United Way of East Central Alabama fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in the communities we serve. By partnering with and supporting over 40 local programs, we are working to ensure that homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring; that individuals and families have access to nutritious food; that women and children are provided safe shelter and advocacy in the case of domestic violence and abuse; that children are prepared for success in school on their first day of kindergarten; that those dealing with mental illness have access to the frequency of care needed for them to realize their full human potential; and that our individuals and families have access to programs that will allow them to better their current situation by providing GED classes, resume building, and job skills.

United Way uses United Way's 2-1-1 Call Center, which functions as an Information & Referral line with a statewide database of services & resources, as an entry point into a comprehensive network of health & human service organizations. Referrals are made and prioritized based on a client's needs. However, work with the client does not end with one agency. In many cases, multiple referrals to multiple programs are made resulting in a collaborative approach to helping clients with critical needs. This allows United Way to constantly recognize inadequate services, or gaps in services where resources are non-existent. At that point, United Way and its partners work to create new programs and services to fill those gaps. United Way prioritized funding for proactive programs, while funding reactive services for residents who find themselves in need in emergency or disaster situations.

United Way of East Central Alabama harnesses the power of over 600 community volunteers and over 3,900 donors to fund and support 44 local programs all working collectively to solve the most pressing issues in our communities. United Way works to convene local government, community-based organizations, the faith community, and non-traditional partners to lead community conversations and round table discussion when working to find solutions to community problems. United Way also works as a fundraiser and fiduciary agent, seeking donations and grant funding to help provide these community solutions. Serving the community since 1954, United Way of East Central Alabama has a long history of operating with high fiduciary and ethical standards.

United Way of East Central Alabama requires all funded programs to provide outcome measurements on an annual basis. This allows United Way and its partners to measure the return on investment of grant funding and donor dollars, and allows the organization to "course correct" should the results be less than desirable, in order to ensure the best investments are being made for our community. Each year, a group of community volunteers and stakeholders act as grant reviewers, scrutinizing outcomes, program narratives, and fiduciary responsibilities of all partners, and collecting data on the outcomes of all funded programs for community reporting. Indicators for success include: - Decreasing the chronically homeless population by 50% over the next three years - Increasing access to quality, healthy food by adding 3 mobile food pantry trucks food to nutritionally-challenged residents living in at-risk communities - Expanding access to mental health services to provide frequent therapy and counseling session to more than 75% of our community's youth and children age 4 to 18.

In 2018, United Way of East Central Alabama has brought over $1. 3 million back to our community for hard-working low-income families. Twenty-one children have been provided frequent access to ongoing behavioral and mental health services, including critical wraparound services for their families, resulting in less disciplinary incidents in our local school system and better academic performance. 35,611 free books were delivered to children ages birth to five years old resulting in children being more prepared for kindergarten and attaining higher levels of achievement on 3rd grade reading assessments. The work of United Way of East Central Alabama will continue, as we work to enhance the programs, services, and resources that offered in our communities to ensure a quality life for all residents.