The United Way of Central Missouri has awarded $375,089 in Community Support Grants to help health and human service agencies.
United Way announced winners of the grants Wednesday during an event at Catholic Charities, as well as some plans for the 2026 campaign.
The United Way also awarded a $15,000 grant to CHADS Coalition through its newly launched Adolescent Behavioral Health Initiative and explained goals for the new initiative.
Community Support Grants were funded by dollars raised above and beyond the United Way’s 2025 campaign goal of $2.8 million. Grants were awarded to 16 United Way partner agencies and 18 non-partner agencies.
“We never take the extraordinary support of this community for granted,” said Ryan Freeman, chairman of the United Way’s Board of Directors. “Because our community stepped up and helped us exceed our campaign goal, we are able to invest additional resources into organizations addressing critical needs across Central Missouri. These grants represent more than funding. They represent hope, opportunity and a shared commitment to improving lives throughout the region.”
Grant recipients serve communities throughout Camden, Cole, Maries, Miller, Moniteau, Morgan, Osage, Phelps and southern Callaway counties.
They were selected from requests from 41 different organizations across the service agency. This year, United Way saw a total of almost $700,000 in grant requests.
Community Support Grant recipients
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Jefferson City received $2,383 for the purchase of branded marketing materials, including a banner, tent and tablecloth to increase visibility at events.
Boys & Girls Club of Jefferson City was awarded $17,500 to launch the Gift of Choice program, which will be at the Railton Center in August. This initiative will allow Boys & Girls Club members to select after-school activities based on their interests, whether it’s STEM, art, engineering, robotics, tech, English as a second language, fine arts and more. Funds will be used for redesigning activity spaces and purchasing materials, equipment and curated reading resources to enhance student engagement and development in the program, according to a news release.
Capital City CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) received $5,000 to fund a locally produced recruitment video that will showcase the impact of CASA volunteers, utilizing professional production to inspire and engage potential volunteers in the community.
Capitol Projects received $8,900 to help with bathroom infrastructure improvements, including plumbing repairs, fixture replacements and other plumbing upgrades.
Catholic Charities of Central and Northern Missouri received $25,500 to install exterior refrigeration and related electrical infrastructure to safely store additional perishable donated food, reduce food waste and expand access to fresh, nutritious food for clients.
Common Ground Community Building received $20,000 to reconstruct its parking lot to enhance safety and accessibility, including ADA compliance.
Compass Health Network received $1,950 to purchase updated activity supplies for the network’s Mentoring Makes a Difference program, which aims to enhance engagement between mentors and mentees and strengthen relationships between students and their families.
Dreams to Reality was awarded $5,000 for staff to attend an apparel market to establish vendor relationships and purchase professional clothing at wholesale prices, which would increase affordability and access for clients. (Editor’s note: The local organization’s use of the name “Dreams to Reality” is currently being disputed by another organization.)
Homemaker Health Care received a $1,163 grant to purchase a badge printer to create ID tags for medical equipment, ensuring proper identification and tracking.
Jefferson City Rape & Abuse Crisis Service, Inc. received $19,200 for the purchase of washers and dryers for shelter sanitation and bedbug prevention. Funding will also go toward staff training and professional development in victim services, trauma informed-care consultation and interactive domestic violence education training.
Little Explorers Discovery Center got $20,000 to purchase a 14-passenger van for transporting preschoolers safely to field trips and program activities.
The Special Learning Center received $19,338 to install wall cushioning in sensory and classroom spaces to enhance safety and support emotional regulation for children with autism and behavioral challenges, and other developmental needs.
The Salvation Army of Jefferson City received $17,769, which will be used to purchase support shelving, shopping carts, a bagging station and another freezer for the nonprofit’s renovated food pantry.
The Sneaker Project received $4,300 to expand shoe distribution within Cole County by an additional 100-200 pairs.
UCP Heartland Gibbs Center for Independence received $8,988 for the purchase of technology, including iPads and Smart boards to expand educational access, communication tools and employment support for individuals with differing abilities.
