And a majority of them are on the front lines in the inner city communities.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Now, do you have these throughout the world also, or is this just in the United States?

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: They do have them overseas, and a lot of Boys and Girls Clubs facilities have been opening up on military bases to serve the military community and some of the veterans community.

>> JOYCE BENDER: That is great. Wonderful! Okay. Well, tell us, what ‑‑ what do you actually do for young people? What happens at the boys and girls club?

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: Well, you know, we ‑‑ the doors are open. It's an open‑door policy, you know. No proof of good character. That would have eliminated me a long time ago but ‑‑

[Laughter]

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: Just kidding.

>> JOYCE BENDER: No Farkleberry cookie for you. That's it.

[Laughter]

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: Thank you. If you put a sign on a door that said "Smart Moves Drug Prevention Program, come on in," the children are not going to beat your door down. What you have to do is provide an array of services that are attractive to the young people and relevant, and we're fortunate because we involve the children in the decision‑making, especially the teens. They pretty much tell you what they want, and how they want it, but ‑‑ so you provide an attractive array of services. That's our hook to get the kids off the street. More often than not, in Boys and Girls Clubs, a lot of the high‑profile sports programs, we align our programs with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Penguins, the Pirates, and the local universities. They provide a lot of resources, plus add luster to get the kids in. And once you have kids, children in the fold, then all the other tools that you have, you know, on hand such as, you know, drug prevention programs, smoking prevention programs, you know, formal guidance, you know, you look for the children with the greatest needs and you focus your efforts on those children, and, you know, what you really are doing is you're giving the children the greatest gift of all, their own special childhood.

>> JOYCE BENDER: And with that, listen, we're going to

>> At Bender Consulting Services, Incorporated, our take a quick break. We'll be right back. This is Joyce Bender with "Disability Matters."

>> Welcome back to "Disability Matters" with Joyce Bender. If you have a question or comment for Joyce or her guests, please call toll free at 1‑888‑335‑5204. Now, back to "Disability Matters," here's Joyce Bender.

>> JOYCE BENDER: And we are back with Michael Hepler, President and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Western PA, and Bob DeWitt from the United Way of Allegheny County. And Michael, you were talking about the Boys and Girls Club when we went to break. Did you have something else you were saying at the end of that sentence?

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: Yes. The ‑‑ you know, in the old days, we did a lot of the very male oriented activities in the clubs, boxing and sports programs. And over the years to, you know, make sure you maintain the interests and needs of the children ‑‑ and the United Way, they've been a partner with us ever since we started in this community, and they continue to do so, but with the Impact Fund, the importance of that, now we're adding to that menu with after‑school tutoring programs that are measured. I mean, you measure the effects on each individual that's in that program, state‑of‑the‑art learning centers, youth employment program, scholarship funding to get children into college, juvenile justice programs to help those that have had their first run‑in with the law navigate through that system, youth entrepreneurial training, formal education, and the list goes on and on. But, you know, it's kind of a focused list, though, because we tune in to the critical areas that are identified through the local United Way and their volunteers, and we work in tandem to resolve a lot of the problems that exist in this community. And I guess there's a science to it but the reality is, for every child who walks into our door, there's a safety net of services there that is designed to, you know, kind of navigate them through life and turn them into productive citizens, and we have a lot of success stories.

>> JOYCE BENDER: You know what? I just want to make a point here for one moment. This Impact Fund is very important to you. Am I correct?

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: Oh, definitely. Most definitely.

>> JOYCE BENDER: So that funding helps you continue?

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: Well, our budget is 3.1 million, and 26% of that comes from United Way Impact Fund, and that is ‑‑ those are dollars that, you know, we don't have to dedicate tons of man‑hours of our staff time going out and beating on doors and so forth, and complicating the fund‑raising environment. We depend on the United Way to do that, and what it does, it keeps our administrative overhead down at around 6%, because you're dedicating your time to program services for young people. And, you know, the United Way Impact Fund directly affects the quality and quantity of the programs we operate, and indirectly it helps with the other United Way agencies, the other 71 ‑‑ or 70 that Bob mentioned that we depend upon, you know, for resources in the community, and we have problems that are, you know, outside of our areas of expertise. We just pick the phone up and we know that that same level of quality exists out there in the United Way family.

