Bold Goal

In Chatham County, 12% of residents – almost 10,000 people – live in poverty. Poverty rates have increased 3% in 3 years for adults, and 5% for children. United Way revised its mission and vision which resulted in a commitment to transitioning the traditional United Way impact model into one of transformation. (See image above.)

United Way’s new impact model is rooted in collective impact, and based upon the understanding that no single policy, government entity or organization can solve deep-rooted social problems alone. By recognizing that things our Chatham neighbors struggle with are symptoms of system-level problems, we can begin to think about challenging these systems – not the programs or agencies that have been tasked with resourcing them. 

Food insecurity, lack of access to childcare, homelessness and the lack of affordable housing and inequitable access to health care are all symptoms of larger problems. 

United Way developed the Bold Goal through community visioning and engagement, holding stakeholder focus groups and interviews across Chatham. We met with member agencies, their clients, health partners, education partners, government agencies – including Chatham County Commissioners and department heads, business partners and United Way donors. Through this we gathered qualitative data and experiences from real people in our community. 

In almost every single conversation there was one commonality – concern of growing rates and degrees of poverty.

United Way is convening and leading human service organizations in developing an innovative action plan to disrupt systems contributing to poverty. This action plan will be specifically informed by the needs of Chatham’s Spanish-speaking community and people of color by seeking input from agencies that already serve these populations. This is a multi-year plan.

These are our goals:

• • • We are identifying and supporting projects aimed at increasing heads of household earned income.
    • Ensuring stable housing for individuals and families.
    • Promoting academic success for children in poverty.

United Way is committed to ending and preventing poverty for 2,000 Chatham residents in 2,000 days (2030). 

United Way will:

• Serve as a convener. We are bringing providers and other community stakeholders together to have open transparent conversations, and to provide the knowledge, insights and data to help guide their work.
• Provide direction on priorities and how partners can collaborate to achieve strategic goals for the community and better utilize resources. 
• Foster existing relationships and bring a diverse group of agencies together to meet the unique needs of different populations. 
• Ensure that diversity, equity and inclusion is a driving principle to building systems change, and that people of color and representatives from underserved communities have a voice at the table.

We are currently designing and will soon finalize our Bold Goal Pilot Program. The pilot program will focus on children at Siler City Elementary, with human services wrapping around their entire households. Our partners in the design cohort include the following, and we meet every two weeks:

• • Chatham County Department of Social Services
  • Chatham County Schools and the McKinney Vento Program
  • Chatham Literacy
  • Communities in Schools
  • Partnership for Children
  • Salvation Army of Chatham
  • Uplift Chatham and Central Carolina Community College