OUR MISSION + VISION
Mission
United Way of Leavenworth County brings people together to strengthen our community by connecting generous people and organizations with opportunities to create lasting local impact.
Vision
A Leavenworth County where every individual and family has the opportunity to thrive.
WHAT DRIVES US
For more than 70 years, United Way of Leavenworth County has been bringing our community together to solve local challenges. Through partnerships with nonprofit organizations, businesses, schools, governments, and generous community members, we invest in programs that improve lives across Leavenworth County.
While our community has changed over the decades, our purpose has remained the same: bringing people together to create lasting, positive change.
Today, we continue building on that legacy by supporting local nonprofit partners, connecting volunteers with meaningful opportunities, expanding access to community resources, and investing in solutions that help every resident thrive.
HOW WE SHOW UP IN COMMUNITY
At United Way of Leavenworth County, we take action to create change at all levels, both immediate and long-term. Whether it’s through grants, advocacy, or community programs, we focus on addressing the core issues that hinder people from reaching their potential.
Empowering Through Grants
We believe local organizations are often best positioned to understand and respond to the needs of the people they serve. Through our Community Impact Grants, United Way invests in nonprofit organizations and community partners working throughout Leavenworth County. These investments help strengthen programs, expand access to essential resources, and support solutions that make our community healthier, stronger, and more resilient.
Connecting Our Community
Some of the most meaningful change happens when people come together. United Way works throughout Leavenworth County to connect residents, businesses, nonprofits, volunteers, and community leaders around shared needs and opportunities. Whether we are participating in community events, connecting families with resources, supporting outreach efforts, convening partners, or helping organizations work together, our goal is to build connections that make it easier for people to find help, get involved, and strengthen their community.
Advocacy for Systemic Change
Meeting immediate needs matters but lasting change also requires understanding why those needs exist. United Way helps bring attention to challenges affecting Leavenworth County, including the realities facing ALICE households and families struggling to afford the basics. By sharing local data, elevating community needs, convening partners, and encouraging collaborative solutions, we help move conversations beyond short term assistance toward stronger systems and long term community stability.
OUR HISTORY
Since 1956, United Way of Leavenworth County has been bringing people, organizations, businesses, and resources together to strengthen our community.
For seven decades, our work has evolved as the needs of Leavenworth County have changed. What has remained constant is the belief that we can accomplish more when we work together. Generations of local donors, volunteers, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and community leaders have helped make that work possible.
Throughout our history, United Way has served as a trusted community partner, raising and investing local dollars, supporting organizations doing critical work, connecting people to resources, and helping our community respond to emerging needs.
Today, we continue that legacy while looking toward the future. Our work focuses on four key areas: Healthy Community, Youth Opportunity, Financial Security, and Community Resiliency. We are working to better understand local needs, strengthen partnerships across the county, bring new resources into our community, and create opportunities for lasting change.
The challenges facing families today may look different than they did in 1956, but the idea at the heart of United Way remains the same:
When we come together, our entire community becomes stronger.
LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE
As United Way of Leavenworth County looks toward its next chapter, we are building on 70 years of community support while reimagining what it means to serve our community. Raising and investing local dollars will always be an important part of our work, but we believe United Way can do even more.
Our future is focused on becoming a stronger convener, connector, capacity builder, and catalyst for change across Leavenworth County. That means bringing organizations and community leaders together around shared challenges, helping strengthen the capacity of local nonprofits, using data to better understand where gaps exist, developing collaborative solutions, and working to bring new resources and opportunities into our county.
We are also investing in our own capacity so United Way can better serve the community for decades to come. Through strategic planning, stronger systems, deeper partnerships, improved data and impact measurement, and increased community engagement, we are building an organization that can respond to today's needs while preparing for tomorrow's challenges.
Most importantly, we want to be more directly engaged in the work happening throughout Leavenworth County. We do not want to simply raise money and distribute it. We want to be at the table when challenges are identified, help bring the right people together, support solutions as they develop, and measure whether our collective efforts are creating meaningful change.
The next chapter of United Way of Leavenworth County is about more than what one organization can accomplish. It is about building the capacity of an entire community to solve problems together so every neighbor can thrive.