Everybody Benefits When You
Invest in Community.
We hold the responsibility to restore power and resources to Black, Indigenous, and other communities people of color. To make the opportunity for prosperity accessible for everyone, we listen to the people closest to the challenges. Our donors’ generosity helps us invest in community organizations, programs, and initiatives that know how to address our community’s most critical challenges head on.
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Access to Resources
A housing crisis, climbing rents, food prices up by 11.3%. If people were already on the edge of poverty, they are now falling right into it. At United Way, we believe in maximizing income for families, and connecting them with support so they can get on stable financial ground and work towards their dreams. When you stabilize families, it creates a healthier, happier, and safer community for us all.
20% of King County residents are seeing declining household incomes compared to the wealthiest who make 22 times that.
Quality Education
Education is a gateway out of poverty, but poverty makes school tough, especially for students of color. When you’re thinking about paying rent or utilities, buying groceries, getting to school, or an unexpected expense, the last thing you’re probably thinking about? Focusing on education. From helping children and families prepare for kindergarten and supporting young people as they finish high school through college, at United Way, we believe in the idea of supporting the whole person, not just their educational outcomes.
According to a Conversation survey, 48% of community college students said they left college due to the cost-of-living expenses.
Enough to Eat
Everyone deserves to have enough to eat, but being in poverty makes it hard to afford necessities—like food. Communities of color face disproportionate levels of poverty and food insecurity because of historic and systemic racism. Not just that, kids bear this burden too. At United Way, we believe we need to reimagine the food system to better serve all our neighbors as a community. We believe no one should go hungry.
1 in 8 Washington kids are regularly at risk of going hungry.
A Safe Place to Call Home
The homeless response system is beyond capacity and there isn’t enough housing for all our neighbors experiencing homelessness. Once they do experience it, physical, mental, and emotional traumas overwhelm them making it harder to stay on their feet once they become housed again. The best way to tackle it? Prevent people from losing their homes in the first place.
On any given night more than 13,000 people in King County experienced homelessness in 2023.