More than 100 Charlotte-area nonprofits will share in $10 million from United Way
In what the agency called its “continuing shift toward equity and neighborhood work,” United Way of Central Carolinas on Thursday awarded $10 million in grants to 140 nonprofits in the Charlotte region.
People of color lead more than half of the agencies, all with budgets under $500,000, United Way officials said.
The nonprofits strengthen neighborhoods, advance racial equity and economic mobility and provide people in most need “a safety net,” according to a news release announcing the grants.
The United Way supports nonprofits in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Union and Anson counties and the Mooresville-Lake Norman area.
“There is tremendous strength in grassroots and neighborhood-based organizations,” United Way president and CEO Laura Yates Clark said in the release. “They know their communities best, and they have the trust of their neighbors in need.”
United Way will invest a total of $12.3 million in communities in 2022, officials said.
Groups serving historically marginalized people received more funding, as did the United Way’s United Neighborhoods initiative.
In 2022, the Lakeview neighborhood will join the two United Neighborhoods pilot communities, Renaissance West and Grier Heights. Five other neighborhoods are receiving smaller grants.
United Neighborhoods will receive $1.3 million, up from $950,000 this year.
Unite Charlotte, a United Way effort focused on grassroots organizations that people of color lead, also will expand next year. Thanks to increased funding by Mecklenburg County, Unite Charlotte will receive $3 million in 2022, up from $1 million this year, to fund 55 agencies in 2022.
Traditional United Way grants totaling more than $5.7 million will go to 69 nonprofits in Anson, Cabarrus, southern Iredell, Mecklenburg and Union counties, including Care Ring, Cabarrus Victims Assistance Network, Veterans Bridge Home and the Community Shelter of Union County.
Traditional grants fell in recent years as community donations decreased and the United Way focused more on programs addressing economic mobility and racial equity.
No more traditional grants will be given after 2022, part of the United Way’s five-year transition to neighborhood-focused work.
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 2:23 PM.