a story of transformation
As we navigate through our journey, we are laying the groundwork for a brighter collective future
WILL YOU JOIN US?
WHEN EMBARKING ON A JOURNEY, YOU FIRST HAVE TO MAKE SURE YOUR COMPASS IS POINTING NORTH.
In crafting our Transformation Strategy, we proactively sought insights from stakeholders and community members to ensure that we understood the challenges accurately and could respond effectively.
CONVENING THE COMMUNITY
On March 26, 2021, Heart of West Michigan United Way brought together 83 stakeholders for a wide-ranging conversation about how best to foster economic and educational equity in Kent County. What we heard shaped our Transformation Strategy and will continue to inform our work for years to come:
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION To change inequitable systems, BIPOC leaders must be at the table.
DON’T START FROM SCRATCH Lean on proven models and the organizations already doing this work.
LIVED EXPERIENCES + DATA Work must be informed both by solid data and by the hard-won wisdom of the community.
ACCOUNTABILITY MATTERS Lead always with compassion, courage, and commitment.
LISTENING SESSIONS
Convening stakeholders is essential. But equally important is bringing neighbors to the table so they can voice their struggles directly. Through focus groups and a survey designed by The Eureka Group, Kent County residents of color shared their experiences with us.
All participants faced financial, food, family, or health challenges in the past year. The most common:
Difficulty covering all household expenses.
Making personal sacrifices to ensure their children don’t go without.
Mental and emotional distress and embarrassment resulting from their situation.
93% of participants wanted to know more about available resources and how to access them.
96% of participants faced barriers to pursuing economic goals:
One job doesn’t cover monthly expenses like food, shelter, and childcare.
Too often stringent eligibility requirements shut them out of programs that could help.
“WHAT DOES DEI MEAN FOR US AS A STAFF? AS WE BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND THAT, THE BETTER WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE NEEDS PEOPLE ARE EXPERIENCING IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS.”
— Shannon Blackmon-Gardner, VP of Community Impact
In 2021 we commissioned Global Bridgebuilders to conduct a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion assessment of our board and staff. Heart of West Michigan United Way received a score of 740.
“Organizations in this range (501–750) have moved beyond diversity, equity, and inclusion as a program and understand the absolute necessity of a process orientation. Though they haven’t ‘arrived,’ it’s likely they serve as an example to other organizations. Stakeholders, both internal and external, are beginning to believe that the organization ‘gets’ it.”
INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF THE FUNDING PROCESS
The Community Grant Fund is the core of our work.
One goal of our Transformation Strategy was to increase the number of BIPOC-led agencies in our Community Grant Fund. To do that, we knew we needed to change our process. The results were eye-opening. And they allowed us to make immediate improvements to our application process. The fruit of those changes can be seen in our 2023-2026 Community Grant Fund cohort, which is by far the most diverse it’s ever been: the number of funded agencies led or founded by people of color from 9 agencies in the 2020–23 grant cycle to 18 in our current 2023–26 cycle.
WHILE THAT’S A GOOD START, we’re determined to keep pushing for greater BIPOC representation among our agency partners.
REDUCING BARRIERS
Another Transformation Strategy goal is to reduce barriers. To make it simpler and easier for grassroots organizations, especially those founded by people of color, to access the knowledge and resources of United Way and to make us, at the same time, more informed and effective in our mission.
Opportunity INITIATIVE
The Opportunity Initiative provided one-time grants to 21 BIPOC-founded or led agencies with budgets of less than $100,000. The process was streamlined, simple to apply for, with as little arduous back-end work as possible.
But the money wasn’t the whole story. Agencies also received training in preparing financial statements, writing grant proposals, evaluating the effectiveness of programs, and using social media to tell their stories.
Dondreá Brown of Young Money Finances used part of his grant to invest in marketing, which resulted in media coverage for his organization. “We actually had a funder reach out to us because we were in one of the newspapers,” Brown explained. “They sent us a grant. I was like, there’s no way we ever would have made it to the newspaper if it wasn’t for the support that United Way gave.”
THE WE MATTER NOW INITIATIVE WAS BORN.
As we began to make new connections with grassroots nonprofits here in Kent County, we began to see opportunities to use our long-standing role as a community convener.
The Opportunity Initiative brought us into contact with two organizations led by men of color and dedicated to working with youth in the community. All three were doing incredible work with a certain amount of overlap in their missions.
The We Matter Now Initiative was born. The goal of We Matter Now is to empower young men of color with the necessary tools to close the gap on education, wellness, and financial achievement. With programming focused on financial education, healthy behaviors, conflict resolution, and planning for the future, We Matter Now encourages youth to see themselves not as “at-risk” but as “at-potential.”
The work is far from over.
At Heart of West Michigan United Way, we seek to close the educational and economic achievement gaps for all people in Kent County. When we maximize people’s potential, talent, and skills, our community grows stronger and more vibrant.
“But here’s the key: Get involved. Do something. This has to be an effort that involves the community.”–Dr. Bill Pink