Long-Term Solutions: United Way of NWA Raising Children Out of Poverty

The United Way of Northwest Arkansas is looking at their mission in a different way. “We are looking to have more impact,” said Kim Aaron, United Way of NWA’s president. “We have shifted to a single focus, as are most United Way (organizations) around the country. Local focus groups determined that children living in poverty should be the focus.”

For years, local United Way organizations designated other not-for-profit “partner” organizations to receive their contributions. The kinds of organizations they funded were numerous and their individual missions often dissimilar. Not long ago, the United Way’s fundraising partners, local businesses and industries, started shifting their focus away from workplace campaigns, where employees could designate a charitable contribution to United Way as a payroll deduction. It was United Way’s lifeblood for years.

“About four years ago we decided to stop the old agency partner model,” she explained. “We started funding programs that were working to lift children out of poverty. We didn’t want to just put a Band-Aid on something and just meet an immediate need, but invest in programs that change lives and give families the tools to prosper, and not just meet that day’s need.”

During the following few funding cycles, the United Way weaned off many previous partner organizations and refocused their efforts on long term solutions aimed at developing and sustaining new programs.

“We’re focusing on asset poverty, rather than income poverty,” Kim explained. “Asset poverty is not having the resources to deal with a major financial hit in their lives. It really looks at the working poor. They are people who have jobs but are having trouble making ends meet. They live at the poverty level, fully engaged in trying to live their lives and are still living hand-to-mouth.”

Kim and her team are creating a strategic plan to address the need for long-term solutions.

“We are one of the only organizations taking a long-term look,” she said. “There is a need to meet immediate needs today, and for someone to take a long-term look at helping people. We need both. It’s important for newcomers to the community to understand United Way isn’t a short term solution organization. We are here to build long-term
investments and provide long-term solutions to people who are trying to lift themselves out of poverty.”

 

Go to unitedwaynwa.org to learn more about the organization's initiatives and programs.

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