Greater Twin Cities United Way

Educational success: united way's vision | all young children and their families enter kindergarten ready to learn and thrive, and all youth have the skills, relationships and mindsets to choose and direct their futures. United way meets urgent needs by supporting nonprofits doing impactful work in early childhood education and career and future readiness, and by connecting callers to education resources via its 211resource helpline. United way also makes lasting change to improve the education system through its 80x3: resilient from the start initiative, which is focused on expanding early childhood trauma-informed care; career academies initiative, focused on expanding access to wealth-building careers for youth; and advocacy efforts that support quality childcare and young people's career readiness. In 2024, through its community investments, 80x3 and women united initiatives, united way and its partners provided culturally specific and trauma-sensitive early childhood and family education programming that supported 2,934 children, 169 early childhood educators and leaders and 19 early childhood care and education organizations. United way's advocacy at the legislature resulted in the 2024 expansion of early learning scholarship eligibility making child care more affordable and accessible for more families in the region. United way's advocacy also played an important role in improvements to the state's parent aware quality rating systems and created a new partnership between the state of minnesota and united way leading to united way's administration of the state's early learning scholarship program. From july 1, 2024, through december 31, 2024, united way paid out $39 million in early learning scholarship funds. In 2024, united way's work in career and future readiness supported 29 organizations through community investment grants and career academies. These partnerships served 9,571 young people in youth programs and activities more than 80 percent of which reported growth in critical life skills and supported 10,000+ high school students' participation in career pathways programs. In 2024, career academies launched careeracademies.org: a new online toolkit for school districts, employers and other potential partners looking to replicate career academies' approach in their own community. More than 2,600 users have accessed resources provided by the site since its launch.

Donor designations - gtcuw fundraising results also include contributions to united way that donors direct to specific non-profit organizations. There were donor designations to 4,808 agencies in 2024.

Economic opportunity: united way's vision | all adults enter the workforce prepared for skilled employment and increased wealth. United way meets urgent needs by supporting nonprofits doing impactful work to provide job training and entrepreneurship support, and by connecting callers to employment resources via its 211 resource helpline. United way also makes lasting change to improve systems by building educator-employer partnerships and advocating for policies that mitigate the impacts of the "benefits cliff." in 2024, united way supported 29 economic opportunity-focused organizations through community investments funding; the subset of these partners working in entrepreneurship supported the creation of 2,688 new jobs. Additionally, 2,736 people secured a job through united way-supported employment and training programs, and nearly 70 percent maintained their employment for at least a year. United way supported 11 chambers of commerce and economic development organizations through career academies' future ready workforce fund, which is focused on creating career-relevant work experiences. In 2024, 495 students earned at least $14.50 per hour through the program. At the legislature, greater twin cities united way joined other united ways of minnesota to share findings in a new report, "alice in minnesota: a study in financial hardship" elucidating the financial difficulty for more than 36 percent of minnesotans who earn more than the federal poverty line, but do not have the necessary income to cover essential costs in their area like food and housing. United for alice (asset limited, income constrained, employed) is a part of united way's ongoing efforts to address the impacts of the "benefits cliff and support the economic development of the region for individuals and families working to provide their most basic needs and build wealth for themselves and their families.united way's 211 resource helpline: united way's 211 resource helpline specialists provide information and referrals to statewide resources and services to help people meet their basic needs, including rental assistance, food programs, childcare, employment and more. In 2024, united way responded to 241,157 requests, one request every two minutes with an increase in requests for housing (up 24 percent from 2023), utilities assistance (up 23 percent), food (up 5 percent), mental health and substance use disorder services (up 53 percent) and criminal justice and legal services (up 5 percent). The data united way secures through 211 about community needs informs its investments in housing, food, education and jobs, as well as its advocacy strategies in advancing policies and state funding to support people experiencing poverty.988 suicide and crisis lifeline: in 2024, greater twin cities united way continued offering support as a minnesota-based provider of the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline. When minnesotans call 988, local, trained and caring crisis counselors answer, providing emotional support for people experiencing thoughts of suicide, substance use or other mental health crises. In 2024, united way crisis counselors answered over 33,000 calls to 988 individuals - a 37 percent increase over 2023. Business and individual partnerships: united way partners with companies and foundations to help them meet their corporate social responsibility goals and engage their employees in addressing community needs. United way also connects people who share similar passions for developing solutions together and collaborates to help individuals and families achieve their philanthropic goals while creating a meaningful legacy.