NEW ORLEANS – United Way of Southeast Louisiana (UWSELA) opened Monday the application period for its second cycle of collaborative grant funding to address poverty in the region.
The collaborative grants are designed to support groups of relevant stakeholders taking a collaborative approach to addressing outcomes outlined by UWSELA’s Blueprint for Prosperity.
“United Way’s mission of eradicating poverty is purposefully bold,” said Michael Williamson, UWSELA CEO and President. “We recognize that moving the needle on poverty will take not only programmatic funding but also systemic change driven by cross-sector collaborative efforts aimed at addressing the root causes of poverty in our region.”
Eligible collaboratives can take many forms depending on the issue and stakeholders involved. Examples of collaboratives include:
- Advocacy coalition: advocating for policy change
- Affinity group: sharing knowledge
- Funder collaborative: pooling resources
- Project partnership: creating a new program model
- Service provider network: referring clients and providing coordinated services
- Collective impact: cross-sector collaborative on systems change
Any collaborative located in UWSELA’s seven-parish region and focused on addressing one or more the Blueprint’s outcomes is encouraged to apply. The collaborative must be in one of the following stages: planning, infrastructure, implementation, or continuous improvement.
Collaboratives organized for primarily religious, educational institutions, fraternal, governmental, political, cultural, and animal welfare purposes are not eligible for funding through UWSELA; however, collaboratives may include these organizations as long as they have a fiscal agent that is a 501(c)3.
UWSELA is offering two free training sessions in October to provide additional education on the collaborative grants process. Registration is available online at UnitedWaySELA.org/Grant-Opportunities.
- Northshore: Friday, October 25, 2019; at Northshore Pastoral Center, 4465 Hwy 190 East Service Rd., Covington; 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
- Southshore: Monday, October 28; at UWSELA, 2515 Canal St., New Orleans; 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.
UWSELA’s grant-making is rooted in addressing the complex interplay of symptoms and drivers of poverty in the region. In its first collaborative grant funding cycle, which started in 2017, UWSELA allocated $500,000 in funding to the following seven collaboratives comprised of public, private, and nonprofit partners:
- Ending Homelessness Through Systems Change
- Louisiana Prisoner Re-entry Initiative (LA-PRI)
- New Orleans Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
- New Orleans Trauma-Informed Schools Learning Collaborative (TISLC)
- New Orleans Works (NOW)
- New Orleans Youth Program Quality Initiative (NOLA-YPQI)
- YouthForce NOLA
Existing and budding working groups are encouraged to apply for the second cycle of collaborative grant funding by 11:59 p.m. on December 16, 2019. Interested parties can download an application packet online to review a checklist of documents required for submission.
Please contact TapB@UnitedWaySELA.org or 504-827-6827 with questions on qualifying collaborations and/or the application process.
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About United Way of Southeast Louisiana
For more than 95 years, United Way of Southeast Louisiana (UWSELA) has been a leader and trusted partner in improving lives and making a lasting difference. We fight to eradicate poverty by preparing people for quality jobs, growing incomes, and affording better health and education opportunities throughout Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes. We have a bold vision of equitable communities where all individuals are healthy, educated, and financially stable – and we have a plan. United Way of Southeast Louisiana’s Blueprint for Prosperity guides all strategic investments in programs, initiatives, collaborations, volunteerism, and advocacy aimed at tackling poverty. For more information, please visit UnitedWaySELA.org. Find us on social: @UnitedWaySELA.
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