>> JOYCE BENDER: And I would say that I am a personal contributor to the United Way here in Allegheny County, and I ‑‑ I made a decision this year to give 50% to the Impact Fund because I realize very clearly that there are agencies that are depending on that money. For them to survive. So listeners, when you're listening to this, remember these are real people, real children that we are helping, and there are so many other agencies that are part of this, but whenever you just give money to some designated group ‑‑ and you still can do that. I do that. But then give that little extra to the Impact Fund. That's what's going to make so much of a difference.

Michael, maybe you can make it real for our listeners. Tell them one of the success stories through the Boys and Girls Clubs.

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: There's so many over the years, I guess, that, you know, I've been fortunate to ‑‑ sometimes unfortunate to experience, and I guess one that really jumps on the table whenever I ‑‑ you know, that question comes up is a young boy and girl. At the time, they were 10 and 12. At one of our branches, they showed up on our doorstep one day, and you could see that there was some trauma in their life and, you know, after talking to some family members, we found out that both of them had been in a situation where they witnessed the father taking the life of the mother.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Oh.

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: So they came to us as, I guess, part escape, part, you know, just their way of dealing with what was happening in their world, such a young world. And over the years, they came out of their shells. The young lady, we found out that one of her passions in life was sports, so, you know, we involved her in all kind of sports activities, you know, as an athlete. They developed to the point where the boys would not like to see her whenever she'd walk on the playing field, she was so exceptional.

[Laughter]

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: And the first time I saw her, she did a touchdown and I’m looking back saying where did that ball come from and there she was walking down the field but that was, you know ‑‑ that interjection of our services into their lives just made them turn out to be good people, and the young lady just entered into college this year, did extremely well, and, you know, they live with the grandparents. I know the grandparents personally, and each time they see me, they just, you know ‑‑ there's a glow of warmth coming from them, just a thank you for everything that you did for those young people during the very troublesome time in their life. And there are so many stories like that, you know, that we experience and you can't divorce yourself from the reality of what the streets are all about, and you know that the children are out there. 65% of the children we serve are from single parent households, and you know that, you know, when they go home, they're worried about the basics. You know, food, shelter, clothing, things like that. And, you know, you can throw out all the basketballs that you have, but, you know, if you don't really tune in to the real needs and reach out to places like United Way to support the resource to deal with those, then, you know, you kind of miss the target.

>> JOYCE BENDER: That is truly ‑‑ that ‑‑ just that one story is such a great story. It's so wonderful what you're doing. That is really wonderful. And as you said, too, you know, you were saying about many of the children, single parents. Many children today are homeless. I mean, many children, nowhere to go. And that is such a great story. It really is. I want to say something. You know, this is a ‑‑ this is a time I know we've gone through very difficult economic times, and of course many people say to the United Way or to groups such as Michael's group, the Boys and Girls Club, they say, "I'm sorry, we can't give this year because, you know, these are tough economic times." And I want to remind everyone that it is during those tough economic times that people need you the most. You know, this is when people need you the most. These are when people are going through more difficult times than ever before. And that is why you have to have the character to dig down in your pockets a little bit further and remember where you came from, just like this one ‑‑ there's this gospel spiritual that I love that says, "Look back in your wagon." People need to remember to look back in their wagon.

Bob, how does the Impact Fund affect and help people with disabilities, because you know ‑‑ as you know, you're both guests on my show. I'm a woman with epilepsy and a hearing loss. 90% of my employees are people with severe disabilities, and I'm very proud to tell you 100% contribution from my employees to the United Way.

>> BOB DeWITT: That's ‑‑

>> JOYCE BENDER: I am very proud of my employees.

