How United Way helped organizations 'Respond, Stabilize, Recover' throughout the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic created an economic and health crisis for countries across the world. In the United States, layoffs, furloughs and shutdowns have sent countless people into a financial spiral. In fact, in April 2020, the unemployment rate plummeted to a level not seen since the 1930s.

According to the Brookings Institute, from 2018 to mid-2020, the rate of food insecurity doubled in households with children. Not only that, but over one in seven renters are still behind due to the pandemic, and more than one in four adults has trouble covering household expenses.

With such widespread hardship, help has been needed wherever it can be provided.

At United Way of the Greater Triangle, the organization has stepped up to help nonprofits in their mission to aid the community. The Respond, Stabilize, Recover initiative and its Rapid Response Fund has been invaluable in providing funds to nonprofits and those they support.

"We launched the Rapid Response Fund, and that really kicked off the Response phase. We knew that this was about to be a tough time for our communities. Rather than dictate what we thought the community needed, we made it a real priority at United Way to ask our nonprofit partners what the needs that they were hearing were and how we can support those," said Addie Moody, director of Foundation and Individual Philanthropy at United Way. "We began fundraising pretty immediately and were able to raise $1.6 million in that fund that we distributed as quickly as we could and in multiple rounds throughout the summer."

The funds gathered during the Respond phase largely went towards immediate needs in the community, including housing assistance and food aid. In moving into the Stabilize phase, United Way was able to rely on its established corporate relationships — formed throughout the year by visiting with corporate partners that have opened their doors to United Way.

Many of these corporate partners continued to support United Way throughout the pandemic by hosting employee giving campaigns within their workplaces, aiding greatly in the Stabilize portion of the initiative.

"United Way was immediately able to move from their standard funding model, where you apply for certain funds and funds go out at certain times, to a rapid-response model. These rapid response funds are unrestricted dollars, which is huge for nonprofits because it allows them to do what is best suited for their mission in the community. That's been huge in recovery," said Kirby Jones, founder and executive director of the Daniel Center for Math and Science, a non-profit childcare center.

While the Daniel Center's typical model largely relies on after-school programs, the school closures caused by COVID led them to pivot to an all-day model, providing extended childcare for families in need. This meant a significant jump in payroll, equipment costs and food.

"All funding entities have not been able to do what United Way has done in being so flexible and innovative and so quickly. The unrestricted dollars have been such a big boost to our recovery — because we're providing beneficial services, but they do have a cost associated with them," said Jones. "With the help of United Way, we've been able to provide students with laptops and internet access, as well as a nutritious breakfast, lunch and snacks. It's been a huge benefit to the families we serve."

With the third branch of United Way's efforts to better support the Triangle community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Recover, the organization is looking toward offering the long-term support that Triangle nonprofits will need to help individuals fully heal from the devastation caused over the last 18 months.

They'll be partnering with Band Together to amplify fundraising to support those efforts. With a goal of raising $2M in advance of an in-person concert, the two organizations will distribute proceeds to United Way's nearly 100 nonprofit partners as an additional source of funding to support the work they're doing to uplift the communities every day.