A letter from the new United Way President/CEO
This crisis has accelerated my understanding of United Way’s impact on this community. We stand at the center of relief efforts and our work has been crucial to the safety net sustaining so many people in our region.
Consider what has happened in the past three weeks:
- Within 24 hours of meeting to discuss how United Way would respond, we had reassessed 2020 work plans and repurposed $500,000 of community investment resources to support COVID-19 Response.
- We helped establish an emergency relief fund and then raised $5 million in two weeks!
- We pushed out nearly $1 million to ensure organizations had cash in hand for emergency operations. Agencies such as Bethany House were able to house single mothers and their children, while Brighton Center passed out food and resource kits.
- Rather than expect organizations to submit applications for COVID relief, we called key partners to understand needs and proactively sent grant funding. Acknowledging needs beyond our key partners, we reached out to other community-based and faith-based organizations throughout the region. In all, we helped more than 70 diverse organizations.
- We formed a partnership with Hamilton County Job and Family Services to distribute gift cards to those hit hardest by the economic implications of COVID-19.
- We joined a pilot project to proactively call seniors who live alone to determine food and social service needs.
- We convened child care workers to assess needs and helped connect home-based providers with tax assistance to connect them to federal relief funds.
- We pulled together nearly 300 social sector leaders on a communication platform to share resources.
- We forged a new partnership with Pro Bono Center to provide high-level advice to our non-profit partners.
A lot? Yes, but not half of what actually happened. We did so much, so fast, it cannot be accounted for in this email. If you would like to read stories of our tremendous community impact, please visit our website to see the faces behind the pandemic and learn how UWGC helped.
Our work is not done. We will continue to respond. We will aid in the recovery. We will spur revitalization. Please join us in these efforts.
Sincerely,
Moira Weir, President/CEO
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