United way advances the common good by creating opportunities for all. Our focus is on Education, Income and Health --- the building block for a good quality of life.
After a series of community conversations to determine the aspirations and barriers in our community, community volunteers, like you and me, developed United Way of the Lakeshore's 2025 goals so that our work could align with our community's most pressing issues and priorities. And as a result, our funding investment process changed and we added specific grants to address ALICE --- Assest Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. Now we have an open and competitive application of intent followed by a request for proposal (RFP) process. This enables all current funded agencies and potential new organizations the opportunity to submit an application to be considered for funding. Following the submission of these RFP's, all applications will be reviewed by our volunteers and go through a rigorous interview process.
Volunteer here to help review applications and make investments.
The United Way of the Lakeshore's Board of Trustees act on the recommendations of the volunteers on our Community Impact Strategy Team (CIST). Recommendation are forwarded to our board based on an organization's ability to help us achieve the results we seek in our 2025 goals for ALICE and their ability to deliver results.
Click here to view 8 ALICE grants that were awarded for 2017-18.
United Way of the Lakeshore is a community impact organization. In order to create lasting solutions for social issues on a large scale, individuals and organizations must align efforts and work collaboratively towards clearly defined goals. United Way of the Lakeshore's community impact approach is unique because we not only address people's immediate needs, but also work towards changing systems so that people can avoid challenges altogether. It is about investing in the present as well as the future. It is about investing in the foundation as well as the futre.
Our mission of "uniting to inspire change and build thriving communities" is currently accomplished through three community impact strategies: Community Investment, Community Impact Initiatives and Programs, and Community Engagement.
Click here for an information sheet about United Way's Community Impact in the areas of investment, initiatives, and engagement.
It is our responsibilty to our community and donors to maximize our community impact. To do this, we have decided to focus our efforts on ALICE in order to make the greatest impact. United Way will remain committed to the building blocks for a good quality of life --- education, income and health --- and employ specific strategies in each of these areas to address the overall issue. United Way will also continue to rely on and grow powerful partnerships to fill critical service gaps in the community.
Click here to download the Community Investment and Review Volunteer Application and Description.
Click here to download the Agenda For Change Form.