>> BOB DeWITT: That's wonderful, and you should be proud of them, Joyce. You know, the United Way Impact Fund helps people with disabilities in a variety of ways here at United Way of Allegheny County. First of all, some quick numbers. The agencies that handle ‑‑ help people with disabilities, 11 of the 71 agencies, and they receive over $1.3 million from the United Way Impact Fund this year. Some quick examples. This is the kind of work they do. They do rehabilitation. It helps to fund rehabilitation services. Also, training and retraining. Placing people with disabilities in the workplace. Also, research. And probably just as important ‑‑ and you know this better than all of us, Joyce ‑‑ is the importance of raising both awareness and support of the need. Groups like Life's Work of Western Pennsylvania, they receive over $228,000 this year from the United Way Impact Fund. United Cerebral Palsy, UCP of Pittsburgh, Al, more than $102,000, Action Housing, John Zimmer's group, does wonderful work in Pittsburgh. Many of it ‑‑ much of the work that Action Housing does is for people with disabilities. They offer all kinds of programs that improves housing and neighborhood conditions, special needs housing facilities in Allegheny County, especially for the most ‑‑ most vulnerable populations, homeless families and individual women and children in crisis situations.

Those are just some of the examples. The Arthritis Foundation, the Center for Hearing and Deaf Services and the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Epilepsy Foundation.

>> BOB DeWITT: Epilepsy Foundation is not a United Way partner agency but does receive money from the contributor choice side of it.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Uh‑huh.

>> BOB DeWITT: And then Pittsburgh Vision Services, Spina Bifida Services Association of Western PA and then behavioral care, Addison Behavioral Care is a United Way partner, along with Mercy Behavioral Health. So as I mentioned, 11 agencies of the 71 United Way partner agencies receive Impact Fund dollars, more than 1.3 million this year.

>> JOYCE BENDER: So this means we have 11 agencies receiving that that are partners directly from the Impact Fund, and then all the other groups that receive monies through the United Way, like Epilepsy Foundation or Pittsburgh Disability Employment Project for Freedom, which is why if you're listening to this show and you are a person with a disability, just remember this Impact Fund has an impact on you.

I think we have a caller on the line?

>> Yes.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Yes. And who do we have here?

>> Hi, Joyce. It's Norma Raiff at Sojourner House and I'm thrilled that you're doing this special program on disabilities and the United Way Impact Fund and its broad ‑‑ broader implications for the community at large. Especially at this time of the year. Sojourner House is a United Way Impact Fund agency and we deal with disabilities that aren't always visible. We're a residential program for women who are addicted and their children. And so addiction and other behavioral issues aren't always visible to individuals, and they may not think about helping programs such as ours when the call comes to them to give. And through United Way, smaller programs as well as the larger, more visible ones, are helped. So give to the Impact Fund.

>> JOYCE BENDER: And Norma ‑‑ it's actually Dr. Norma Raiff who is the Executive Director of the Sojourner House and we are delighted that you called in, because I agree with you completely. See, a lot of people don't think about that, but I know you're a recovery program for women who have addiction and their children, so here are disabilities not visible and you are helping people and that's another group that is a result of monies from the Impact Fund.

>> Correct.

>> JOYCE BENDER: So that has a direct hit on you then, correct?

>> Absolutely. Our membership in United Way means an awful lot to us. I heard ‑‑ was it Mike Hepler talking a little while ago on the Boys and Girls Club and, you know, we participate in Boys and Girls Club too, so we're one of the smaller agencies in town, but our United Way dollars are just ‑‑ just as valued. As a small agency, we have a lot of trouble finding the resources to let people know about our services and about the needs we have, and about the fact that treatment works and how to access health and so forth. And our relationship with United Way not only gives us direct funding, which I can't say as well as everyone else, this funding is unrestricted funds. It gives us the freedom to help people when they are in need in the way they are needed. This time of the year, we are buying gifts for the mothers because the mothers won't buy gifts for themselves. We serve a largely homeless population and we buy underwear and shoes and medications and so forth. Things that are real needs, we just can't get that money elsewhere, and it's there for us. United Way also helps us with our publicity and certainly when we go to the community and to our supporters, the general public, we're able to say, when you give to Sojourner House, we are a United Way agency and that means that we've met some very high standards for admission. It means we're legitimate, it means we have outcomes, it means that we have the highest standards of the administrative and clinical behaviors ourselves, as an organization. So that it's a seal of approval. And so for small agencies such as ours, it's so vital, the Impact Fund both in the dollars plus what I call the United Way good seal of approval.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Yes. And you know what? Those dollars are really, in your case, just as with Mike, possibly saving lives.

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: Absolutely.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Those dollars are saving lives, when you give that to the Impact Fund.

