Meeting Local needs

Women and minority-owned small businesses in low- to moderate-income communities are significantly impacted by economic downturns, natural disasters, and global health crises. In Louisiana, women and minority-owned small businesses struggled after COVID-19. With United Way's help, innovative approaches at the Urban League of Louisiana’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CEI) supported small businesses with surviving and thriving during and after the pandemic.

Almost half the children attending U.S. public schools come from low-income families, research shows. And some 16 million children lack access to essential school supplies. This means about one in every four students -- or 25% of students in the US -- can't afford school supplies as school starts back up. This hinders a child's academic performance, but also impacts their self-esteem and drives up absenteeism.

Yvonne was named to her post in a few months ago, after serving as Treasurer of Georgia’s AFL-CIO for 11 years.

For United Way South Africa, its youth success program, called Providing Equal Educational Opportunity for the Youth, has been part of the community-based solution providing a path forward for youth from disadvantaged communities.