We are urgently in need of service-oriented, computer savvy 211 Resource Navigators to help our community with basic needs, free tax assistance, and more. This is not your ordinary call center job! We hire dedicated, talented people with big hearts to handle customer inquiries by phone, text, chat, or email from individuals seeking assistance with human services information or resources. Visit our Careers page to apply or CLICK HERE to be redirected.
At United Way, we fight for the rights, well-being and support of those who need someone in their corner. To us, advocacy means playing an active role in leading change and supporting policies that make a lasting difference in our region and beyond.
United Way’s #IWantToWork Campaign believes a simple policy change in Pennsylvania’s Medical Assistance for Workers with Disabilities (MAWD) program will remove oppressive barriers to allow more people with disabilities to work to their full potential, and succeed at better, higher paying jobs.
In Pennsylvania, only 35% are working, and even fewer, 21%, are working full-time. Those that do have jobs are at risk of losing vital, life-sustaining supports if they earn too much money. Working people with disabilities should not have to fear that success on the job will cost them the supports they need to function each day, nor should their career and life aspirations be limited by an income cap that would leave most unable to get out of bed in the morning, work, or get married if they earn what they deserve.
Nationwide, 78% of seniors living at home who need support currently depend only on family and friends. An estimated 40 million unpaid family caregivers provide approximately $470 billion in care, more than the entire Medicaid annual budget.
Southwestern PA has a higher concentration of female caregivers, and they are paying a higher price. Forty-percent pay out-of-pocket expenses for caregiving, more than double the national average, and nearly half take time off work for caregiving, which can be detrimental to workplace productivity and the region’s economy. As the only program of its kind in the country, United Way is bringing together leading employers to provide them with resources to help their employees manage the stress and responsibility of caregiving.
United Way, through a grant from the PA Developmental Disabilities Council, launched a business-led effort to expand United Way’s work to inspire and support more employers to hire people with disabilities. United Way is working to recruit employers to provide them with tools and technical assistance to improve their hiring and retention practices in an effort to diversify the workforce and give people with disabilities who want to work more opportunities to do so.
If you are interested in learning more about the initiatives above, please contact Heather Sedlacko, Director, Programs for Seniors and People with Disabilities at Heather.Sedlacko@unitedwayswpa.org.
