Evaluation and strategic planning is a big part of our success in solving tough community problems.  United Way of King County continuously plans a set of strategies based on research, implements those plans, evaluates and adjusts them to achieve the greatest results with the best informed strategies possible.

The Community Impact Report summarizes our evaluation of community conditions and our impact relative to the goals we set.  Every fall we update our community assessment information with sources like the American Community Survey, State Education Data, State and Federal labor statistics. 

We use other data and reports compiled by our partners like Communities Count and the Center for Community Education Results. We also collect data from our grantees about the services and results they achieve with our support as well as the issues and trends they see in the community.

The Community Impact Report includes the quantitative data our grantees report on their services and the demographics of their participants. The Qualitative Outcome Report summarizes what they tell us about community trends and challenges they face in serving the community.

This year we find that poverty and hunger have finally started to drop with employment and incomes rising.  The growing economy is helping us here. Lots of people in our community are better off.  We still have plenty of work to do as homelessness continues to rise and inequality persists. King County is increasingly diverse with many cultures and perspectives contributing to our strong and vibrant community life.

Our grantees tell us how the growing diversity in languages and cultures of people seeking services poses challenges for maintaining a high level of cultural and linguistic responsiveness. Service providers across all areas mentioned the increasing cost of housing as a challenge for their clients in balancing competing financial hardships and avoiding homelessness.

In terms of results, we are on track for meeting our goals in building a community where people have homes, students graduate and families are financially stable.

Homelessness continued to increase despite our success in helping thousands of people move to permanent housing and stay housed.  We are shifting strategies to improve our results and are optimistic that we can still achieve all our goals.