Tri-County YMCA received $10,000 for the purchase of new cardio equipment.
Non-partners
Aging Best received $20,000 that will go toward providing home-delivered meals to individuals in Maries and Moniteau counties.
Central Missouri Community Action was awarded $10,000 to develop a resource known as a data lakehouse to streamline applications, reduce duplication and improve service coordination and data management.
Central Missouri Stop Human Trafficking was awarded $11,500 for transportation assistance and immediate access to mental health services, to help survivors of human trafficking overcome barriers and achieve stability and independence.
Community Connections of Moniteau County received $4,000 that will be used to purchase two laptops to replace outdated systems, support mobile work capabilities and provide training sessions for staff.
Coyote Hill received $7,100 as a way to support foster family enrichment, meals, training and educational resources that help meet the needs of children served through Coyote Hill’s foster care program.
Independent Living Resource Center received $20,000 for the purchase of a fuel-efficient, pre-owned vehicle to safely transport staff, consumers and veterans across the organization’s seven-county region.
The Missouri Girls Town Foundation was awarded $10,000 to support a one-time security upgrade at the Missouri Girls Town campus. This will include the installation of an enhanced access control system and additional features in a residential cottage to improve campus safety.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Missouri was awarded $10,000 for one-time bridge funding that replaces lost funding from a major source. This funding is used to provide free, peer-led mental health support groups and educational programs across Mid-Missouri.
River City Habitat for Humanity is receiving $4,709 to repair and improve two of its mission-support vehicles to ensure safe, reliable operation and sustain revenue generating programs that sustain affordable housing efforts.
Saving KidsSight was awarded $9,500 for free vision screenings for 5,000 children. The funding will also be used to host mobile clinic days and support staffing, care coordination, technology and glasses assistance for students in need.
Special Olympics Missouri received $16,733 for the purchase of fitness, nutrition, sensory and storage equipment to support health, wellness and adaptive programming activities, as well as a storage shed.
SSM Health Foundation received a $10,000 grant for its Adolescent Intensive Outpatient program to help support under-insured and uninsured youth receive structured mental health treatment.
St. Nicholas Academy was the recipient of a $14,632 grant for one-time start up and infrastructure costs for a girl’s home, including furnishings, equipment, property improvements and required staff training.
Additionally, United Way of Central Missouri awarded grants to non-partners in the Lake of the Ozarks area and Rolla.
Those grant recipients were:
The Children’s Learning Center of Camden County received $5,168 to re-seal the playground surface to enhance safety and extend its usability.
Lake Area Industries received $10,000 for the purchase of a 26-foot box truck to improve efficiency and capability for recycling, packing and transportation operations.
KVC Behavioral Healthcare of Phelps County received $8,109 to replace outdated kitchen equipment and improve food safety, efficiency and meal quality for the youth served by KVC Missouri.
Russell House of Phelps County got $7,330 to replace an outdated and unreliable fire alarm system to improve safety and reduce false alarms in the emergency shelter.
The Rolla Mission of Phelps County received $9,317 to purchase secure industrial lockers to replace plastic totes, improving safety, organization and secure storage for shelter clients’ personal belongings.
Adolescent Behavioral Health Initiative
During the press conference, the United Way of Central Missouri announced plans for its new Adolescent Behavioral Health Initiative.
Part of the initiative included awarding $15,000 to the CHADS Coalition to support signs of suicide training for students in grades 5-12 in the United Way’s service area. The training provides evidence based suicide prevention education, mental health awareness, risk screening and connection to critical support resources through the Every Year Every Student approach.
This is just one part of the initiative, said Lee Knernschield, president of the United Way of Central Missouri.
During the past year or so, the United Way has been meeting with stakeholders and studying the mental health challenges adolescents face.
“Through meetings with stakeholders, understanding available resources and conversations with community members, it has become clear that the United Way of Central Missouri must take an active role in supporting behavioral health needs in our youth and hopefully that will expand to more of our community as well,” said Freeman.
