2021-2022 Annual Report to the Community
OUR MISSION
At United Way of Coastal and Western Connecticut, our mission is to improve the lives of hard-working households that live paycheck-to-paycheck by mobilizing the resources of local communities to create lasting change. Our work focuses on a population whom we call ALICE® (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). ALICE makes more than the federal poverty limit, but not enough to afford basic necessities like housing, food, transportation, child care, healthcare, and utilities. One unexpected life event often means the difference between making ends meet and falling behind. More than 40% of households in Connecticut are ALICE or below the federal poverty limit. We are committed to ensuring that every child enters school ready to learn, every family is financially stable, and every community we serve is healthy and strong.
A Year of impact
Each year, we work to mobilize the community to create lasting change for ALICE households in our 27-town region of Greater Bridgeport, Greater Danbury, Greater New Milford, Greater Norwalk, and the City of Stamford. This year, we can proudly say that we increased access to healthy, fresh food, expanded opportunities for affordable, quality child care, and improved the financial stability of households across our footprint. We advanced our efforts to address systemic racial inequities. We invested in the development and launch of Prosperi-Key, a first-of-its-kind digital marketplace for ALICE households to access resources and savings, and received $1.2 million from the Senate Directed Funds to expand this work. We supported our community and partners through food and toy distributions, back-to-school initiatives, blood drives, service projects, and volunteer opportunities.
We delivered on our mission – to mobilize the community to create lasting change, one step at a time.
7,711 children
received more affordable child care with scholarships for early and after-school care, as well as through Cora’s Kids.
1,200 FAMILIES
increased their food security by accessing free, fresh fruits and vegetables every week through the Healthy Savings program.
800 HOUSEHOLDS
improved their financial stability by enrolling in ALICE Saves and accessing free budget coaching and matched savings.
CREATING TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE
If we learned anything this year, it’s that when we come together, our collective impact is powerful. We’re all in this together – we can’t do it alone. While it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day business of this work, the truth is, there are so many people out there whose lives are better today because of the work that we are doing. Thank you for being a part of our story and for helping to create transformative change in our community.
“United Way resides in the fabric of our community and in the transformative change we are able to make due to the generosity of our donors, partners, and volunteers. Our progress this year is remarkable and something we have deep pride in.”
Building a pathway to prosperity
When we launched the Pathways to Prosperity Campaign in 2018, we set out to raise new funds to help find innovative solutions to food security, child care, and emergency savings needs. This year, we closed out the multi-year campaign, having grown our impact due to the depth of our partnerships, the strength of our investments, and the power of our innovation. The multi-million dollar results of the Pathways to Prosperity campaign has allowed us to meet the needs of ALICE in the areas of health, education, and financial stability. This work is recognized in our community and beyond. Here are just a few examples of the impact we have been able to make due to the investment of countless individuals and companies.
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We developed and expanded the Healthy Savings Program, which provides $10 per week in fresh fruits and vegetables to spend at participating grocers.
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We expanded the ALICE Enrichment Fund, which provides $300 per year (up to $900 per family) to cover the cost of extracurricular enrichment activities like sports, music, robotics, arts, and more. We have begun digitizing this program for easy online access.
We have invested heavily in child care through Cora’s Kids, which provides licensing and professional development support to home-based child care providers. This program is available to providers in Greater Danbury and as of 2021-2022, providers located in New Milford.
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Through a subsidiary LLC, Prosperity Digital Marketplace, we built and launched Prosperi-Key, a first-of-its-kind digital marketplace that connects ALICE with services and supports to make their lives easier. Once users are income-qualified they can access services from nonprofits and businesses that are tailored specifically for them. It is the only platform to income-qualify users in this income bracket—through a friendly, confidential, and fast process. This year, United Way received a $1.2 million grant from the Senate Directed Funds to support Prosperity Digital Marketplace’s expansion of this technology statewide.
We are grateful for all gifts. Our generous donors are essential to our mission and our vision for ALICE households in our 15 communities. Recognition is offered at the full pledge amount, inclusive of matching gifts, regardless of the payment term.
Even in the midst of the challenges of this past year, there have been bright spots. We have witnessed firsthand what makes our community so special: the strength of our partners, the innovation of our team, the compassion of our volunteers, and the resilience of people across our 15-town region. Thank you for being a part of our story and for helping to create transformative change in our community. We are grateful beyond measure.
