You’ve heard of us. Now understand what we do.

For more than 100 years, Metro United Way has been in our community supporting individuals and families through pass-through investments in other nonprofit organizations. Today, Metro United Way unites and empowers communities by investing in issues and solutions to ensure positive, sustainable change. We use data-driven insights to identify our community’s greatest needs and address systemic challenges with a focus on advancing equity and sharing opportunities for all so that our entire community succeeds.

OUR PRIORITIES

 

There’s nothing more important than ensuring our community’s children have what they need to thrive.

 

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When we have strong households we are creating pathways out of poverty to prosperity which is a win for us all.

 

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We envision the Greater Louisville region as a place where zip code doesn’t determine destiny and everyone has the opportunity to live up to their full potential.

This work is being done through NEW, innovative initiatives such as

  •

    YALift!

    YALift! is a guaranteed income pilot program to empower young adults to forge their own path toward financial security.

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  • FundBLACKFounders

    In response to the lack of capital and resources, FundBLACKFounders was founded and helps Black entrepreneurs raise capital by offering support and training to grow their businesses, providing access to crowdfunding platform and matching grants to what is raised.

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  • United Neighborhoods

    Our neighborhood model prioritizes resident-driven priorities, strategies and solutions for investment, and understands that sustained neighborhood change requires listening to residents, authentic relationship-building, significant investment, and a long-term commitment.

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  • Young Men United

    Launching soon, Young Men United will be designed to create barrier-free pathways for young Black men to reach their academic and career goals by bringing wrap-around supports to youth in our community to and through college graduation.

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  • Black L.O.V.E.

    Black L.O.V.E. (Live. Own. Vote. Excel.) Philanthropic Partnership utilizes strategic guidance and leadership of Black leaders and philanthropic partners. The partnership structure provides a collaborative opportunity to pool philanthropic resources and collective thought leadership.

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Along with existing programs and initiatives like

We serve Jefferson, Bullitt, Oldham, and Shelby counties in Kentucky and Clark, Floyd, and Harrison counties in Indiana.

Why this work is important to our community’s success

  • Louisville ranks 5th in the nation for concentrated poverty

  • Kentucky is the 7th poorest state in the country; Indiana has the 20th highest poverty rate

  • There is a 12-year life expectancy gap between East and West Louisville

  • Homelessness has increased by 41% from 2018 to 2021 in Louisville

  • 1 in 5 families in MUW’s 7-county region struggle to make ends meet

  • Kentucky ranks 40th in the country in child wellbeing; Indiana ranks 24th

  • 22% of Kentucky children and 16% of Indiana children live in poverty

  • In 2019, the poverty rate for African Americans in Louisville was around 26%, compared to approximately 10% for white residents

  • When compared to peer cities, Louisville’s nonprofit organizations receive less support from several key sources.

    Source: 2023 Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNPE) “State of Nonprofit Sector” report

  • High-income households give less and our local government is spending less to address challenges than local governments in other cities.

    Source: 2023 Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNPE) “State of Nonprofit Sector” report

  • If those who make more than $200,000/year raised their annual giving by simply 1% of their total income – that would put Louisville on par with our peer cities for individual giving – and bring in an additional $80 million a year.

    Source: 2023 Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNPE) “State of Nonprofit Sector” report

What We've Done Together

Our Impact

  • Today, Metro United Way financially supports more nonprofits than we ever have in our 106-year history.

  • There are 140 organizations alone in our youth success network that we provide grassroots capacity building, mental health support, improved digital access, tutoring hours, and training and professional development.

  • Because 80% of brain growth happens by age 3 and 90% before age 5, we lead a collaboration of 100+ early care and education organizations to ensure kids enter kindergarten ready to learn. We know that if they do, they are more likely to succeed in school, work, and life.

  • Just in the first six months of this year, 85% of families we’ve served in our homelessness and school instability work have reached income stability, 89% have reached housing stability, and fewer than 1% of families have had to make an unplanned move during the school year.

  • There is continued positive bipartisan engagement and support for our public policy agenda at the local, state, and federal levels—a testament to how we truly unite our community.

  • Almost 42,000 people contacted our 2-1-1 helpline last year to seek emergency assistance and referral for housing, transportation, food, child care, clothing, and other needs.

  • Our United Community platform connects more than 500 social service, government, and health care providers to deliver integrated, holistic care through a shared technology platform. It has served more than 17,000 individuals and made more than 32,000 referrals.

  • More than 10,000 people have attended our Racial Wealth Gap Simulation or Beyond Buzzwords speaker series on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

 

View our Impact Tracker to learn more

 

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