United Way in the News

Mayor Brandon Johnson, alongside the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) Commissioner, Dr. Olusimbo Ige and the Mayor’s Office of Reentry director Joseph Mapp and United Way of Metro Chicago announced a $600,000 investment in a new microgrant that will support Chicago organizations who are working to expand mental health care and other wraparound supports for formerly incarcerated people.

As part of Giving Tuesday,1,500 food kits were assembled Dec. 2 at Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation and soon will be distributed to households who need them. United Way of Metro Chicago and BMO organized the effort. The food will go to those who are in need in the community, according to Darnell Shields, executive director of Austin Coming Together, which is based at the Aspire Center and helped to open the building.

This Giving Tuesday kicks off BMO’s 15th Annual Employee Giving Campaign where they team up with United Way. U.S. Chief Executive Officer of BMO Darrel Hackett and President & CEO of United Way of Metro Chicago Sean Garrett joined WGN's Daytime Chicago to share more on the power of coming together to strengthen communities.

BMO volunteers coordinated by United Way of Metro Chicago came to the Aspire Center in the Austin neighborhood and spent hours fulfilling a need on Giving Tuesday.

BMO volunteers coordinated by United Way were packing food kits on Tuesday morning. They say the need for help in the form charitable donations on this Giving Tuesday is more important than ever. "Just over the last couple months, we've seen people struggling in a way that I haven't seen before," said Kimberlee Guenther with United Way.

United Way of Metro Chicago Chief Impact Officer Kimberlee Guenther joined Greater Chicago Food Depository CEO Kate Maehr on WTTW's Chicago Tonight to discuss rising food insecurity, the latest data from 2-1-1, and how United Way is responding.

United Way of Metro Chicago announced the launch of its Response Fund and disbursement of $250,000 in grant funding to 24 organizations to immediately address food insecurity across the Chicago region. The fund was created to rapidly deploy resources to community-based organizations addressing urgent and emerging needs.

Leaders from several nonprofits and community groups joined Mayor Brandon Johnson at the Aspire Center for Workforce Innovation in Austin, including United Way of Metro Chicago. VP of Strategic Initiatives Jackie Rosa put into context how much the need for food assistance has grown in the last month. "When we look at food requests for the first two weeks of November as compared to the first two weeks of October, 2-1-1 experienced an increase of 149% in food assistance requests," she said.

211 Metro Chicago Executive Director Richard LaPratt joined Cleopatra Draper on WVON 1690AM to discuss the impact of SNAP cuts, increased needs, and how 2-1-1 can help. Listen to the interview at 1:04:00-1:20:48.

The EY Chicago Office Managing Partner will oversee a committee of fellow corporate leaders who will drive the next year of workplace giving — and inspire greater impact in our communities.