The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
As a modern United Way, we have transformed and refined our collective impact model over the last 100 years, growing from pass-through funders to innovative change-makers implicitly focused on equity and inclusion. Even though the pandemic and hurricanes exacerbated urgent and emerging needs and shifted our efforts to a partially virtual environment, we were built for this work — uniquely positioned to understand problems, identify disparities, and improve lives through direct service, collaboration, volunteerism, and advocacy.
In times of crisis, it’s not just about providing emergency financial assistance but about ensuring households and community partners have equitable access to the full scope of supports necessary to achieve stability, and, ultimately, prosperity. When multiple disaster’s struck simultaneously, United Way SELA was already on the front lines, mobilizing to provide vital services for those in need. We’ve been doing what we've always done – tackling the underlying problems community by community.
We created our Blueprint for Prosperity over five years ago to outline our plan to move people out of poverty in our region. It utilizes a collective impact model to drive our investments in programs, collaborations, advocacy, and volunteerism to create positive outcomes at both the individual and systems level. To propel our bold vision of equitable communities forward, the Blueprint leverages existing programs and partnerships established with over 100 organizations across our service area to create personal wellness, vibrant communities, stability today, and prosperity tomorrow. Our Blueprint’s holistic approach to generating impact continues to guide us today as we lead immediate relief efforts and long-term recovery strategies designed to stabilize ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households throughout our region.