About Us
What We Do
Our mission is to mobilize communities to action so all can thrive.
What We Do
We bring people and resources together to make a difference for local children, families, and communities.
We focus our efforts on key areas of impact and investment, and have recently updated these areas to become even more accessible to, and inclusive of, local community needs and opportunities. Learn more about our updated areas of impact – improving healthy community, advancing youth opportunity, and building community resiliency – by hovering your mouse over each image below.
We improve health and well-being for children and families in Lane County by connecting people to the resources they need to lead healthy lives. From access to basic needs like food and health care to building greater financial stability, we work across sectors to ensure that people across our communities have safe, healthy homes so that all can flourish.
We create pathways to success for young people to thrive. By investing in childcare, early learning and literacy, parenting education, and family engagement, we ensure that every child in Lane County has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
We help Lane County communities prepare for, prevent, and respond to big challenges, from emergency response to disaster relief. In times of crisis, we bring local leaders, neighbors, and resources together to raise funds and take action. And because we know that resilient communities recover from emergencies more quickly and effectively, we help build stronger local connections – before, during, and after disaster – to sustain momentum through long-term recovery.
Our Vision
We’re focused on reaching four outcomes shown to strongly impact the health, education, and financial stability of families to ensure that kids are successful in school and life:
Providing tools that end the cycle of poverty so all kids have a home and nutritious food every day.
Ensuring that kids have the early math, literacy, and social skills for a successful start.
Helping students reach essential reading benchmarks by third grade when they stop learning to read and begin reading to learn.
Providing youth with the knowledge, skills, and support necessary to reach their potential and pursue their dreams.
Our Values
Community Leadership: We work to inspire people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to contribute their time and talent to improve the lives of others. We act as catalysts for positive change and a convener of partnerships that unite hearts, minds and resources within our community.
Compassion: We care about each other and share a commitment to improving our community.
Equity & Inclusion: We respect all members of the community and actively reach out to engage diverse members and points of view for greater understanding.
Impact: We work collaboratively and effectively and strategically to create opportunities for a better life for all. We invest in meaningful solutions that make a measurable, recognizable difference.
Innovation: We promote creativity, flexibility and encourage ideas to enhance and improve our effectiveness.
Integrity: We practice care, compassion and honesty in the stewardship entrusted to us by our community.
Volunteerism: We give people the opportunity to connect their passion and live their values.
Collective Impact
Collective impact brings people together to achieve social change. Key stakeholders from different sectors work to solve a specific problem while utilizing a unified agenda, shared measurements, and consistent communication so that everyone is working toward a common goal. A strong backbone organization guides the efforts and ensures each piece of the work succeeds.
Our Partners
As the backbone organization to several collective impact initiatives in Lane County, we provide the support that helps the groups function and succeed.
Learn more about our collective impact partnerships by visiting their websites
Funded Partner Spotlight
Donate
When you give to United Way, we use our expertise to invest your dollars wisely and work toward making life better for everyone in Lane County.