Freeman, who said he’s passionate about the issue of mental health, said he’s excited United Way is now starting to act on important work it has been talking about for a while.
“I think all of us know somebody, a co-worker, a friend, a family member who is dealing with or has dealt with mental health issues, and I feel amazing support for our community with this initiative,” he said.
Earmarked funding will be put into a multi-phase program. The initial phase is comprised of three goals: creating an information and resource hub housed on the United Way website; establishing a podcast later this summer to discuss issues affecting youths and their behavioral health; and holding events to talk about this new initiative and alert people to this new resource.
2026 campaign
The United Way also took the opportunity to announce information about this coming year’s campaign. This year’s fundraising goal will be $2.9 million — a $100,000 increase from the previous year’s goal.
The theme is “Reach for the Sky,” inspired by the movie “Toy Story” produced by Disney and Pixar.
“Reach for the Sky,” is an iconic phrase from the movie, according to Rachel Barfield, the 2026 campaign co-chair who is the business development and Genesis Medspa officer manager at Genesis Company. She’s serving alongside co-chair Jeremy Morris, a leader in the tax department at Williams Keepers for the 2026 campaign.
“We believe this slogan is perfectly connected to the work at the United Way,” Barfield said. “Reach for the sky symbolizes courage, possibility and believing in something bigger than yourself. In much that same way, United Way helps individuals and families reach their own aspirations by providing support and resources necessary and looking out for one another. United Way brings people together to lift each other up and help everyone connect.”
Julie Smith/News Tribune photo: The Salvation Army Center of Hope received a grant for more than $17,000 from a United Way Community Grant Wednesay that will be used to purchase more shelving, as shown here in foreground and background, shopping carts and another glass door freezer for the food pantry. The Salvation Army is undergoing a major renovation after which the food pantry will have more than quadrupled in size so more space is needed for more product and shopping carts for consumers to use to select their own items versus being handed pre-packaged boxes of food.
Julie Smith/News Tribune photo: The Salvation Army Center of Hope received a grant for more than $17,000 from a United Way Community Grant Wednesay that will be used to purchase more shelving, as shown here in foreground and background, shopping carts and another glass door freezer for the food pantry. The Salvation Army is undergoing a major renovation after which the food pantry will have more than quadrupled in size so more space is needed for more product and shopping carts for consumers to use to select their own items versus being handed pre-packaged boxes of food.
Julie Smith/News Tribune photo: United Way of Central Missouri President Lee Knernschield, at left, and board president Ryan Freeman are shown Wednesday through a pantry shelf at Catholic Charities Food Pantry. The pair spoke during the day’s community grant dispersal at the partner agency. Shown in the background is Alysa Bowe, marketing and events director at UWCEMO. United Way 2026 Campaign co-chairs handed out over $375,000 in one-time grants approved for a number of uses ranging from two new laptops to a used vehicle.
Julie Smith/News Tribune photo: Ryan Freeman speaks about a new initiative the United Way of Central Missouri just announced during Wednesday’s community grant dispersion in the food pantry of Catholic Charities, a United Way partner agency. Freeman, who serves as the 2026 board chair, announced the adolescent mental health initiative wherein youth can seek treatment for mental or physical abuse issues, using the funding to help offset the cost of treatment or to fully pay for the services. UWCEMO President Lee Knernschield, background right, is fully supportive of the idea is campaign co-chair Rachel Barfield.
Julie Smith/News Tribune photo: United Way 2026 Campaign co-chairs Jeremy Morris, left, and Rachel Barfield, present Tom Duff with funds to help with United Way of Central Missouri’s new adolescent mental health initiative. Duff is CEO and a therapist with CHADS, an acronym for Communities Healing Adolescent Depression and Suicide, an agency that works in Jefferson City School District.
Julie Smith/News Tribune photo: About two dozen agencies who received a United Way Community Grant are represented here as they pose for a group photograph with their oversized checks. More than $375,000 was awarded to 16 partner agencies and 18 non-partner agencies for a host of uses to support the agency and the clients served.