Annual Report

To Our Community,

For almost 75 years, United Way has been at work in McLean County helping people overcome life's challenges and become independent.  For many of those years, we improved lives by investing in a network of agency programs across the county.  Our community needed this safety net of services to help families close the gap during times of economic hardship.

Over the years, our community has grown much more complex – and so have our issues.  Today we are dealing with systemic challenges that can’t be solved by any one agency or program alone.  What was once merely a resource gap has become, in many ways, a leadership gap.  So today, in addition to funding the most effective agency programs, United Way of McLean County is working to advance the common good by creating opportunities for a good life for everyone.  We are focused on the building blocks for a better life:  education, income and health. 

United Way is taking a leadership role in convening community officials, businesses, health and human service experts and others, to understand the issues impacting these critical areas.  Then we fund the network of programs that can best address those issues - or we launch new initiatives that will.  We hold ourselves and all of our partner programs accountable for delivering results.

United Way of McLean County is alive with activity, and our community is being changed for the better.  Your United Way is working.  And with your ongoing partnership, we will continue to provide the leadership and resources it takes to improve the lives of people across McLean County.  Thanks for working with us.

Don Fernandes, Board Chair 2009/2010