{"id":177,"date":"2007-11-27T16:23:24","date_gmt":"2007-11-27T21:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/carlislehistory\/?page_id=177"},"modified":"2007-11-27T16:23:24","modified_gmt":"2007-11-27T21:23:24","slug":"interview-with-jeff-conway","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/carlislehistory\/interview-with-jeff-conway\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Jeff Conway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0 History of Welfare Systems<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 History of Non-Profit Organizations<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Poverty and Non-Profits<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Funding Challenges of Non-Profits<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 The “Bigger Picture”<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Interview with Dale Cross-Employment Skills Center<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Interview with Jeff Conway, Executive Director of Carlisle United Way
\nNovember 8, 2007
\nConducted by Carla Nally<\/strong><\/p>\n

NALLY: Today is November 8, 2007 and I, Carla Nally, am seated here with Mr. Jeff Conway, who is the Executive Director of Carlisle\u2019s United Way.<\/p>\n

First of all, Mr. Conway, could you please tell me a little bit about yourself? What brought you to Carlisle?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Well, I grew up in Michigan, in northern Michigan where there is a lot of snow. I was kind of pursuing a \u201cnon-profit\u201d lifestyle. I worked for the Boy Scouts for five years and at the end of five years I was offered a transfer to three different places in the United States, and one of those locations was Carlisle. I picked Carlisle because my father-in-law had been coming here for the car shows, and he had a lot of good things to say about Carlisle\u2026 and not knowing anything else about the other two [locations], I came to Carlisle. I\u2019m glad I ended up here. It is a great place to live.<\/p>\n

I went from working for the Boy Scouts to working with MDA, the Muscular Dystrophy Association. I was there for thirteen years, three of which were down in Washington, DC., where I was a regional coordinator, so I had six offices in three states. I was on the road most of the time.<\/p>\n

I grew tired of that\u2026 of the Washington lifestyle as opposed to the Carlisle lifestyle, so I moved back here, and this is the only job I applied for when I came back. For five years I was a campaign director and then in 2001 I was promoted to the Executive Director.<\/p>\n

NALLY: What are some of your duties as Executive Director?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: I think my most important duty is supervising the staff. I have a great staff, and they each take care of their own area of expertise. My job is to see that they are all on the same page and that we go towards one goal, not towards five goals as everyone would want to do their job. I set the vision for the organization and try to get them to fall\u2014I don\u2019t want to say fall in the line\u2014but to build what they are responsible for along those lines. I have a little bit of a campaign responsibility, I have a community investment responsibility, I\u2019m a part-time janitor, I\u2019m a part-time IT person. In a very small office, which we are, we have five full-time people, so you get to do everything, and that\u2019s just the way it is. This isn\u2019t a \u201cthirty-person\u201d organization. While my main job is executive director and am responsible for all of the staff\u2026 but right before you came here, I was emptying out the garbage cans because it was my week to do it!<\/p>\n

NALLY: So you mentioned that in addition to your specific job as the executive director, there is a broader aspect of your job, which would be making sure the vision of the organization gets carried out. How would you describe the vision of United Way with regard to Carlisle, Pennsylvania?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Every United Way is unique. We are a national organization, we have a national headquarters but we don\u2019t have to follow their rules and their guidelines. They have no control over us. Each organization is separate into itself. We have a board of directors with twenty-eight members that is responsible for this organization, in setting its goals and so forth. We can do pretty much anything we want to do as a Carlisle<\/em> United Way.<\/p>\n

