United Way of Tri County Inc.

Results: Over the past year and a half, a cross-functional team within our United Way has taken on the task of directing our organization towards a more effective and efficient plan to address root causes in our community. Part of our work was to identify issues within MetroWest and develop strategies to address those issues. We engaged the community, listened to stakeholders, and sat with groups of at-risk populations to understand their needs and the barriers to meeting those needs. We also relied on national, state, and local statistics to inform the selection of local issues and well documented and emerging strategies. And finally, we asked our donors, those to whom we are accountable, to understand where our passions lie. Through these efforts, we have aligned our work in four focus areas: Education, Income, Health, & Basic Needs. The programs and initiatives we support going forward will fall into these broad categories in very specific ways. Our partnerships will ensure that we are working towards success for life, for families, all types of families, in MetroWest. Over the last four years the United Way of Tri-County has allocated over $5 million in support of organizations within our 34 MetroWest communities. That is an average if $1.2 million per year, and almost half of those dollars were in Framingham alone. In addition, our United Way of Tri-County has sent almost $6 million to neighborhoods across the country. Locally, we have: - Helped over one million people receive food, clothing, housing, domestic violence support, quality in-school and after-school programming, and many more services to survive and thrive. - Convened community groups and organizations to share ideas, best practices, and resources to reduce duplication of services and ensure successful programs. - Taken the lead in evaluating programs and services to ensure that dollars are used to address root causes and make a lasting, positive impact on the community. But we know that this is not enough, we need to do more. We recognize the important role that strong, healthy families play in our communities and we strive to become the catalyst for developing, delivering, and funding internal and community-based programs that assist the MetroWest families. By collaborating with other local organizations, we help identify each community’s most urgent issues and work together to develop effective approaches that allow donors to make the biggest impact possible on the lives of their neighbors.

Geographic areas served: MetroWest

Programs: The United Way of Tri-County is a community building organization that brings people together to care for one another. We raise funds, connect volunteers, strengthen agencies, teach social responsibility, and meet the critical needs of the community with the help of people like you.