A safety net for the entire region
Your impact on the St. Louis region through United Way is incredible. Together, we provide a strong, expansive, vetted and flexible safety net of 160 nonprofit agencies that serve our entire community. Below are our five impact areas of focus to help our community thrive.
Basic Needs
Basic needs aren’t so basic for some. This critical real-time support closes the gap and helps position people for a better tomorrow. In 2022, we helped over 80,000 people access immediate basic needs like stable housing and food, averting a crisis and helping them move towards stability.
Early Childhood & Youth Success
When kids are safe, nurtured, and ready to learn, they are more likely to graduate and become productive citizens. Last year, we helped 2,000 + children prepare to enter kindergarten and over 1,300 students maintained or improved their academic performance.
Jobs and Financial Mobility
If families and individuals have secure financial footing, they are less likely to require other services and more likely to succeed. Last year, we helped over 4,600 people obtain job readiness skills, and over 1,360 increased their income, savings and assets through financial stability programming and asset initiatives.
Health and Wellbeing
The social determinants of health (SDOH) represent 40% of a person’s ability to thrive. Being healthy is vital for children to grow and develop and for adults to live a full and productive life. In 2022, we helped over 34,000 individuals experience fewer mental, emotional, behavioral and health symptoms, in addition to thousands more being supported across the SDOH continuum.
Community Stability & Crisis Response
A robust, safe, and resilient community is needed to strengthen and enhance the lives of its members, affording them the necessary tools to thrive during blue skies and in times of crisis. Last year, we helped over 44,000 people prepare for or successfully recover from an emergency or disaster.
How United Way Helps
United Way of Greater St. Louis prioritizes taking care of our region’s most pressing issues through our Community Needs Assessment initiative. This initiative gives us the opportunity to assess some of the specific areas where our community needs help the most and determine how our impact areas align with the needs identified in the assessment. United Way provides funding, programs and services to ensure our neighbors have access to the resources they need to live here and thrive.