My vision for the United Way, and I think it\u2019s the board\u2019s vision, is that we are more than a fundraiser. That is the most important thing I can say. For a long time we were strictly a fundraiser. We raised money in the annual campaigns, we distributed that to our agencies, and we built everything around those two activities. Now we go beyond that, looking at Carlisle and the surrounding area and seeing where the greatest needs are, and either trying to step in ourselves and put money towards solving those needs, or maybe just by building a coalition of people who will address those needs. We may not have to put any money in it, but we will take the leadership in addressing those kinds of problems.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll give you two examples of how we did that. The first one was \u201cCarlisle Cares,\u201d which is an organization that\u2019s been around now for\u2026 I guess it\u2019s starting its third year. That came about because of a homeless coalition that we formed, and we knew that there weren\u2019t enough opportunities here for homeless people to spend a warm, sheltered night. There was James Wilson, which had a home\u2026 you had to move into that place and you lived there, in essence\u2026 and the Salvation Army, which could only take care of five men. Beyond that, for the truly homeless, there just wasn\u2019t any place to go and spend the night. We helped start \u201cCares,\u201d which is now in its third year. It has an executive director, it goes from church to church ten months a year \u2013one month at each church- and in the basement, the men sleep. That\u2019s all that they do. They are homeless people, but they come in at nine o\u2019clock at night, check in, go through a process, and sleep on mats. They get up the next morning and have to leave, but at least they have someplace warm to sleep at night. Now it\u2019s averaging about twenty people a night. So that\u2019s an example of how we put a little bit of money into buying the mats, right off the bat. But beyond that, all we\u2019ve really done is lend expertise. We have a person that is on our staff who attends our board meetings and does what she can, but we really got that organization started. We brought the people together to form it, and it\u2019s on its own. It\u2019s wonderful and it is working the way it\u2019s supposed to work. So that is a clear example of seeing a need, finding a way to address it; not having to make any long term commitments on our part, or any monetary commitment, and getting it going.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, we are in our third year of providing heating assistance to people.This one does take money. We realized \u2014probably too late \u2014 but we realized that a lot of people can\u2019t afford to pay their heating bills. Even with LIHEAP, which is a state-run assistance program, there are a lot of people who just make over the poverty level, so they don\u2019t qualify for the LIHEAP funding. They really can\u2019t afford it anyway, they are just broke enough, they live check by check\u2026 and with the price of oil today, and in the last couple of years, it is just unbelievable. So we have set aside 10,000 dollars to pay for those people who can\u2019t afford their heating. We have another $10,000 from the [Carlisle Area]Health and Wellness foundation, so we have $20,000. While we provide the money, we look to the Red Cross and Todd Baird Lindsey Foundation to administrate this program. Todd Baird Lindsey isn\u2019t a member agency at all, but they are the right people to address people who are fifty-five and over because that is who they work with. We don\u2019t get involved in the paperwork. All we do is either refer them to the Red Cross or Todd Baird Lindsey, but we are going to pay the bills from the United Way. That\u2019s an example of how we actually have to put money towards a program and really give a lot of leadership to it. But it is the right thing to do. We are helping people out who wouldn\u2019t get help otherwise\u2026 and we really have cold winters\u2026 and we\u2019ve already gotten applications for it. November 5 was the first day of LIHEAP, which is the day we start our program, and already we\u2019ve gotten applications for it. When the $20,000 is gone, it\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n

Those are just two examples of going beyond just raising money for other agencies. We are building a coalition now of community leaders\u2026 [preparing] for emergencies, and we will address some things in that field as we get going. We are moving more towards that. Our agencies are always going to be important to us, we will always fund our agencies\u2026 maybe not to the extent they\u2019d like, but we will always have some funding available for them. But we are moving more and more towards \u201cone-time\u201d issues, or things we can take care of in one or two years, or things that aren\u2019t being addressed at all\u2026 and nobody else is going to address them.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Well, from these two examples that you just mentioned, it sounds pretty evident that poverty and homelessness are big issues in Carlisle. Are these two the biggest needs, or are there other issues\u2014<\/p>\n

CONWAY: \u2014Well, I think there are a lot of other issues. I just think that those are two really glaring issues that we have to take care of. I think there are going to be a lot of issues around seniors, as our population ages. We are going to have a boom in the seniors that are going to be requesting services. There isn\u2019t going to be money available for them. I think that the heating coalition and the heating assistance are going to become greater.<\/p>\n

Poverty is always going to be here. It\u2019s kind of a \u201ccatch-22;\u201d the more services you offer, the more people will move into this area because of the good services. We hear that a lot, and I know that it\u2019s true. A couple came in Monday morning, and they were looking for a home. They were homeless and needed some place to stay, and they had come here because they had heard that we had some places for them to stay. Our county services are here, too\u2026 we know that people from other counties, and other states even, are coming up Highway 81 and getting off here\u2026 but what are you going to do? You still have to provide the service. You can\u2019t say, \u201cOnly people that have been residents for five years and are homeless are going to be helped (laughs), and if you\u2019ve been here for less than five years and you\u2019re homeless you\u2019re out of luck! (laughs)<\/p>\n

