COUNTYWIDE : United Way Gives Out $3.75 Million

An AIDS information and referral service and a literacy program are among 64 health and human services agencies that will receive $3.75 million next year from United Way of Ventura County, officials said.

The agencies were selected by a panel of 150 volunteers who spent nine months screening applications, said Alex Jestrab, associate executive director of United Way.

Laubach Literacy, an Oxnard-based literacy program, and AIDS Care, an information and referral service, will each receive $14,000 from United Way, he said. It was the first time that the agencies had applied for United Way funds.

Two other organizations that had previously received funding--Community Service Organization of Ventura County and Travelers Aid Assn. of America--did not seek funds this year, Jestrab said.

The 64 agencies funded this year provide a range of services, including counseling, youth development, health care, child-abuse intervention and prevention, domestic violence shelters, and drug- and alcohol-abuse programs.

The largest allocation of $361,500 went to the American Red Cross of Ventura County.

Those funds will be used to support the agency’s counseling services and will provide aid to local disaster victims, Jestrab said.

To qualify for funding, agencies must be established at least two years, have broad community support and nonprofit status, Jestrab said.

Last year, 64 agencies received $3.5 million from United Way.