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.

The Bold Goal Pilot Program will focus on children at Siler City Elementary, with human services wrapping around their entire households. The plan was developed by a team of 8 essential human services agencies, with United Way leading the process and planning of the program:

• • 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

Eighty-six percent of Siler City Elementary School children are eligible for free and reduced lunch, and 85% are from racial/ethnic minorities. The target population includes households with children in this school who desire to improve their income and other social determinants of health.

The needs and goals of the students and their family members will be managed by a Family Navigator, a new position funded through Communities in Schools and United Way. The Family Navigator will work with a team of case managers to execute the family support plan, ensuring each child and their families have a clear path to achieving their goals. These 8 Bold Goal Pilot Program organizations will provide various services, including case management, education, housing assistance, and employment support. 

United Way will continue to support 14 human service agencies in Chatham, as it has done for the past 39 years, while also supporting the Bold Goal Pilot Program. The Bold Goal Pilot Program is only the beginning of United Way’s creation of a new system for identifying and addressing needs across Chatham, and providing families with the resources needed to prevent or end poverty for themselves and future generations.

United Way has the support of more than 20 Chatham nonprofit and government agencies, local, regional,  state and national grantors, as well as community volunteers.