You have to take care of them.<\/p>\n

NALLY: You mentioned something along the lines that poverty was always going to be here, based on the fact that there are so many social service agencies that are providing help for those in need. In your opinion, how will that impede development of Carlisle? Will Carlisle always be stuck with a poverty problem, or do you see a solution?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: I see us moving-I think that that is general, [seen] across the country- although Carlisle is protected a little bit because we have low unemployment. So that\u2019s a good thing. I don\u2019t think we are going to have an overwhelming amount of poverty, but I see it developing more into the \u201chave\u201d and the \u201chave-nots.\u201d There is really becoming less of a middle class, more of a lower class, and an upper class. I see that continuing in Carlisle, as elsewhere\u2026 it is going to continue.<\/p>\n

I wouldn\u2019t want to say that all of our focus is on the lower class, certainly the majority of it is\u2026 and those people that are struggling to make it, often through no fault of their own, or they can\u2019t help themselves\u2026 the mentally retarded, and the physically retarded\u2026 there is nothing they can do about their situation. They can\u2019t change that, so we are going to do what we can to help them\u2026 make their lives a little bit easier.<\/p>\n

NALLY: United Way is a national organization. How would you describe the differences between this national organization and the other social service organizations here that are local? Are there differences in how they are run, or in who is providing more services to the community?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: That\u2019s a good question. I think \u2013and it\u2019s just a perception I have- overall, national organizations, whether it be us, or the Boy Scouts, or the Girl Scouts, or whatever national organization\u2026 they obviously have more behind them and more experience, more resources to apply to a problem than a local organization does. With that said, many of the local organizations which we have do an excellent job with what they have. Hope Station, that\u2019s not a part of a national organization\u2026 they do a great job with what they have, but they are always struggling for money. They know that they are under a ten-year contract for their money, and then it\u2019s going to run out\u2026 how are they going to continue themselves?<\/p>\n

The individual projects that the local organizations get involved with are always hurt by the fact that they don\u2019t have the great funds behind them that a national organization may have. An exception to that is Project Share. Project Share is a local organization. On the other hand, they do tap into some national food banks and so forth… But for the most part, those that are national in scope have better training, better staffing, better ground to run on than those [organizations] that are just starting out, or are strictly local.<\/p>\n

NALLY: In your opinion, is the United Way necessary in Carlisle more so because it is doing more than, perhaps, the local organizations? Or do you think you are here to help those local organizations?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: I think both. I think we are definitely needed because all of the organizations\u2014there are 27 local organizations\u2014rely on us for funding. They truly rely on us, not just for bonus money. For some of them we are a quarter, or a half of their budget. They are very dependent upon us as a fundraiser. We have that responsibility and also, the looking around, and being aware of what is going on in the community, we often act as a resource for other organizations. In other words, one of our member agencies may come to us and say, \u201c Oh, I\u2019d like to start up with this particular service\u2026\u201d but they don\u2019t know who to contact and need to get so-and-so involved, \u201cWould you [United Way] act as a broker to get this to happen?\u201d So, we sit at a lot of tables and we facilitate a lot of groups where we just get people together, and don\u2019t do anything more than that.<\/p>\n

On the Last Friday of this month, we have a group that has been meeting for five years now, it meets every other month, and in fact we are probably going to go towards [having] monthly meetings\u2026 It is all of the service providers in the immediate area, including the county administers, school districts, state offices, non-profits\u2014a wide variety of folks\u2014we bring them into our board room and just sit for two hours, and they talk about the problems they are having with a particular client, or a new service they are providing. It is the best way they can communicate with each other, and we build great relationships between those groups that never would have sat down and talked to each other! We used to be so concerned about protecting their turf and, \u201cOh gosh, what happens if so-and so starts… we\u2019re going to go out of business\u2026\u201d They don\u2019t see it that way now. They see it as, \u201cthat\u2019s great, they are providing a service, let\u2019s work together and we can build a good thing\u2026\u201d We feel there is definitely a role for the United Way.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Fundraising keeps coming up\u2026 is that hard to do in a small community like Carlisle? What are some of the factors that go into deciding how to get funding?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: I don\u2019t think fundraising is hard. We have a very generous community. We have a wealthy community; more so than a lot of our neighbors, because we have a lot of retirees, we have a very low unemployment rate\u2026 it really comes down to a matter of skill, than a matter of getting the money. Some organizations just don\u2019t know how to raise money. It\u2019s not that they can\u2019t raise money, they just don\u2019t know how to go about it. I find that raising money in Carlisle to be very\u2014I don\u2019t want to say it is easy\u2014but it\u2019s not hard. You can do it.<\/p>\n

