News
UWSCMI Testimony Helps Move Tax Credit Bill
Members of the Michigan Senate’s Housing and Human Services Committee got a real-world look this week at how increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit can help financially struggling households. “I first received the Earned Income Tax Credit in 2011. I was a 23-year-old single mom working full time as a lead teacher in a Head…
Read More‘Grateful and Humble’: COO Ken Toll Moving On
After more than two decades of United Way service, Chief Operations Officer Ken Toll is moving on. “Bringing together our three United Ways into the United Way of South Central Michigan has gone better than I could have hoped,” said Toll. “ We have a really strong team in place.” So strong, in fact, that…
Read MoreEmbracing Our Values: The Heart of It All
This is the last in a three-part series exploring UWSCMI’s recently adopted vision, mission and values. You can find them all in one place at unitedforscmi.org/vision-mission-values. Part 1: Where We’re Going | Part 2: What We Do Tibor “Ted” Rubin had every reason to be bitter. As a Jewish Hungarian-American, he faced anti-Semitism and constant…
Read MoreEmbracing Our Mission: What We Do
This is the second in a three-part series exploring UWSCMI’s recently adopted vision, mission and values. You can find them all in one place at unitedforscmi.org/vision-mission-values. Part 1: Where We’re Going | Part 3: The Heart of it All What does it take to fit a square peg in a round hole? When the answer…
Read MoreEmbracing our Vision: Where We’re Going
This is the first in a three-part series exploring UWSCMI’s recently adopted vision, mission and values. You can find them all in one place at unitedforscmi.org/vision-mission-values. Part 2: What We Do | Part 3: The Heart of it All Standing at the Lincoln Memorial on a steamy August day in 1963, one man talked about…
Read MoreLet’s End The Violence – Together
The plea was simple: Can we all get along? Thirty years later, our society can’t seem to find a way to say “yes.” The tragic mass shooting at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs is another heartbreaking reminder of how little things have changed since Rodney King, a Black man beaten by police during his…
Read MoreVeterans Struggling: ALICE Analysis Outlines Financial Hardship
They’ve served and sacrificed for our country, yet more than one of every four veterans in Michigan struggle to afford the basics. That finding comes from a new report from the Michigan Association of United Ways (MAUW) and its research partner, United For ALICE. In 2019, 6% of the state’s veterans were deemed in poverty,…
Read MoreLocal UW Leaders Meet with Biden Administration
Leaders from three Michigan United Ways met with the Biden Administration in Washington, D.C., this week to discuss how pandemic-related federal programs are helping United Ways and their community partners statewide meet local needs, especially for those who are considered low- and middle-income and who identify within the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) population.…
Read MoreHow Greater Impact Really Happens
Editor’s note: On Oct. 12, United Way representatives from Michigan met with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and other administration officials at the White House. They shared how United Ways across the state have collaborated with local elected officials, nonprofits and other partners to help communities recover from the economic effects of COVID-19. Chris Sargent,…
Read MoreUW/Kalamazoo Micro-Enterprise Grants Bring $300K to 60 Businesses
A third round of grants totaling $300,000 is lifting 60 Kalamazoo microbusinesses and bringing economic benefits directly to 17 neighborhoods. United Way of South Central Michigan (UWSCMI), the City of Kalamazoo and the Foundation for Excellence (FFE) announced the third round of Kalamazoo Micro-Enterprise Grants (KMEG) for the third consecutive year. In 2020, the unique…
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