United Way Of The National Capital Area

United way nca's thrive united 365 health program provides equitable access to the distribution of health resources and improves people's lives by addressing health conditions most affecting its communities. Adopting a community-based public health intervention model, the program supports prevention and care management strategies to create low-barrier health resource access points for communities facing enduring health disparities. This place-based work includes equitable access to covid-19 response programs, diabetes prevention and management, and mental health first aid. In 2023-24, united way nca and partner organizations engaged 744 people to receive covid-19 testing, vaccines and education events. United way nca engaged more than 3,500 people to learn more about the risks of chronic health conditions and receive tests to assess their health needs. The program also built and distributed 3,780 kits containing food, clothing, and hygiene supplies. United way nca also provided $2,583,934.80 in prescription savings to 22,624 individuals and families across the region. United way nca's education initiatives provide high-quality resources through the community school model to support students and young adults in realizing their academic and training goals. United way nca partners with seven community schools designated as title i schools. Title i schools receive federal financial assistance with high percentages of children from families with low income and 80% of students are recipients of free and reduced meals (farms). The community schools initiative supports a place-based strategy in which each school partners with community agencies and allocates resources to provide an integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement. This strategy aims to support community schools located in neighborhoods where structural forces linked to racism and poverty shape the experiences of young people and erect barriers to learning and school success. The seven community schools that united way nca partners with are based in communities where families have few resources to supplement what typical schools provide. Through united way nca's community schools, 3,921 students were served addressing attendance, behavior and course performance. For over 300 youth facing the most significant chronic learning challenges, they received individualized intensive services and showed consistent improvement on all indicators. This includes 84% improvement in attendance goal, 73% improvement in math and language arts goal, and 78% in attaining social-emotional learning and career readiness goals. This is in part due to the more than 11,000 aggregated contact hours of community school coordinators engaging students and families in academic and wraparound services. This translates to an additional 1.5 hour of engagement per school day.

United way nca's economic opportunity initiatives provide information, resources, and services to end debt and increase generational wealth in under-resourced communities. Since 2015, united way nca has operated the region's first group of financial empowerment centers (fecs) to promote economic opportunity. Today, united way nca's five fecs offer individuals, veterans, and working families no-cost, professional high-quality financial capacity building services, such as personalized financial coaching and housing counseling. Fec programs include financial and workforce training, individual and small group coaching, tax preparation services and wealth building work. In 2024 - 9,314 residents received a variety of financial coaching services ranging from free tax preparation, financial workshops, and housing counseling that are aimed at helping our region's residents get on the pathway to a stronger financial future; 906 individuals benefited from its volunteer income tax assistance (vita) and the earned income tax credit (eitc) program. Through its free tax preparation services, united way nca resulted in $790,428 in tax refunds allowing area residents to plan, save and get ahead. 1,057 veterans received services to develop capacity for financial literacy and planning, employment and entrepreneurial skills, and improve mental health and well-being.

Fema: united way nca serves as the fiscal agent with program oversight and management of the federal emergency management's (fema) emergency food and shelter humanitarian relief program (efsp-h). The purpose of the program is to provide shelter and other services to migrant families and individuals arriving to the washington dc metropolitan region from the southwest border, where they're encountered by the us department of human services and are awaiting immigration court proceedings. United way nca work closely with fema staff, the national efsp board, montgomery county, district of columbia (dc) government, and subrecipient organization - samu in support of migrant arrivals who continue to arrive to the washington dc area primarily by bus from the us southern border. This included intake and respite operations at two welcome respite centers in montgomery county, md and washington dc. The services provided resulted in 13,226 migrants served; 287 buses received; 5,584 migrants sheltered; and 102,852 meals provided.