KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – United Way of South Central Michigan (UWSCMI) announced Monday that local support and outside grants in 2023-24 totaled more than $23.6 million to drive efforts addressing financial hardship and basic needs among households across six counties.
The organization also says the next round of local allocations, which are unrestricted dollars from United Way donors to fund local programs and partners tackling specific needs, totals over $3.3 million.
UWSCMI recently completed its annual impact report, “We Show Up,” which details how dollars were invested through United Way-run initiatives and local partnerships during its 2023-24 fiscal year ending March 30. Here are the highlights:
$8,333,413 in direct assistance through programs run by UWSCMI. These include its Program Assistance Center (utility assistance statewide), local business supports (including JobSTAR in Jackson and microbusiness grants in Kalamazoo), disaster relief, and higher-education access through the CapCAN program in the greater Lansing area.
$7,244,475 to run the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, providing free tax preparation for low-income households across nine counties.
$4,544,326 in local allocations, over and above other programs and investments listed here.
$1,749,040 in government grants primarily supporting food, shelter and other basic needs.
$1,185,197 in donor-designated investments, which are restricted gifts made by local donors through UWSCMI.
$583,282 to help fund the 2-1-1 information and referral system, which connects people in need with available programs and resources.
For the current fiscal year, UWSCMI is investing $3,330,429 through local nonprofit partners to support local programs. That includes $2,780,430 to 60 programs run by 59 agencies in the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo area.
United Way officials say those investments emphasize the needs of people in financial hardship, including ALICE (Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed) households, those experiencing poverty, and persons who have been historically oppressed and marginalized.
In addition to those allocations, UWSCMI has already invested in what they call key local programs since April 1, among them the Community Violence Intervention, a joint effort by the City of Kalamazoo and Kalamazoo County to address gun violence ($345,000) and Seeding Health, which increases equitable access to health care for nonprofit employees in Battle Creek ($150,000).
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