United to Help Hard-Working, Struggling Families
Like us, you believe that people who work hard should be able to pay their bills and lead a decent life. Based on that core belief, United Way of Western Connecticut made a strategic decision in 2015 to focus on the hard-working, struggling families in the 15-town region we serve in Fairfield and Litchfield counties. These are the 40% of our friends and neighbors who must make difficult choices in their lives with limited resources, a population we call ALICE®: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. Who is ALICE? ALICE is our co-worker, friend and neighbor who works hard, yet can’t afford necessities like housing, food, childcare, health care, and transportation.
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.
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.