NALLY: What are some of these fundraising activities currently going on?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: You name it.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Everything? (laughs)<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Everything\u2026 every kind of event you can think of\u2026 \u201ca-thons,\u201d special events such as galas, and balls, parties of some sort or another\u2026 We do\u2014I\u2019m saying \u201cwe\u201d as a collective we\u2014a lot of letter-writing campaigning to different people, an annual request\u2026 I think those are the three biggest. And of course, the United Way does the \u201cworkplace giving,\u201d which is unique to us. We go into companies and ask their employees to give, and no one else has tried to do that. No one else is set up to do that.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think that fundraising is holding people back. Either agencies are lazy and don\u2019t want to do any fundraising, or they don\u2019t know how to do fundraising.<\/p>\n

NALLY: I don\u2019t know\u2026 Fundraising could be hard because people want to know what their money is going into\u2026 and they would like to see results.<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Yes. Yes, it depends on what kind of fundraising you do. If you do a special event, it really doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re asking for ten dollars for the Heart Association or Safe Harbor, ten dollars out of everybody\u2019s pocket is not hard to get. If you\u2019re asking for a thousand dollars, you know, you want a contribution of a thousand dollars, and then you have to have a valid organization. You have to explain exactly what you said: where the money is going, and they want to see some results. Small donations, I think you can get those anywhere, you can sell anything\u2026 it is just a matter of \u201cWho\u2019s asking who.\u201d It\u2019s the person that is doing the asking\u2026 when you get into the larger gifts you have more responsibility.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Do you see these results? Is the United Way a positive asset of the community?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Would I say? Yes.<\/p>\n

I think every organization, including the United Way, has its people who don\u2019t understand, or they disagree, with what we do. An example of that is how we support the Boy Scouts. And Dickinson College is a fine example. We have professors at Dickinson College and the School of Law who don\u2019t believe we should support the Boy Scouts because they don\u2019t allow openly gay members within their organization. So if you\u2019re an openly gay boy and you join the boy scouts, and you announce that you are openly gay, you will not be allowed to be a boy scout. That gets into discrimination\u2026 We have chosen to support them because the Supreme Court supports them. The Supreme Court has said they are a private membership organization, they can determine who their members are. Period. And we support the Supreme Court. We\u2019re not going to set rules that go against the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling. If the Supreme Court were to say \u201cThat\u2019s discrimination,\u201d we\u2019d be the first group to drop them.<\/p>\n

Because we do support the Boy Scouts, that causes problems for some members\u2026 like \u201cThe United Way is supporting a group not allowing gays, therefore, I am not going to support the United Way.\u201d They don\u2019t look at the better good that we do.<\/p>\n

NALLY: That\u2019s horrible.<\/p>\n

CONWAY: It is. And if they want to not give their money to the Boy Scouts, they can choose to do that\u2026 we\u2019ll give it to the other twenty-six agencies. But they want to send us a message that, \u201cI\u2019m not going to support you because of that\u2026\u201d and we just have to live with that.<\/p>\n

Overall, I would say that the community strongly feels good support about the United Way and feels that we are doing a right thing. It\u2019s a very small minority that feels that way. And I respect their feelings. I have my personal feelings about that \u2026 I used to work for the Boy Scouts, so I have very strong feelings about that. I believe that they\u2019re wrong, that they ought to allow openly gay students. Just because a boy is gay doesn\u2019t mean he isn\u2019t going to be a good Boy Scout!<\/p>\n

NALLY: Yes\u2026 that gets into so many other issues\u2026<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Whole other issues\u2026 exactly. But I\u2019m not going to win that fight, and I think that scouting does a lot for the kids it does allow into its organization. So, as an organization [United Way] we support it. As an individual I can oppose that. Just the way my life is (laughs)<\/p>\n

NALLY: Well, there are twenty seven non-profit organizations here in Carlisle, how do you describe your relationship with those other organizations?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I mean, they depend on you financially, but do you get a lot of referrals for projects, potential clients\u2026 potential fundraiser\u2026 givers?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: (laughs)<\/p>\n

