United Way of Suwannee Valley is committed to working with local agencies to safeguard its stewardship responsibilities to investors and the community at large. This commitment requires that a delicate balance be maintained between the agencies’ autonomy and United Way of Suwannee Valley’s mission. United Way of Suwannee Valley invests only in services that measurably improve critical community need. United Way of Suwannee Valley and its agencies share a vital community responsibility for addressing human needs through a private and voluntary system of care. The United Way of Suwannee Valley believes that we can advance equity by strategically investing resources to address disparities in communities impacted by structural and institutional racism. United Way of Suwannee Valley’s support should reflect the diversity of the community it serves and benchmarking investments based on community demographics. Funding programs and agencies that address structural and systemic inequities are critical. This translates into investments in strategies that explicitly focus on eradicating racial/ethnic inequities based on institutional practices and policies that create and reinforce disparities in education, health, employment, criminal justice, housing and transportation. Volunteers work together to evaluate funding requests. The Community Investment Team (CIT) participates in site visits, study applications, and hears agency presentations.
Each year CIT volunteers research the best possible options for investing your donations. They make the decisions that help kids succeed in school, promote financial stability for families, and help people improve health indicators.
The team is comprised of diverse individuals who have a combination of the following skills: strategic planning, outcome measurement, community leadership and financial expertise. Each member personally reviews and score funding applications from local agencies.
The Community Investment process ensures wise investment of hard-earned dollars contributed to our campaign and is a rewarding experience for volunteers.
To ensure a fair allocations process, current employees of any program funded through UWSV’s allocation process are not eligible to participate in the CIT volunteer program.