United Way job keeps Callarman 'immersed' in Salina

Community builder

By GARY DEMUTH

Salina Journal

Janet Callarman spends most of her time in the Salina community, even though she doesn't live here.

Callarman, the community impact director at Salina Area United Way, 128 N. Santa Fe, actually lives in Minneapolis but doesn't spend much time there.

"I go to the doctor and church, and I sleep there, but otherwise, I'm really immersed in the Salina community," she said.

Callarman has spent most of the past nine years community-building in Salina through the United Way. That is, she works with volunteers and collects data that examine Salina issues and needs, and she works to find solutions to community problems and challenges.

"I work with a lot of volunteers in different aspects of the community, which makes the job interesting," she said. "I get to learn a lot."

The special projects for United Way that Callarman is most proud of include a 2004 Saline County Children's Health Survey, a local health-risk behavior assessment for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and a 2007 Salina community profile that explored local quality-of-life indicators, including the economy, education, public transportation, health and homelessness.

Callarman also has managed the annual United Way allocations process, reviewing applications and making recommendations for funding grants to the United Way board.

"I do a lot of data collecting, but there's a lot of need for that kind of data in the community," she said.

Satisfying position

Although Callarman spends most of her day immersed in data, she said it's the people she meets and works with each day who make her job satisfying.

"I like the possibilities, excitement and resources people bring to solve problems in the Salina community," she said. "I find people are very open here and have a willingness to change, looking outside the old solutions to find new solutions."

Callarman said she is looking forward to two future community-based projects. The first, commencing Jan. 28, is a volunteer count of the homeless in Saline County. Saline is one of 40 counties in Kansas to be selected for the count by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.

"They base their affordable housing on these numbers," Callarman said.

The second is the 2010 U.S. Census, which Callarman said is extremely important to the community, especially if Salina manages to exceed the 50,000 population mark.

"We need to exceed 50,000 to be eligible for government entitlement money, school aid and all kinds of opportunities that would come to this community," she said. "I think there are indications that we are over (50,000)."

Another purpose of the upcoming census, Callarman said, is to reinvigorate neighborhoods in Salina.

"As part of this, we want to reinvent neighborhoods and create more neighborhood leadership, communication and gathering places," she said. "We want to see neighborhoods here thrive. It's a basic way to improve Salina."

It's all part of what Callarman called "going beyond just counting noses of the folks in this town."

That doesn't mean Callarman doesn't like the data-gathering part of her work.

"This data bring an awful lot of dollars to Salina, either through grants or state or federal programs," she said. "Other businesses look at data, but they don't necessarily look at communitywide stuff. That's what we do. We're one of those invisible pieces of the community people rely on."

nReporter Gary Demuth can be reached at 822-1405 or by e-mail at gdemuth@salina.com.

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