Exciting news of a merger of United Way in Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent.
The announcement was made Wednesday at the Tilbury Information & HELP Centre of the unification between the two organizations.
It was announced that it will now be known as United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex Chatham-Kent, and will expand the service to those in need.
While the two organizations are joining forces, both will stay at their current locations, and donations raised will remain in their current municipality.
The decision to unify was born from more than a year of discussions about the long-term strategy for United Way locally, and to increase positive community impact across Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent.
Lorraine Goddard, CEO for United Way/Centraide Windsor-Essex Chatham-Kent, says both organizations are pleased with the unification.
"We think this is a fabulous opportunity for both of our communities, it will strengthen the capacity of United Way to have greater impact in our communities, support more people, and create efficiencies as well."
She says this merger comes from United Way of Canada who are working to strengthen the organizations across the country.
"Problems are more complex, so we really need the talent and the resources to be able to really solve some problems in our community. And so, they embarked on a journey to create more collaborations, mergers, and unification's," Goddard says. "I can happily say that we went from around 110, we are now at 58 United Way's across the country."
Goddard adds that it was important for donations raised in Chatham-Kent and funds raised in Windsor-Essex stay in their respective municipalities.
"We will be able to track how much dollars are raised, and then with the community identify what are the needs in the community, and then create those solutions to start to tackle those challenges."
She says there will be no job losses in the community with this merger.
United Way will also launch a reinvigorated fundraising campaign in Chatham-Kent this year to engage more workplaces and donors.
The two organizations will officially become one on July 1, 2024.
United Way is dedicated to eliminating child-poverty and aims to help kids succeed by supporting families, giving children support in and out of school, and building a skilled local workforce.