United Way has been part of Halifax for nearly 100 years. Many people know us for our workplace fundraising campaigns or the programs we fund in community. We’re proud of our history, helping donors give back to their community and ensuring front-line charitable organizations can continue doing critical work to support people experiencing poverty, homelessness and social isolation. However, the United Way of today is so much more.
United Way Halifax brings donors, volunteers, and partners together to create lasting social change. We provide funding, lead projects, and advocate for change, all with the goal of building a more inclusive community free of poverty.
Over the past few years, we’ve leaned hard into our organization’s values of respect, trust, adaptability, compassion, and collaboration. And the results have shown that when we work together and align our goals with other organizations, we can do incredible things.
We worked with other United Ways, donors, businesses, and government to manage millions of dollars in COVID-19 relief, disbursing the funds to more than 70 charitable organizations in Halifax. Together, we ensured people had access to nutritious food, safe housing, connection, mental health support, and transportation.
In 2021, United Way Halifax was recognized as the first Not-For-Profit of the Year at the Halifax Business Awards. We were honoured and thrilled to be recognized and to see the not-for-profit sector represented. We’ve often advocated on behalf of the sector, highlighting the incredible value it generates for our economy.
As social advisor to the Halifax Partnership, we work together to champion inclusive economic growth across HRM and help businesses advance their corporate social responsibility goals. The best version of Halifax is one that’s thriving economically and socially. By collaborating with the business community in new and evolving ways, we hope to get closer to that vision.
In the fall of 2021, we published our first-ever Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) report, and established our first organizational EDI goals. EDI have been part of our work for a long time, but we have recently become more deliberate in our efforts. From examining our board recruitment practices, to hosting staff learning sessions, to considering how to be a more equitable funder, we’re taking definitive steps to make sure we’re always considering our work and our advocacy through an EDI lens.
While you’ll always see us running workplace campaigns and funding community organizations, we hope you’ll continue to see us in other places too: building connections, relationships, and long-term solutions to help our community grow inclusively and equitably. For up-to-date information on projects, partnerships, community issues, and inspiring stories, please visit us online: www.unitedwayhalifax.ca.
The Pitch is provided free of charge to non-profit organizations each issue. If your organization is interested in being featured, contact us at info@myeastcoastexperience.com.
