Our Mission
To improve the lives of hard-working, struggling households by mobilizing the resources of local communities to create lasting change.
Our Vision
We are committed to ensuring that every child enters school ready to learn, every family is financially stable and every community we serve is healthy and strong. We are the recognized leader in identifying issues and pathways to solutions.
Where We Serve
United Way of Western Connecticut serves 15 towns in three distinct communities – Northern Fairfield County, Southern Litchfield County and the City of Stamford.
Our Goals
United Way intends to impact the lives of the ALICE population, increase their financial stability and ultimately reduce the number of ALICE households in Western CT. To accomplish this, we must listen to ALICE, focus on targeted outcomes that will improve their lives, and measure the success for continual improvement.
Our Values
- Bold: aspirational, striving for big impact
We want to make a lasting impact on the community we serve and keep bold goals in the forefront. We are willing to take risks in piloting new approaches to improve the lives of struggling households.
- Innovative: forward thinking, entrepreneurial, embracing change
We are focused on forward thinking with an entrepreneurial enthusiasm, acting more like a “start-up” than an institution. We embrace change by being both nimble and flexible. We continuously look for promising practices across the country.
- Collaborative: organizational learning, solving complex problems
We are constantly learning and improving within the organization. Recognizing that the need for collaborating not only within the organization, but with the community in order to make a big impact and solve complex problems. Partnering organizations and people with lived experiences bring great value and strength to our work.
- Trustworthy: purposeful, data driven & results focused, transparent, accountable, provide excellent service
Our work has a clear purpose that is data driven and outcome focused. We are committed to bringing quality service to all our work to improve and strengthen our communities. Transparency and accountability, both to donors and the community that we serve, are key concepts we implement throughout our practice. - Respectful and Inclusive: respect, equity, diversity
We deeply value and respect diverse cultures and multiple perspectives to drive our goal. We strive to have every aspect of our organization, especially our staff and board, represent the diversity of our communities, be inclusive in our practices and leverage our differences as strengths. We create opportunities to listen to and work with people directly from the community, grassroots, or young leaders in low-income, under-served and/or marginalized populations within our region.
United Way of Western CT Rejects Racism And All Forms of Discrimination
United Way of Western Connecticut is committed to building our community into a place where every child, family, and person has the opportunity to thrive. We focus on households at or below the ALICE® (Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed) threshold who have had the least opportunities for success. In doing our part to uplift this population, we are active on many fronts. Today we are speaking out louder than in the past to condemn with zero tolerance acts of racism, bigotry, xenophobia, and expressions of discrimination stemming from one’s race, ethnicity, faith, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, sex, age, national origin.
We act by using our resources to tackle the structural barriers to equity from the long shadow of systemic racism that has impeded the health, education, safety, and wellbeing of many members of our society. United Way of Western Connecticut recognizes the power and privilege of our brand. As leaders in our community, we are using both to take action in being part of the solution for positive change. Therefore, we commit to:
- Transforming systems and instituting systemic changes that create a more just and equitable future.
- Requiring accountability and transparency at all levels - from our organization to all institutions with whom we partner.
- Advocating for justice and speaking up in unity and in action whenever we see justice not being served.
- Elevating the voice and power of our community.
- Learning and growing together as a community through ongoing training and conversations about race and equity.
We are committed to improving lives by partnering with the community and creating a future of greater inclusion and equity.