Happy Birthday United Way! It’s been 75 years since the first group of prominent civic and government leaders developed a way for workers and employers to help their community. In the early 1930s, social services agencies were overwhelmed by the ever growing number of people who needed relief from the Great Depression. Unemployment was widespread throughout the Chicago area and the United Way movement, started in Denver, made its way to the city of big shoulders to provide a solution.

At the time it was a revolutionary concept: ask workers to contribute one day of pay per month and employers were asked to match each dollar raised. The dollars raised by the community would help the social service agencies provide the programs that helped those who could not afford to give to the Community Fund overcome life’s challenges.

By 1946, the Community fund divided the money raised across seven health and human service areas—family assistance, education, dependent child care, clinics and general health, specialized services, hospitals and senior housing. By that time, United Way was serving a three county region—Cook, Lake and DuPage Counties. Today, our metropolitan region is quite different but our mission remains the same—to improve people’s lives by mobilizing caring people to invest in their community where their resources are needed most.

To commemorate our 75 years in the region, United Way is offering a way for people to create a personal legacy to improve lives for generations to come. In addition to your annual gift to the 2007 United Way Campaign, consider a one-time gift to the new United Way Endowment, to ensure the ongoing well being of our community for the future.

An Endowment is a collection of monetary gifts that are deposited into a fund where they will remain forever. The gifts are invested and a portion of the income earned from these investments is provided each year to United Way. The original gift, or the principal, remains untouched generating income that will forever improve lives and strengthen our community. The United Way Endowment will:

• Provide resources for quick and effective response to unexpected crisis. In the event of a large scale disaster in our community, the immediate response of emergency personnel and agencies lasts for a brief 48-72 hours. For the long term stability of the region, United Way leads the coordination of health and human service providers to help people to independence after facing a crisis. The United Way endowment will ensure that funding is available immediately to address recovery issues effectively.
• Stabilize human care services at times when resources are less available. During an economic turndown, the need for health and human services dramatically increases while the resources to provide services sharply decline. The United Way Endowment can help bridge that critical funding gap so health and human service providers can continue to serve individuals and families in need.
• Serve as a source of revenue for emerging needs. For example, the Latino population nearly doubles since 1990 to 20% of the region’s total population, with 54% living in the suburbs where service traditionally has not existed. In addition, the population of people 65 and older is projected to double by 2030 and this growth is expected to overlap with the population growth of people with disabilities. These trends represent just some of the issues facing health and human service providers that must be addressed with innovative approaches and collaborations not currently being used.

Gifts to the Endowment of $2,500 or more, during our inaugural year, will be recognized forever in United Way Endowment materials. If you are interested in learning more about the Endowment, please contact Beth Curtis at (312) 906-2457.