Great Rives United Way absorbing Buffalo, Trempealeau counties

Winona chapter still without home

It looks like Winona County will be left without a United Way organization after this year, unless its leaders come up with a new plan for that area.

“They’ve done wonderful things in our community and they’re certainly going to be missed,” Winona Habitat for Humanity director John Corcoran said.

The Greater Winona Area United Way plans to close because of declining revenue and increased demand. 

“In the last 10 years, the smaller United Ways have either merged with a larger united way or closed their doors,” Wolf said. 

While the two Wisconsin counties the Winona branch served – Buffalo and Trempealeau – will combine with the Great Rivers United Way, it’s still up in the air as to what happens in Winona.

“It could go to our Great Rivers United Way,” said Great Rivers director Mary Kay Wolf. “It could also go to Olmsted County – that United Way out of Rochester (Minn.).”

But, because Winona is on the other side of the Mississippi River, adding Winona isn’t likely.

“It doesn’t mean that, down the road, we might not include Winona County,” Wolf said. “But, at the moment, we are only taking on Buffalo and Trempealeau County.”

Wolf says her office had been told about the Winona situation several months ago but the announcement was just recently made.