Author Archives: United Way Atlanta

By Charles Sterne, Director of Homelessness at United Way of Greater Atlanta, and Lauren Wood, MARTA Market Director for Community Farmers Markets Food insecurity, as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is the lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.  In Georgia, according to Feeding America, 12% of the population […]

By United Way of Greater Atlanta As part of its Thrive by 25® commitment to investing in the well-being and success of young people ages 14 through 24, the Annie E. Casey Foundation is launching multiyear partnerships with organizations in Atlanta; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Baltimore. The three organizations lead comprehensive local efforts already underway […]

By United Way of Greater Atlanta  The 2nd Annual Unite for Service Week is back! Unite with MORE than 1,000 volunteers – all in just one week. When you join us for Unite for Service Week, you’re doing MORE for our communities.  From Monday, June 20th through Saturday, June 25th, you have the opportunity to […]

Talent is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. At United Way of Greater Atlanta we are working to create opportunity for our community’s youth. Meet Hannah and Hanna to understand how zip code can determine a child’s potential.  Like Hanna, today in Greater Atlanta, nearly 500,000 children live in communities lacking the basic opportunities and […]

By Angel Maldonado, Co-Chair, Community Impact Committee, Mary Benton, Co-Chair Community Impact Committee  United Way of Greater Atlanta is on a journey to improve the lives of children and families throughout the Greater Atlanta area. Nearly half a million children in our region live in communities with low or very low child well-being. Through our […]

To date, the program has helped 10,155 households affected by the COVID-19 pandemic By Chad Parker, VP of Multimedia Content at United Way of Greater Atlanta United Way of Greater Atlanta and the City of Atlanta has reopened the Atlanta COVID-19 Emergency Housing Assistance Program with $20.2 million in reallocated ERAP 1 funding from the […]

By Economy Jackson, Director Asset Building, Income at United Way of Greater Atlanta, Venus R. Lockett, Bank On Atlanta Program Manager Since 2003, April has been designated by U.S. legislators as National Financial Literacy Month. This was done to highlight the importance of being financially literate and for people to learn techniques in becoming financially […]

By Kisha Stanley, Vice President of Central Development and Engagement at United Way of Greater Atlanta At United Way of Greater Atlanta, we believe that collaboration is the key to driving sustainable and equitable improvements in the well-being of children, families, and individuals in the community. We are the ONLY nonprofit that brings together people […]

By Ryan Lee-James, Ryan Lee James, Ph.D., CCC SLP, Director of Rollins Center for Language & Literacy Ellyn Cochran, Associate Vice President for Early Learning and Development, United Way of Greater Atlanta  As seen through the United Way’s Child Well-Being Index, literacy rates in our region are unconscionably tied to zip code, race, and ethnicity […]

By Laura Miller, Senior Director of Family Engagement at United Way of Greater Atlanta At United Way of Greater Atlanta, we are focused on the well-being of children, families and communities across Greater Atlanta. When you are able to say that children are doing well in the community, it’s a great indicator that those communities […]

By Ebony Johnson, Director of Place-based Initiatives, United Way of Greater Atlanta, Charles Releford, Executive Director, Odyssey Family Counseling Center For individuals, families, and communities across metro Atlanta, the impacts of COVID-19 have left us feeling stressed, anxious, and struggling to cope. When we think about the impacts COVID-19 on children and adolescents across our region, […]

By Katrina D. Mitchell, Chief Community Impact Officer – United Way of Greater Atlanta and Erica Fener Sitkoff, Ph.D., Executive Director – VOICES for Georgia’s Children While much news these days focuses on COVID-19 — cases, hospitalizations, deaths, masks, vaccinations, and variants — other challenges, which existed well before the pandemic, are finally getting the […]

By Milton J. Little, Jr., President and CEO of United Way of Greater Atlanta “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. Yesterday, we honored Martin Luther King, Jr. for his life of service to the Civil Rights Movement, his power to strengthen communities, […]

At United Way of Greater Atlanta, we’re focused on the well-being of children, families, and communities across our 13-county region. One of our most important areas of work is economic stability. Helping families and individuals attain financial security is foundational for our community to thrive. We have set a goal of positively impacting 250,000 children […]

By: Kim Addie, Senior Director, Place-Based Initiatives, United Way of Greater Atlanta Mariann Martin, Community Engagement Director, Canopy Atlanta The section under race on my mother’s birth certificate says white. That struck me because although my mom is fair skinned and probably could pass for a white woman, she was far from white. In fact, […]

By United Way of Greater Atlanta While recovery is underway in many parts of the community, and federal funds have provided temporary emergency assistance to thousands of families and individuals, many others were left further behind or more severely affected by the pandemic. A disproportionate number of these people are Black and brown people, and […]

By Maria Azuri, Director of Capacity Building & Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Network for Good Laura Heiman, Director of Capacity Building & Operations at United Way of Greater Atlanta It’s no secret that Atlanta is grappling with serious challenges around inequitable outcomes. It’s the driving force behind United Way of Greater Atlanta’s focus on […]

By Ellyn Cochran, Associate Vice President, Early Learning and Development, United Way of Greater Atlanta and Katie Landes, Director, Georgia Statewide After School Network Did you know that one of the strongest predictors of success in school and in life is whether a child can read proficiently by the end of third grade? Yet, within […]

By Michele Jacobs, Senior Director, Youth Development at United Way of Greater Atlanta Atlanta has a strong and diverse business sector, many post-secondary educational institutions, first-rate nonprofits, and a civil rights legacy that has grown into a movement ─ all of which have elevated our status to one of national recognition of activism and change. And […]

*The success story below was provided by United Way of Greater Atlanta partner agency Housing Plus. “Myself and my kids are so grateful to you all. You really reached out to us when we needed it the most.” – Emergency Housing Assistance Program funding recipient Jallow Hadijjatou Like so many City of Atlanta residents, Jallow […]