01:00 AM EDT on Monday, June 14, 2004

Building neighborhoods, helping people in crisis, and bolstering children's academic success are the three priorities established at a series of United Way of Rhode Island community summits earlier this year.

The summits were held to change the way United Way distributes millions of dollars each year.

Rather than contributing to individual agencies, the United Way will fund the "impact area" groups, according to Anthony Maione, United Way of Rhode Island executive vice president and chief operating officer. Maione will succeed President Dennis Murphy at the end of this year.

As a result of the summits, the United Way Board of Directors has chartered three groups to deal with these issues.

"This is a really exciting time, to see the beginning of the action phase take place," said Maione. "We're really encouraged by the level of interest and commitment by our community, and we look forward to some great results."

Maione said about 300 people stepped forward to work with the impact groups, "and it's a very good cross section."

Maione said, "We continue to reach out to all different kinds of folks. It's really an exciting kind of thing, and if we can show results, people can see they came into the room, they had a voice, and something happened. I think there's a craving for that in our society, and this could be the place to help do it."

The impact groups have been seeded with $750,000 each to get started, Maione said. Depending upon this year's fundraising campaign, United Way hopes to fund at least $10 million worth of projects.

The Building Adult and Neighborhood Independence Impact Group is focusing on improving skills in the low-income/low-skilled labor force, and recommend investments in job and neighborhood development and the earned-income tax credit.

Its members include: Sharon Chancellor, George Wiley Center, chairwoman; Louis Soares, Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, vice chairman and job development subcommittee chairwoman; Nancy Paradee, Family Resources Community Action, chairwoman for neighborhood development; Jeff Williams, Cathedral of Life Church, chairman, subcommitee for the earned-income tax credit.

The Helping People in Crisis Impact Group is focusing "on reducing homelessness and increasing affordable housing stock, and recommend investments in affordable housing, information referral, and immigrant and safety net services.

Its members include: Michael Costello, Baldwin Brothers Inc., chairman; Noreen Shawcross, Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, vice chairwoman.

The Solutions for Children, Youth and Families Impact Group is focusing on improving children's school success by taking strategic action and recommend investments in the fields of early care and education, out-of-school time, and parenting/family support.

Its members include: Elizabeth Burke Bryant, Rhode Island Kids Count, chairwoman, and chairwoman of early care and education subcommittee; Amanda Frye Leinhos, Dr. Martin Luther King Community Center, vice chairwoman, and chairwoman of parenting and family support subcommittee, and Karen Davis, Hasbro Charitable Trust, vice chairwoman, and chairwoman of out-of-school time subcommittee.

The impact groups will meet three times between now and mid-July "to get the request-for-proposal process going," Maione said. Those RFPs will go out by mid-August. Applicants will have six weeks to respond.

Maione said he expects United Way to reach its decisions on funding distribution for fiscal year 2005 by January or February, "and by April first, the money will start flowing."

The summits, each of which was attended by nearly 400 people, were sponsored by the United Way, Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, and the offices of the governor, the Senate president and the House speaker.

The attendees included representatives of social and human services agencies; state officials; church and neighborhood groups; private sector businesses; street-outreach workers; homeless people and people who have struggled with substance abuse problems; mental-health workers and mental-health consumers; veterans' groups; community activists, and many individuals.