United Way for Southeastern Michigan

Basic needs: one out of three families in our region struggles to afford basic needs like food, shelter and health care. United Way strategically invests in programs that help families meet these needs, and we work to make the social safety net work better for individuals, service organizations and the community. Our core programs include one-on-one social services navigation support, foreclosure and eviction prevention, utility assistance, emergency food and shelter, and child nutrition programs. Through our connect4care network, we help families navigate a complex network of assistance programs and work with local, regional and statewide partners to build systems of holistic, person-centered care.

Economic mobility: to help households reach long-term stability, we must address the root causes and barriers to financial stability and wealth-building. United Way for Southeastern Michigan works with our partners to provide financial coaching, transportation support, and free tax preparation that helps families maximize their tax credits like the earned income tax credit and child tax credit. In 2022 we launched a multi-year initiative for the detroit financial well-being innovation challenge, which aims to pilot and grow programs that will address systemic inequities through partnership, testing and community involvement. In early 2024, we completed our 100,000th ride through ride United, a transportation assistance service that provides rides and focuses on underlying barriers to transportation.

Education: we believe that learning begins at birth. At United Way, we are committed to supporting learning and literacy at every stage in a child's life. United Way's early childhood initiatives connect families with quality, affordable child care through services like our connect4care kids portal. We also provide training and support for thousands of child care providers in our region through the early childhood support network. Through our community schools initiative, we provide holistic support to students, families and communities and address barriers to learning - everything from backpacks and laptops to mental health services and basic needs. In addition, we work to improve literacy rates, encourage a lifelong love of reading, and help families build home libraries.

United Way for Southeastern Michigan funds, supports and administers several additional programs that support the overall health, well-being and equity of our community and its residents. Our 2-1-1 helpline continued to serve as a vital resource for thousands of community members looking for assistance with housing, utility assistance, food pantries and more as the pandemic continued and inflation impacted household budgets. As part of our ongoing efforts to address racial equity and other equity-focused issues, we continued to award racial equity fund grants, now totaling $3.2 million since the program's inception in 2022. We have continued hosting 21-day equity challenge events aimed at engaging and educating the community. We also mobilized thousands of volunteers and advocates to roll up their sleeves and help their communities and use their voices to push for policies that help working families. Lastly, we provide grants and pay designations to more than 120 nonprofit agencies that provide direct service to the communities of Southeastern Michigan. More than 1 million people are impacted through the investment of resources in education, income, and basic needs.