United We Thrive Stories
United Way of Southwest Michigan features stories of our work every month in MailMax (Coloma, St. Joseph, Benton Harbor, Stevensville, Bridgman, Berrien Springs, Berrien Center, Eau Claire, Sodus) and the Tri-City Record (Coloma, Hartford, Watervliet).
If your publication would like to syndication United We Thrive, reach out to zack.east@uwsm.org.
Back to Basics
Anna Murphy, President & CEO
Hello friends and neighbors,
On behalf of the United Way of Southwest Michigan Board and Staff I want to extend our heartfelt gratitude and thanks to each of YOU for helping United Way fulfill its purpose of having a community where everyone contributes, belongs, and thrives. To help us share the stories of United Way's impact in our local communities, this publication is generously donating this space each month, and for that we are grateful. This partnership allows us to keep you informed about how we’re working together to make a difference. Starting this month, and in the first issue of every new month, we’ll profile the work we are doing to make change in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties with your help.
I have had the honor and of serving United Way for 26 years and as you can imagine, a lot has changed for United Way of Southwest Michigan since we began 80 years ago as the “Twin Cities Community Chest.” But what hasn’t changed is our ambitious vision and how we approach our work – with a community-centered approach. Most people when asked about United Way know us through workplace-giving campaigns, and that is still a big part of what we do, but we are expanding beyond. We’ll achieve this by directing our energy on the operational basics of Impact, Relevance, Sustainability, and Infrastructure.
We believe that it’s always worth reiterating, reinforcing, and keeping at the center of conversations our mission - to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of communities. It is through communities, one at a time, that United Way mobilizes people, resources, and partners around the most pressing needs of local communities; We understand needs in our local communities because we are in the local communities, and we bring people and organizations together to solve problems – we know that we can’t tackle problems alone.
United Way is somewhat complex and harder to define as we are not a one-issue organization. We are okay with that complexity, because we don’t live in a one issue world any longer. United Way recognizes that four core issues affect almost everyone, although the needs of one community may not match those of another. Tackling and solving these issues are the cornerstones of success for individuals and communities. With the release of a new Community Impact Agenda for Change in August, we’ll focus on quality education for children and youth, health, economic mobility, and community resiliency. We recognize and embrace that each of these issues is related and interconnected. If a child isn’t healthy, or is hungry, it will affect their education and the family’s financial security.
Communities are made up of people, of families. And increasingly, families are reporting that they can’t meet their basic needs, not the extras, but basic needs. In the coming months, we’ll get deeper into the WHY of our work in the community, and in next month’s story, introduce you to ALICE.
And because we believe that, together, with you, we will change this trajectory and help families and communities that need us most, we’ll invite you to engage through Volunteerism because your time and skills are invaluable, Advocate to help raise awareness about important issues and advocate for change or Donate to help sustain our mission and support a wide range of programs and ensure we can continue providing essential services.
To learn more about how you can get involved and make a difference, visit our website at uwsm.org. Again, we work to create a united community where everyone contributes, belongs, and thrives. Thank you!
Who Is ALICE?
Heather Cole, Senior Director of Impact Strategies
Hello Southwest Michigan! I am Heather Cole, Senior Director of Impact Strategies for United Way of Southwest Michigan, and this month, we’d like to introduce you to ALICE, the “person” around which we focus all of our impact work in the community.
ALICE is an acronym that stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. It’s a way to describe the households who are working hard and earning more than the federal poverty level, but still struggle daily to afford the basics.
People with incomes below the ALICE level are often hidden in plain sight. There are people with ALICE incomes in every city, village, and township in Southwest Michigan, in every age group, every gender, and all ethnicities. You probably have a family member, friend, coworker, or neighbor who experiences this financial hardship. Perhaps you might be this person.
41% of people living in southwest Michigan have incomes below the ALICE threshold. While 14% are living in poverty, 27% are ALICE. Simply put, in most cases, these vulnerable people are one personal crisis away from poverty.
While those with ALICE incomes are earning a wage too high to qualify for many assistance programs, they still struggle to afford the basics. These basic expenses include housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and basic technology.
United Way of Southwest Michigan is dedicated to creating a united and resilient community where everyone contributes, belongs, and thrives. Too many of our neighbors are struggling to make ends meet and making impossible decisions every day. Like whether to pay for medication or for food, which bill they can skip this month so they can make their childcare payment so they can still go to work, or whether to go to the dentist themself or make sure their aging parent gets to their medical appointment in the next county over.
For households below the ALICE threshold, targeted support programs and resources are essential to provide pathways to financial stability. Addressing the root causes of financial insecurity among these households not only improves their quality of life but also strengthens the overall economic resilience of the entire community.
United Way of Southwest Michigan invests the dollars that are donated to us by community members in Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties in ways that help fulfill immediate needs, as well as long-term strategies for helping people achieve financial security.
Immediate needs include things like food, housing, and childcare assistance, car repairs, legal aid, and tax preparation. And we financially support 2-1-1 call services to connect people to other resources when they are in immediate need of help. If you or someone you know needs help in a crisis or with basic needs, simply dial 2-1-1 from any phone.
We work with our impact cabinet made up of community members, as well as our impact partners, and large amounts of important data about our community’s well-being to help us determine where to focus our strategic efforts. Some of the long-term strategies we invest in include job training, college and career readiness programs, early literacy, health improvement initiatives, tutoring and mentoring.
By supporting both immediate needs and long-term solutions, we’re helping ease people’s challenges now to prevent a speed bump from becoming a crisis, and creating systems that help put people on a path to long-term financial security.
For more information about ALICE in Michigan visit UnitedForAlice.org/Michigan. To learn more about how United Way of Southwest Michigan works to improve lives locally with your help, visit uwsm.org and see how you can GIVE, ADVOCATE, or VOLUNTEER. We can’t do it without you!
