Living United

In downtown Sunbury, there stands a very important building. From the outside, this building looks like an ordinary business building with a dental clinic on the bottom floor. After a short ascent of dark green stairs and a quick walk through a bright white door, there waits a black sign that reads "Welcome to GSV United Way.... Hours 830-430" in snow, white lettering. For some, this represents just an ordinary sign. For others, this acts as a signal of hope and a marker of a safe haven. A safe haven for people that need some type of help. Whether it be "where am I going to live for the next week?" or "how am I going to eat today?", the Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way strives to help find answers to these types of questions that people may have. After a ring of a tiny silver bell, a customer will be greeted by a woman with dark brown hair and a friendly looking smile. This woman, named Joanne Troutman, acts as the current CEO of the Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way.


Joanne Troutman has been working in fundraising and nonprofit organizations for around 15 years now. A graduate from Susquehanna University, Joanne has her Bachelor's Degree in journalism and currently pursues a Master's degree in Management and Leadership. She has worked for 9 years in alumni and development at Susquehanna University and then spent 6 years as Director of Development for both Evangelical Community Hospital and Camp Victory. A woman in her late 30s and who stands at an average height, Joanne considers herself a very hard worker. She devotes a lot of time into the United Way in order to do her job to the best of her ability. "I almost kind of fell into this job," Joanne comments.

In a tan office, littered with bright blue objective posters and grey bulletin boards, there sits a lone brown desk with a dark grey chair. Joanne sits on this chair working diligently on her black Dell laptop. A sudden ring fills the void of silence as Joanne answers her office phone. "Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way, how may I help you?" Joanne asks. After some short conversation, she hangs up the phone with a quick and excited "let me see what I can do!". She then proceeds to shuffle through her tall, midnight black filing cabinet in the corner of her office.

"Everyday is different. I go to meetings and do various types of administrative stuff. I meet with the local community or sometimes, what we do, is go to campaign kick offs," Joanne adds. The United Way maintains six main priorities that direct their everyday operations. These priorities include behavioral health and addiction, poverty, diversity and inclusion, teens, early childhood education, and transportation. Each year, they become gifted with $400,000 to start with to fund grants that address specific issues. Joanne finds herself in charge of bringing money in or out in order to try and raise enough funds to help fund nonprofit organizations or additionally to help people in the community that need immediate assistance with any of the six priorities. She also commits to help people on a daily basis.

When people visit the United Way, Joanne starts by figuring out their basic information. She pulls out a white sheet of paper from a black trey and starts to write down people's name and the issue that they find themselves experiencing. After the issue reveals itself, the customers sit on the black waiting room chairs as Joanne retreats from the welcome counter into her vibrant office across the hallway. In this instance, the people looking for help find themselves in search of a place to live that they can afford. In her office, Joanne makes calls around the local area to try and find a landlord for the customer. Her face lights up with a sense of accomplishment because she found a place. After she grabs a gel point pen with black ink, she records the landlords information on a paper for the customers. She gets up and walks back across the hallway towards the beige welcome desk. After conversing with the customers, Joanne retreats back to her office.

Some people in this world do not have it as easy as others. It becomes a hardship for some people to even be able to live or do simple things such as eating dinner or sleeping in their own beds."The best part about my job is finding the easiest and simple solution to the problem," Joanne reveals, "That's what it's all about. I love helping people and being able to do that with my team to all come together is great. It truly is great to try and get everyone to live united."