NALLY: I didn\u2019t know how to word it!<\/p>\n

CONWAY: (laughs) Well, with every relationship there is a \u201clove-hate\u201d relationship. We have a little bit of that. Overall, I would say we have a strong relationship with our agencies. They are going through the process of appealing for funds right now, where they have to come in and visit with us\u2026 when that is done, some will be very disappointed that they didn\u2019t get as much as they wanted, and there will be others that will be overjoyed because they will have gotten what they wanted. It\u2019s always a \u201ccat-mouse\u201d game. Overall, I would say we have very good relationships with our agencies.<\/p>\n

If they weren\u2019t good relationships, we would get rid of them\u2026 and we have over the past\u2026 First of all, we\u2019d try to work it out, but if that didn\u2019t work, we\u2019d have to part.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Well, now I\u2019d like to move forward and talk a little bit about downtown Carlisle. Do you see any problems with the downtown Carlisle area in terms of development?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Sure. We\u2019ve got too many open store fronts. I had being sitting on the DCA committees that are looking at the DCD. I\u2019m not convinced that a DCD tax will result in the results they want. I\u2019m unable, at this point, to make up my mind about that\u2026I guess I\u2019m going to have to before I vote. I had been looked to by that group that\u2019s looking at the DCD, as a representative of the non-profits; and trying to convince the non-profits to voluntarily pay the tax because a number of non-profits are going to fall in the taxing district. They would like us all to voluntarily pay some sort of a tax\u2026 I don\u2019t know whether I can support that or not.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Wouldn\u2019t that money be going into the programs that would be helping the community\u2026<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Yes. Yes. It is a conflict.<\/p>\n

I think that we are on the right track. I won\u2019t tell you anything new. The problems I see are traffic\u2026 the truck traffic has become more of a nuisance; the people who run red lights are really becoming annoying to me and scary, for that matter; people who don\u2019t stop at the crosswalks to let people cross both at the campus and in the downtown.<\/p>\n

But I see some progress. I see some stores opening up both on Hanover and High [streets] that are good fits for the community. I\u2019m not sure that I agree with the Downtown Carlisle Association that North Hanover Street should be an arts district, and that West High Street, should be strictly retail. I\u2019m really not sure about the arts district.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Really? Why is that?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Well, I just don\u2019t think that we can support it. It\u2019s a nice idea, but I don\u2019t know if we can support it. I\u2019m not sure what I want there\u2026 haven\u2019t thought about it\u2026 and I\u2019m not really sure that I would shop downtown\u2026 The mix of stores and the things that they have are not of interest to me. I eat downtown, but so far, I haven\u2019t found anything downtown that interests me. That\u2019s just me personally.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Do you think that bringing in bigger chain stores would make you and other members of the community happier and more likely to come to the downtown area? I\u2019m sure that if people had interest in the downtown area, that would spark some development, and you would see some progress.<\/p>\n

CONWAY: No, I don\u2019t see chains only because I don\u2019t think we have the buildings to support them. I don\u2019t think we have large enough buildings anymore, left downtown that are unoccupied.That\u2019s just me\u2026. I\u2019m just not a shopper. I don\u2019t care. If you talk to Kate, or to Holly [other staff] they may want boutiques\u2026 but I just don\u2019t care for those things. If I\u2019m going to go someplace I\u2019ll go to Target and pick up some \u2013<\/p>\n

NALLY: Target! Really?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Well, I live right out there.<\/p>\n

NALLY: (laughs)<\/p>\n

CONWAY: I shop for convenience. That doesn\u2019t mean that something is going to move in that I\u2019m going to really like.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Maybe people are relying on convenience too much\u2026 you can shop via Internet and it will get delivered to your door instead of physically going out and work a little bit to get what you want.<\/p>\n

CONWAY: That\u2019s right. I think that we\u2019re at a tough spot right now where there aren\u2019t enough stores to draw people to it, and then if we get enough stores, there might be people willing to go through those stores one on one\u2026 but a lot of storekeepers are going to have to have faith that it is a worthwhile investment. Bringing in one or two [stores] isn\u2019t going to cut it and they aren\u2019t going to survive. They\u2019re going to have to build the whole thing fairly rapidly, so there is enough business that people start to come downtown.<\/p>\n

