Greetings,
Since 1974, United Way of the National Capital Area has been supporting our region’s nonprofits and helping to improve the lives of our residents. Some 34 years later, we are still here because there is still work to be done. In the midst of our vibrant and growing region, many of our residents still struggle with rising housing, health care, and transportation costs. We still see communities with poverty levels and obesity rates that far exceed national averages. In a regional economy that requires many highly skilled and educated workers, many residents still struggle with basic skills and work supports that will help move them into these jobs.
I am honored, humbled, and energized all at the same time by the prospect of positioning this organization to better meet those challenges. As we begin a new era for UWNCA, we intend to focus in a whole new way on our region’s greatest needs – affordable housing, health and wellness, youth development, and the human services safety net for our most vulnerable citizens. We want to be part of the solutions that create healthy, livable, and sustainable communities.
We plan to maximize our role as funder, convener, collaborator, and community partner. Because we serve in all of these capacities, we are well suited to promote efficiencies by encouraging collaboration between nonprofits and other partners, to facilitate sharing knowledge and best practices, and to promote the kind of growth and capacity-building in our region’s nonprofit sector that will specifically address the needs we have all identified as the most pressing. Moreover, we are well-suited to bring partners to the table from every sector, ensuring that we leverage a full range of resources. UWNCA can be the bridge between problems and solutions; between solutions and impact; between impact and change. This is how we LIVE UNITED.
With the help of a selfless and dedicated staff, hundreds of volunteers in each of the eight jurisdictions we serve, and hundreds of agency partners, UWNCA is able to touch thousands of lives. It is what we have always done. Under my leadership, it is what we will continue to do. And with you, we will do it with intelligence, with urgency, and with compassion.
All the best,
Angela R. Woods
Interim CEO
United Way of the National Capital Area
