So what is United Way and what do they do?

Meet Celina - Celina was a sixth grader at Otto Middle School in Lansing. She always made an effort, went to school every day, and did all of her school work but was failing with all D’s. Her mother discussed Celina’s situation with the school counselor who put her in touch with YDC’s Mentoring Coordinator and Celina was assigned a mentor. Karen became her mentor and friend. Within a year, Celina’s grade point average jumped up a whole point. The relationship continued for three years and even though the mentor program was only for middle school students, Karen continued to mentor Celina through her freshman year in high school. This helped her adjust to high school and Celina’s grades and confidence kept rising. During the eight grade, Celina was nominated for an Olivet College Scholarship by the YDC. Celina is now attending Olivet College furthering her education. “YDC made a dream come true for me that I would have never thought was possible: attending college”, said Celina.

So United Way helps people.

Lots of organizations help people. But United Way is different. United Way doesn’t just help people who need immediate help. It helps us work together to tackle big community issues that can cause people to need help. Now or down the road.

United Way helps solve problems too.

United Way collaborates with other community organizations to take aim at the root causes of big community issues. We set goals and to find the resources it takes to reach those goals. Then we invest those resources in programs that get results. Here’s an example of a big issue in our community: Ensuring successful youth because successful, thriving, healthy youth are our future.

Meet John - After successfully operating a limousine service, owning two rental homes, and returning to college—for the hearing impaired—to complete the final year required for a bachelor’s in social work, John’s life seemingly fell to pieces. The rental market seemed to deteriorate and John suffered through the death of his parents and only daughter. After the loss of the rental homes and an ensuing divorce John found himself lost in depression with no where to turn. In addition, the two limousines John utilized as his primary source of income broke down. Although John was able to acquire SSI as a result of his depression and hearing impairment, he could not find an affordable place to live. After residing in his vehicle for nearly a year John came to The Salvation Army to acquire a food order. Upon sharing a few of the circumstances he was facing he was referred to The Salvation Army Permanent Supportive Housing Program (SA PSH). After enrolling in the SA PSH program, John was placed in a safe, affordable apartment outside the downtown area. With the stability of a safe place to call home, John immediately began to address the various barriers which had prevented him from living independently. John worked diligently with his SA PSH Case Coordinator to acquire a mental health therapist to provide counseling and medications for a nominal fee, faced a warrant for arrest as a result of parking tickets while sleeping in his vehicle, learned to maintain a budget, worked to re-establish his credit, utilized Michigan Rehabilitation Services to acquire custom hearing aids and develop a resume, and recently acquired part-time employment. John’s goal is now to return to Lansing Community College to complete the one remaining year required for his Bachelor’s Degree. After watching John’s progress throughout his time in the program, we at the Salvation Army are fully confident in his ability to do so.

Multiplying your giving.

Because of caring donors like yourself, over 120,000 people each year are helped by a United Way funded program. What’s more, United Way donors are helping to tackle community issues such as domestic violence, hunger, senior loneliness, and help people keep their jobs.

With your contributions, we...

Provided legal, health-related and socialization services to....4,046 adults & seniors
Provided mentoring for....14,469 children
Provided 1,554,392 lbs of food to hungry families
Provided counseling for....3,967 families
Provided abuse prevention programs and a safe place for....25,319 people
Provided safe, short-term shelter and basic necessities to....40,844 people
...and so much more!!
Those are real results!

United Way does whatever it takes to get results.

How you can you make sure your contributions get results like these?

Give to the United Way Community Impact Fund. It’s how you can join others to help people and tackle important community issues.

The Community Impact Fund is like a checking account for the community. Trained volunteers invest your gifts in the best local programs – so you know you’re getting the maximum impact for your contributions.

Give.
And be part of the solution.

So that’s it….
United Way helps people. By uniting people and resources to solve defined problems.
To improve the quality of life for individuals and families in our communities. In ways no other organization can.

We can only do it with your support. Please give.