>> I can give you a brief and rather mundane example, but the families that are here are often in severe crisis, and sometimes ‑‑

>> JOYCE BENDER: Wait. Hold on. Hold on with that thought. We want to hear that story. We'll be right back. This is Joyce Bender with "Disability Matters."

>> Welcome back to "Disability Matters" with Joyce Bender. If you have a question or comment for Joyce or her guests, please call toll free at 1‑888‑335‑5204. Now, back to "Disability Matters." Here's Joyce Bender.

>> JOYCE BENDER: And here we are with our special holiday show, which is about the United Way of Allegheny County, and the Impact Fund. We have Bob DeWitt and Mike Hepler, who is the President and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Western PA and we have Dr. Norma Raiff, the Executive Director of the Sojourner House, who called Norma, what were you saying whenever we went to break?

>> NORMA: Oh, I was giving an example of ‑‑

>> JOYCE BENDER: Go ahead, please.

>> NORMA: the types of ways that the impact funds are used. Because they are funds that are unrestricted, we have the ability to respond to crises or to program development needs. One of the ‑‑ the little examples that I think makes the point was we had a woman in here who was in a psychiatric crisis and was sent back to us from an examination and was encouraged to stabilize herself back here with meds, with medications, and she was not covered by any insurance company, and it was late Friday night and we were able to say, "Well, we have money," and it was hundreds of dollars for three days of medication until Monday, when we could seek other resources.

So this ability to say, "We have funds that are flexible, that allow us to respond to emerging needs," gives us such freedom of action, and in this case, when you said sometimes it saves a person's life, I know it saves a person's life. Our impact funds are used for everything from being able to get larger grants, which require a contribution from the community, nongovernmental monies, which we can leverage those monies then into 10 and 20 times‑fold monies coming into this community because we can show community support to the type of emergency first aid I spoke about, where we use it to buy psychiatric medications. We've used it for everything from Boys and Girls Club memberships to some of these other more dramatic needs.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Which are, of course, I want to remind all of our listeners, people with disabilities. Because having employees of mine, very successfully employed, people with psychiatric disabilities, but if you are homeless or if you are poor, disadvantaged, and you have no access to medication, it is certainly a horrifying thought.

As a matter of fact, many people with epilepsy are homeless, and I think to myself how fortunate I am because, I of course, do take medication but if you don't have that, that would be a really terrible thing to be going through.

Bob, these stories are just really phenomenal stories. I think it is so wonderful what the United Way is doing, and I cannot begin to emphasize enough to our listeners how important the Impact Fund is.

Now, I have two questions for you. One, how do people contribute to this Impact Fund?

>> BOB DeWITT: Well, there's a couple of ways that you can give. Actually, several ways. United Way raises most of the money in the workplace ‑‑ there are more than a thousand companies that run United Way campaigns here in Pittsburgh. However, if your company has already finished its campaign or if your company doesn't run a United Way campaign, you can also give through our Web site and I'll give you the web address and that's unitedwaypittsburgh.org. It's unitedwaypittsburgh.org ‑‑ all spelled out. You can give ‑‑ make a contribution on‑line, whether you use a credit card or make a pledge, or you can give us a call at United Way and I'll give you that phone number. It's 412‑261‑6010. 412‑261‑6010. Or you can simply, if it's more convenient, mail us a check and make it to the United Way Impact Fund, United Way of Allegheny County Impact Fund, and our address is P.O. Box 735, Pittsburgh, PA, 15230. Very easy to give.

>> JOYCE BENDER: A question that we have received from one of our listeners is: Living in another part of the United States, Maryland, is this Impact Fund the same everywhere with every United Way agency?

>> BOB DeWITT: It's very similar. They have different names. I believe if it's the United Way of central Maryland out of Baltimore, I believe they call it the Community Care fund there. A different group of agencies, all doing similar types of work, working with the most vulnerable populations, with ‑‑ with kids and with seniors, with the homeless, and so forth and so on. It's a ‑‑ going to be under a different name, a slightly different group of agencies but the same kind of work, no matter which of the 1400 United Ways across the country you're with.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Okay. And again, could ‑‑ one more time, Bob, could you give us that Web site and mailing address?

