New location bringing more people to United Way in Henderson

HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) – A journey two years in the making. The United Way of Henderson County celebrates a milestone by unveiling their new home situated near downtown Henderson. United Way moved in to this space on Second Street after struggling for visibility in an 800 square foot office space downtown, according to Community Impact Manager Kelsi Dunham.

“It was something that people couldn’t easily access. They couldn’t find the resources because they couldn’t find the location,” says Dunham.

Executive Director Melissa Clements says the lack of visibility was a concern since she joined the United Way of Henderson County in 2015.

“When I walked into that office and it was way in the back of another building, I thought, ‘how are they going to know where we’re at’? So this, being out here and being visible for our community, is so important,” says Clements.

The United Way offers assistance in several areas, including rental assistance, workplace development, and finding mental health services. Clements says since moving into the new building in January, there has been a visible increase in foot traffic coming through their doors.

“Here, we’ve seen a significant uptick of people just looking for help,” explains Clements. “They want to come up, they want to find out really what is united way doing, can they help me? And they find that oh, yeah, we can, because we can refer and we can send people to places we know can help them that day.”

United Way also used the ceremony to launch their “2023 LIVE UNITED. LIVE LOCAL.” campaign in hopes of growing partnerships with community organizations.

“Our workplaces and our community fund these programs, so we are going to live local this year,” says Dunham. “Everything inside has come from Henderson, all of our goodies were made right here in Henderson, all of our art is from Henderson, so everything is all about local.”