All of Rogers County now falls under the Tulsa Area United Way’s newly-expanded service area.
The United Way office in Claremore, which served Rogers, Mayes and Delaware counties, closed April 1. Catherine Woldridge was its executive director and only remaining full-time employee; she said in March her office was struggling to consistently raise money for the 20 area agencies it funds.
United Way offices gather donations and then disburse them among nonprofits in their area. Before leaving her role as executive director, Woldridge allocated enough funds to tide over the local United Way’s beneficiaries until 2027.
Alison Anthony, chief executive officer of the Tulsa Area United Way, said the agency has long served six counties – Tulsa, Creek, Osage, Okmulgee, Wagoner and a small part of Rogers – and is excited to grow to reaching eight. Anthony said it’s the office’s first expansion in 25 years.
“My brother-in-law lives in Jenks, and he works at the Mid-America Industrial Park [in Pryor],” Anthony said. “The region is growing so much together, and it’s a way for us to really leverage resources across the region … because we live and work across the whole area.”
Before subsuming the 20 agencies Woldridge’s office formerly managed, Tulsa Area United Way served 165 nonprofits. And its Boulder Avenue building, tucked below the peaks of Tulsa’s downtown skyline, contains many more staff members than the Claremore office did.
Anthony said she believes this means nonprofits in Rogers, Mayes and Delaware counties will have access to a stronger resource and infrastructure network than before.
“We do an excellent job at Tulsa Area United Way of mobilizing volunteers and fundraising,” Anthony said. “We hope to increase the ability for more funding in those areas, but we’ve got to get to know the community. … We’re going to go in first with services and volunteers and getting to know and listening before we start asking people for money.”
Before officially taking over Rogers County Tuesday, Anthony said Tulsa United Way staff created an expansion task force with representatives from each of the new counties.
Anthony said the task force met with local business and government leaders to ask them what needs United Way should address in their communities.
Chelsea Feary, a member of the Owasso Chamber of Commerce, chaired the task force and represented Rogers County.
“Our mission is to listen first, learn always, and lead with humility,” Feary said. “We are confident that by working together, we can help these communities build an even brighter future.”
Tulsa Area United Way will make its public debut in Rogers County with its Day of Caring event Oct. 10. Anthony said the Day of Caring is an opportunity to mobilize volunteers on community projects to benefit schools, nonprofits and other organizations.
Anthony said her team is researching the nonprofit landscape in Rogers, Mayes and Delaware counties and reaching out to these agencies to ask if they would like to receive funding from the Tulsa United Way.
She said they will be joining an interconnected web of agencies that support one another with more than just money.
“Rogers, Mayes and Delaware counties are very resilient — we saw that when the tornado hit,” Anthony said. “They’re very much inclined for neighbors to help neighbors, and I think we can really learn from them how they get work done in smaller communities. … I think we’ll learn from each other, and hopefully then, it’ll lift all boats.”