NALLY: You mentioned Target\u2026 and there is also the Wal-mart here. Do you think these big-box retailers are drawing business out of the downtown?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Oh, I am sure of it. But I think that the plan of the DCA is that those big-box retailers draw one kind of customer, and that they are really looking for boutiques and small shops where the Targets and the Walmarts are not going to sell the same kind of merchandise\u2026. Small craft items, homemade items, unique items\u2026 the kinds of things a certain population will shop for.<\/p>\n

There will always be the people that just go to Wal-mart. Period. I know those people, and some people will always go to Target\u2026 because they will always go to Target. And then there\u2019s a third group that will shop in the boutiques because they can.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Earlier on in this conversation you mentioned the growing distinction between two classes. There is the wealthier upper-class and a growing lower class. With this current trend of bringing in unique boutiques that will appeal to a certain part of the population, won\u2019t that make the poverty problem and differences between the social classes more severe?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: I don\u2019t think so. I don\u2019t mean to generalize but\u2026 generally speaking, Wal-mart folks are not going to go to boutique shops. And boutique shop folks are probably going to go into Wal-mart really quickly, get what they need, and then leave. They are two different kinds of people, two different classes of people. If anything now, we\u2019ve got the lower class covered real well in terms of shopping. What we don\u2019t have are the boutiques\u2026 the upper class is going over to the West Shore and over to Harrisburg to do all their shopping and I\u2019m hoping things will turn around and that the money will stay here in Carlisle.<\/p>\n

NALLY: That\u2019s very interesting, that instead of catering to the large lower class, you have cater to the upper class to keep the money in the community.<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Absolutely. And I think that Pat Craig and the stores on Pomfret Street have shown that you can build a certain synergy around an idea and around a class of stores, where people will go and just shop the block. People will go into each store. While they may not have started to go out to a yarn store, you know, that might not be their thing\u2026<\/p>\n

NALLY: (laughs)<\/p>\n

CONWAY: \u2026 They\u2019re going to stop in there and they might buy some yarn because of it. There is a nice synergy that exists on that street. I can see that same thing happening on Hanover Street and on High Street.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Well now\u2026 is there anything else that you would like to add, either about downtown\u2019s development or regarding the United Way?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: (takes a deep breath) No. (laughs)<\/p>\n

NALLY: (laughs)Hopes, dreams, aspirations for the future?<\/p>\n

CONWAY: For the United Way, or the town? Well, I\u2019ll give them for both of them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For the United Way I hope we can continue on the path that we\u2019ve chosen and that we don\u2019t go back to being just a fundraiser\u2026. That we find more and more things that we can help with and build coalitions around. That\u2019s my hope, that the United Way will be looked upon by community members as the organization that solves problems in the community. And it uses its partners to solve those problems. We don\u2019t necessarily do it ourselves, but we are the leaders for problem solving.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And for Carlisle, I hope that the Carlisle Revitalization would help. I think it will come, I really do. There are so many people working on it and the College has been wonderful in their support of it. That could just be the College\u2026 and Bill Durden could say, \u201cI\u2019m only concerned about these four blocks\u2026 and that\u2019s it, I don\u2019t care about downtown,\u201d but he has taken just the opposite attitude. It\u2019s really a blessing for us. If we don\u2019t take advantage of how willing Dickinson is to get involved in the downtown, shame on us. I think there is going to be something happening in the next ten years, and it\u2019s going to be pretty remarkable. It will be a neat place.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Well, Mr. Conway, thank you so much for having me here.<\/p>\n

CONWAY: Thank you. It was a good discussion.<\/p>\n

NALLY: Yes, we covered a lot of ground!<\/p>\n

CONWAY: I hope I came through on your recorder!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction\u00a0\u00a0 History of Welfare Systems\u00a0\u00a0 History of Non-Profit Organizations\u00a0\u00a0 Poverty and Non-Profits\u00a0\u00a0 Funding Challenges of Non-Profits\u00a0\u00a0 The “Bigger Picture”\u00a0\u00a0 Interview with Dale Cross-Employment Skills Center\u00a0   Interview with Jeff Conway, Executive Director of Carlisle United Way November 8, 2007 Conducted … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":126,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-177","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/carlislehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/carlislehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/carlislehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/carlislehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/126"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/carlislehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/carlislehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/carlislehistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}