The Facts

» Approximately 700,000 people in Southeast Michigan don’t know where their next meal is coming from. » Calls to United Way for Southeastern Michigan’s 2-1-1 call center are expected to top 400,000 in 2009, and the top requests are consistently for the basics like food and shelter. » Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the country. At the same time, the top request by individuals calling 2-1-1 was for food assistance – for the first time since the call center’s launch.

Helping Families With The Basics

We all share a stake helping our neighbors get help when they are struggling or in crisis. Every person we can transition away from dependence on some type of assistance and to a place where he or she can contribute to the community will help stabilize the region. To do this, we plan to:

• Improve access and navigation of health and human services
• Improve delivery of those services

Our Work

The United Way 2-1-1 call center is multi-lingual and available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to connect users to more than 10,000 resources as well as opportunities to volunteer or donate. The call center fielded over 300,000 calls in 2008. Learn more about this work.

2-1-1 On The Go! is a mobile 2-1-1 unit that helps homeless individuals become self-sufficient by helping them secure housing and employment. Learn more about this work.

The Emergency Food and Shelter Program awards federal funds to help local communities provide basic necessities to their residents. United Way chairs the local board, which has allocated more than $4 million to basic needs programs in the tri-county area.

Through our Food Initiative, we are working with partners to address the growing problem of hunger in our region. We’re working to expand the food distribution system, increase utilization of federal programs targeted toward low-income individuals, children and seniors, and expand those programs to serve more people. Learn more about this work.