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 Focus

                

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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  • 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

Together, we fight to improve the disparities that persist in education, economic mobility, and health in 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

Sources: Greater Louisville Project, Brookings Institute

  • Louisville ranks 5th in the nation for concentrated poverty.

    – Out of 1,600 census tracks across our 17 peer cities, 2 of the 10 highest rates of poverty are census tracts in west Louisville.​

    – Eviction rate is twice the national average.

  • Peer cities are excelling past us.

    – In health outcomes, we rank 16th out of 17 cities combining several measures of length and quality of life.​

    – We rank 11th out of 17 cities in education among the working-age population. ​

    – We’ve dropped from 5th in 2005 to 8th in 2018 in median earnings adjusted for inflation.

  • Greater Louisville region lags peers in inclusivity.

    – Gaps between whites and people of color, and between advantaged and disadvantaged neighborhoods, have remained wide. ​

    – Louisville ranks 46th out of 53 large cities in geographic inclusion and 30th for racial inclusion.

  • The pandemic has only exacerbated need.

    – There were 17,000 disconnected youth (homeless, foster care, criminal justice system, or not employed or in school) in our community in December 2019. That number is well over 32,000 today.

    – 12,000 single-parent female heads of households with children were at immediate risk of homelessness pre-COVID.

    – Nearly 50% of students entering JCPS were are already behind before the pandemic and are at risk of falling further behind in a virtual environment, exacerbated by our community’s digital divide.

What We've Done Together

This past year

  • More than 250,000 people were impacted by MUW-supported programs for the health and basic needs of individuals and families in our seven-county region.

  • To date, 25,000 developmental screenings have empowered families to help their children reach their full potential.

  • We launched our Black L.O.V.E Philanthropic Partnership (BLPP) that empowers and invests in Black-led social change organizations. 19 nonprofits were included in our first round of investments.

  • 3,000 attended Beyond Buzzwords speaker series on diversity, equity and inclusion

  • Over 4,000 people participated in Racial Wealth Gap simulations

  • 93% of parents agreed that Metro United Way's Ages & Stages developmental screening and the tools received were helpful

  • Public Policy Wins

    See Wins

  • 41,953 people contacted MUW's 211 call center for emergency assistance and referral

  • 5,299 households avoided foreclosure, eviction or homelessness through rent and mortgage assistance

  • Children of families that complete four or more Ages & Stages screenings are more likely to show up ready on the first day of kindergarten.

  • 8,340 people were sheltered by emergency and transitional housing services through MUW-supported programs

  • 2,057 individuals in homeless prevention programs; 77% made progress toward financial sufficiency

  • 6,821 people sought free tax assistance and MUW-supported programs helped return $10.9 million in refunds to them

  • 417 people sought skills development and training; 77% attained gainful employment

  • 138,312 people were helped with immediate needs through MUW-supported programs

 

View our Impact Tracker for more details

 

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