>> BOB DeWITT: Sure. The Web site address is unitedwaypittsburgh.org ‑‑ and "United Way Pittsburgh" is all spelled out ‑‑ .org, or you can mail to post office box 735, Pittsburgh, PA, 15230.

>> JOYCE BENDER: And I would like to really challenge all of you to remember that as I said earlier on the show, when you say this is a tough economic time, it is, but it's tougher for people who are in need. And this is a time that the United Way really needs your help. I would personally, for the holiday show, like to ask all of our listeners to take time to go to that Web site and make a contribution specifically to the Impact Fund, because you've heard these stories from Norma and from Michael. Here are groups that you would never think about, possibly, and there are many, many others that without your funding, it could really have a severe impact on what they do and what their ability is to help others.

As I said, for people with disabilities listening, remember these groups also are the groups that serve people with disabilities.

Bob, do you have any last comments that you would like to make to our listeners or any requests?

>> BOB DeWITT: Well, I just, first of all, want to thank you, Joyce, for taking an hour, taking your entire show, to talk about the United Way. You know, the work is so important, the work of the Impact Fund, as Mike talked about with the Boys and Girls Clubs, and with Norma and Sojourner House, two agencies that do some of the finest work in Pittsburgh, and there are so many other agencies that aren't well‑known. There are some that are very well‑known that are able to get their message out, but all these different agencies, these 71 agencies in Pittsburgh, for the United Way Impact Fund, they all do wonderful work, and the ‑‑ Norma talked about the house ‑‑ the seal of approval. United Way volunteers oversee these agencies to make sure that they're well run, that they're effective, that they're getting results and that they're not just counting noses and number of people served but they're following many of the people that they serve for many years, in some cases, and, you know, what kind of results are we getting? Are we changing lives? And when we ‑‑ when we help the vulnerable people in our community, we help ourselves because we make a stronger community, so I just wanted to thank you very much for your time and attention to a very important issue.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Well, it is my pleasure because we are all in this together. We are all part of the community, helping one another. That's what makes us all successful.

How about you, Mike? Do you have any last comments you would like to make?

>> MICHAEL HEPLER: Yes. I think it's important ‑‑ you know, I'm a donor to the United Way. In fact, our agency, we're proud to ‑‑ instead of donating the money to our agency, a hundred percent of our employees are giving to the United Way Impact Fund, and it's important to note that whether it's a dollar gift or a hundred thousand dollar gift to the United Way Impact Fund, it's an investment in the solution to the critical needs in our community, and all the United Way agencies ‑‑ and we have a duty and we have a responsibility to maximize return on this investment, and really make a difference in the lives of the people with the greatest needs, and I really appreciate you giving us some time to, you know, share our thoughts on the Impact Fund and it is such an important part of the fabric of the community that we live in, and, you know, the outcomes, I guess, are the things that I'm fortunate to experience and see every day through people investing in such a noble cause. So thank you very much, Joyce.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Oh, it is my pleasure, and I ‑‑ I just want to say that one comment you just made is so important. It's not always how much you give; it's that you do give. Because sometimes when I've gone to corporations, I've talked to employees and they'll say, "I can only give X amount of dollars" and I tell them, better to give than not to give. Of course the more you can ‑‑ you know, the more you have and the more you can give, the better it is, but I think that's really a ‑‑ really a good point that you made.

Norma, are you still with us?

>> NORMA: I certainly am.

>> JOYCE BENDER: Did you have any comment you would like to make?

>> NORMA: I would just like to reiterate the comments before and that is, that Pittsburgh is a wonderful community, it's someplace special, and one of the things that is so wonderful about the Impact Fund and United Way is that it's active in so many spheres of the community, from aging to mental health, addiction, housing and so forth, that it takes care of the broad spectrum of needs and ‑‑

>> JOYCE BENDER: It does. It does. And Norma, I'm sorry to have to cut you off here.

>> Okay.

>> JOYCE BENDER: But we're getting ready to close the show, and I just want to wish everyone a very wonderful holiday season, and I want to close with a quote by a man with epilepsy, Charles Dickens. "Remember, mankind was our business." I hope it's yours too. Happy Holidays. This is Joyce Bender. See you next year.

>> VoiceAmerica would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 2 p.m. Eastern time for another installment of "Disability Matters" right here on the Internet leader in talk radio, VoiceAmerica.com.