United Way of Lane County’s

2024-25 Annual Report

Across Lane County, people continue to show up for one another: neighbors helping neighbors, organizations linking arms, and partners investing in a stronger future. This is the power of community. It carries us through difficult moments and moves us forward together.

This past year has brought both challenge and uncertainty. Too many households are working hard yet struggling to afford the basics, and many local organizations are meeting growing needs with limited resources. And still, we see resilience everywhere: in compassion, in collaboration, and in our shared determination to ensure no one faces hardship alone.

Because of you, United Way of Lane County strengthened essential services, supported youth and families, and helped mobilize solutions for our diverse communities that no single organization could accomplish on its own. This year reaffirmed a fundamental truth: lasting change requires collective action. No one sector, organization, or individual can solve these challenges alone.

As I look ahead, I remain grounded in hope. The kind we build together through partnership and shared responsibility. Now is the time to deepen our connections and widen the circle of those engaged in building a resilient Lane County. Whether you give, volunteer, advocate, or collaborate, your role matters.

When we move forward united, we create a community where everyone has the opportunity not just to survive, but to thrive.

United is the way forward.

A Note on our Impact Areas:

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. Moving forward, we will be focusing our investments in improving healthy community, advancing youth opportunity, and building community resiliency.

ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households earn an income above the Federal Poverty Level, which means they can’t access public assistance when help is needed, but still don’t make enough to afford the basics of day-to-day life. They are often just one missed paycheck or car repair away from financial crisis.

As of 2023, 43% of households in Lane County live below the ALICE threshold; this includes 15% of households living in poverty and 28% ALICE households. Communities of color and people living in rural areas – two of the priority populations served by United Way of Lane County – experience ALICE at even higher rates than their neighbors.

United Way of Lane County brings cross-sector partners and decision-makers together to identify long-term solutions to challenges experienced by ALICE households, as well as invests strategically into a wide network of local organizations working to meet the basic needs of ALICE families in our communities. Learn more about ALICE households in Lane County at unitedwaylane.org/alice.

Transportation challenges often mean that people can’t access local food pantries and other critical resources, which can make picking up basic needs for their households nearly impossible. That’s why United Way of Lane County partners with DoorDash to run Project DASH.

Since 2020, Project DASH – previously called Ride United – has connected local service providers like Head Start and Florence Food Share with DoorDash to deliver food boxes, pet food, educational supplies, diapers, and more – all at no cost to local families and participating programs and partners.

From 2024-2025, Project DASH delivered 6,890 orders to local households, partnering with eleven agencies in five cities and ensuring that people across Lane County have what they need to thrive.

The School Food Security Coalition – formed by Food for Lane County, The Arc of Lane County, and 15th Night – is funded by a Community Transformation Grant to make food more accessible to children and families through our local schools.

Over the course of the past year, the coalition supported a group of Willamette High School students to innovate and expand their school pantry program, increasing food security in the Bethel area; distributed 11,000 pounds of food through the Churchill High School food pantry; developed a School Based Food Assistance Program toolkit, making it easier for schools and communities to build effective school-based food pantries of their own and decrease stigma around accessing food assistance services; and launched and supported a School Nutrition Services Coalition, bringing Nutrition Services Directors across all Lane County school districts together to share ideas and resources.

Having access to books of interest – chosen by young readers – helps to increase a child’s likelihood of reading proficiently by third grade, which is a powerful predictor of graduation rates, lifetime earnings, and children’s overall ability to succeed. BookFest is an annual event hosted by United Way of Lane County to provide five new, free, age-appropriate books to K-2 students at select locations, identified as schools where students have the most opportunity to increase their reading scores.

In 2025, thanks to the support of our donors, volunteers, and community partners, United Way of Lane County distributed more than 8,200 books to over 1,600 children in Lane County – across 14 schools in nine school districts – helping thousands of local children build their home libraries and keep their reading skills sharp over the summer months.

This coalition – formed by the LCC Foundation, Lane Education Service District (ESD)/Lane African American Black Student Success (AABSS) program, Eugene-Springfield NAACP, and Lane Community College (LCC) – received a Community Transformation Grant to provide culturally relevant prevention and intervention, including mentorship and advocacy, specifically for African American male-identified individuals in our communities.

In the second year of their grant, GRIOT reported new and increased partnerships with nonprofits and schools, more youth and families served (including 300 students participating in mentorship activities), greater family and community involvement, and lower dropout rates (below 20% of the national average for African American male community college students) among youth who have participated in their programs and activities.

United way of lane county’s 2024-25 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Chris Martin, Chair Elect, PenFed Credit Union
DeLeesa Meashintubby, Secretary, Volunteers In Medicine
Samantha Sorensen, Treasurer, Roseburg Forest Products
Sarah Medary, Member at Large, City of Eugene
Jackie Hoonjan, Former Chair, Pacific Cascade Federal Credit Union
Jameson Auten, Lane Transit District
Joshua Bates, City of Eugene
Maree Beers, Financial Beginnings
Patrick Chinn, Community Volunteer

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