Community Investment

Our Impact!

United Way of Saginaw County leads Saginaw County and our community partners through initiatives targeting critical needs among the most vulnerable in our community!

Ways We Invest In Our Community

  • Community Impact Grants

    • United Way's Community Impact Funding Change Team is made of up of community members, community leaders, board members, non-profit staff, religious leaders and volunteers.  Every two years they read, review, and score grant submissions from non-profit agencies in the community that align with our impact model and mission.  Through this work funding is allocated to support community programs and services offered through affiliate agency partners in Saginaw County.

    • Community Change Teams

      Our community change teams (CCT) comprised of 14 community members and leaders.  Representation of the CCT was broad and provided a cross-section of the population diversity served.  

      Scoring Criteria

      Scoring was aligned, as previously indicated, with the focus of Lifting ALICE and below in our community.  The criteria were based on the strategies provided in the community assessment performed by PYXERA, identifying our single focus of impacting Financial Instability and funding programs that address the identified root causes of Financial Instability.  The CCT committee approved the scoring rubric before implementation. 

      Scoring was weighed in specific areas to ensure that we were addressing funding equitably and serving the community where the highest needs were identified. 

      • Program Alignment (to United Way of Saginaw’s focus)
      • Population Served (to align with our focus work on ALICE and below)
      • Program Outcomes Plan (to align with our strategy, addressing root causes of financial instability as well as program sustainability)
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – per the new UWW requirements to provide a focus on underserved, at-risk populations, and advance equity within our community

 

  • Applying nonprofit agencies must meet standard criteria such as
    • File 990 annually
    • Have a financial review or an audit annually
    • Have a solicitation license as is required by the Attorney Generals office for any monetary solicitation in the State of Michigan
    • Have a regularly meeting Board of Directors
    • Be recognized as a 501(c)3 by the Federal Government 

      • What is our Focus, and Why?

        In Saginaw County, nearly 50% of residents struggle to meet their most basic needs. In the urban and rural areas of Saginaw County over 64% of our community members live at or below ALICE and over 50% of our children reside in households that have to make choices about paying for bills or buying groceries.

        Our focus is on lifting ALICE (Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed).  We lift Saginaw County residents by funding programs that address solutions to the root causes of financial instability.  These root causes are comprised of the following elements. 

        • Obstacles to Reliable Transportation
        • Obstacles to Limited affordable childcare
        • Addressing Trauma
        • Addressing Mental Health and Wellness
        • High Barriers to Reliable Employment
        • Poor Employment Attendance
        • Addressing Food Insecurity
        • Mismatch Between Skilled Jobs and Requirements
        • Prison Records
        • Soft Skill Development
        • Job Training
        • Literacy
        • Increased Success in Education and Trades
        • Financial Capacity and Financial Education

        • Through our evaluative Pyxera study listening sessions these root causes were identified as contributors to financial instability.

          Goal:

          Our goal is to lift Saginaw County residents who live at or below ALICE. We lift those living at or below ALICE by funding programs that address solutions to the root causes of financial instability. The Board of Directors voted in 2019 to support this single focus. 

        • Programs that have received notice of funding for 2023/2024 are:
        • PartnerShift Network
          • Community Workforce Success Initiative
          • Project Transportation
        • Child Abuse and Neglect Council Great Lakes Bay Region
          • Make Parenting A Pleasure
        • Child and Family Service of Saginaw County
          • Sexual Assault Center
        • First Ward Community Service
          • Lacer
        • Habitat for Humanity International Inc (Saginaw-Shiawassee)
          • Critical Home Repair Program
        • Hidden Harvest
          • Food Rescue and Hunger Relief
        • Houghton Jones Neighborhood Task Force Inc
          • All Around the Neighborhood
        • READ Association of Saginaw County
          • READ Mentor Program
          • Raising Readers Academy
          • Family Literacy Center
        • Saginaw County Youth Protection Council
          • Teen Parent Services
          • Innerlink for Runaway and Homeless Youth
        • YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region
          • Women’s Economic Empowerment Program

 

  • Multi-Year Grants

    • United Way of Saginaw invests in several multi-year grants to support Saginaw County.
      • Dolly Parton Imagination Library.  Children from birth to age 5 can register to receive monthly books provided for through our investment.  Current annual investment into Saginaw County children $50,000
      • VITA.  Volunteer Income Tax Assistance.  United Way of Saginaw County has been supporting FREE tax preparation through out network of volunteers for over 15 years.  This program is supported to the community by a grant awarded to United Way of Saginaw County from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and is made possible by a grant match provided directly from United Way of Saginaw County.  Over $2 million dollars is returned to our community residents earning less that $57,000 annually.  This work supports increasing financial capacity for our community members and having a significant impact on our local economy. 
      • Project Independence.  Annually, our partners in Labor proudly provide construction, materials and direction in collaboration with local business and volunteer networks to forever impact mobility and access to community for those that are homebound.  
      • Catchafire.  Capacity Building.  United Way of Saginaw County in partnership with other local and regional funders in the Great Lakes Bay Region, provided support to 200 non-profit partners and school districts.  Nine funders from the Great Lakes Bay Region including:  Saginaw (United Way of Saginaw and Saginaw Community Foundation), Bay (United Way of Bay County and Bay Area Community Foundation), Midland (United Way of Midland County and Midland Area Community Foundation), Mt. Pleasant (United Way of Gratiot Isabella Counties and Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation) and GreenLeaf Trust.  With the collaboration we were able to provide operational support to more than 200 nonprofit organizations in the Great Lakes Bay Region.  Through this partnership, invited nonprofits will have access to experts from across the country who volunteer their services to support operations with capacity building together.  This support will empower our nonprofit community to pivot within today's workplace and environment to assure they are meeting the expectations and needs of the communities they serve. 
        • About Catchafire:  Catchafire was founded in 2010 with the goal of driving positive world change through the giving of time and talent, for the benefit of the nonprofit community we serve.

          We are a community of individuals seeking to support and strengthen the social good sector. We do this by facilitating connections between professionals who want to donate their time and talent through virtual volunteering with nonprofits who need their skills.

          Our vision is to create a more empathetic, inclusive and loving world.

  • Donor Designated Gifts
    • United Way serves as a vehicle for charitable giving for those who live and work in Saginaw County.  Through donor designated gifts, United Way of Saginaw County provides an avenue for donor designated gifts to our affiliate agency partners and non-profits across the state.  As a result millions of dollars have been invested in our local communities for over 100 years.  

 

United Way Initiatives & Collaborations

  • Plates for People
  • Project Independence
  • Summer Stock-Up
  • Food Box Distributions
  • Christmas Wishlist
  • School Supply Support to Shelters