INITIATIVES | United Way of Central Iowa

Community Collaborations

In addition to funding existing programs under our UNITED to THRIVE strategic imperative, United Way of Central Iowa manages initiatives and leads coalitions reaching across all 5 Elements of a Thriving Community to address specific needs within central Iowa that are not being met by a funded partner or program. These Community Collaborations are just that – collaborative efforts between our organization and various nonprofit agencies, leaders in the field or industry. Here are the programs created or managed by United Way staff to specifically to maximize our collective impact.

211 Iowa

211 is United Way’s trusted information and referral service that provides expert, caring help to meet your needs.

21-Day Equity Challenge

The 21-Day Equity Challenge is a series of daily emails to develop a deeper understanding of how inequity and racism affect our lives and our community.

ACEs 360

The ACEs toolkit helps organizations and service providers identify various types of trauma, recognize how events from childhood may be shaping peoples' responses and provide guidance to help them address these challenges.

Bright by Text

United Way of Central Iowa has teamed up with Bright by Text, a national parent texting program, to put expert tips, educational games, and child development information directly into the hands of parents and caregivers of children prenatal through age eight.

CAMHI4Kids

Coalition to Advance Mental Health in Iowa for Kids advocates for providing adequate, predictable, and sustainable funding for the children’s mental health system in Iowa.

Central Iowa Works

Central Iowa Works connects employers seeking to fill jobs with talented workers who can earn a living wage.

Community Giving Gardens

Community Giving Gardens promote and provide access to local produce for low-income central Iowans by growing, harvesting and/or rescuing unused food to be distributed to those in need.

Corporate Giving Gardens

A corporate giving garden is located on land set aside in the green space surrounding a company’s offices, where employees use volunteer time to grow fruits and vegetables that are donated to local organizations that serve the food-insecure in central Iowa.

HOPE For Stable Families

HOPE for Stable Families works with central Iowa families each year to set goals, remove barriers, and find support in moving out of poverty to long-term financial stability.

My Free Taxes

MyFreeTaxes is a free, safe and easy way for households earning less than $66,000 to file federal and state taxes.

OpportUNITY

OpportUNITY is a collective impact initiative focused on fighting poverty in central Iowa. Eight issue-focused work groups are addressing barriers and creating new opportunities for low-income individuals to raise themselves out of poverty.

Oral Health Iowa

OHI is a broad-based group of individual members. OHI welcomes all individuals who are interested in advancing the mission to “be a unified voice for oral health in Iowa.”

Powered by Purpose

Powered by Purpose is a free online resource designed to help individuals and organizations explore the meaning of purpose, discover their own unique purpose and put it into action in their life and workplace.

READ to Succeed

READ to SUCCEED is a groundbreaking, community-wide awareness and action campaign to help kids read proficiently by third grade. There are multiple ways you can get involved in this effort: donating books, building literacy kits, reading to children, advocating for summer reading programs and more.

Skills 2 Compete

The Iowa Skills2Compete Coalition is a statewide partnership of Iowa’s business, community, education, labor, legislative, and workforce development leaders to serve as an organized voice for “skills” at the state capitol and builds more policymaker support for state policies that grow Iowa’s economy by investing in its workforce.

Summer Youth Employment Program

The Summer Youth Experience Program (SYEP) seeks to make a difference for local youth by providing them with work-readiness training and workplace experience.