FUNDING PARTNERSHIPS

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - in May 2012 Spokane County United Way received a four year $700,000 grant from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support its overarching goals of reducing intergenerational poverty.
The grant will be used to allocate money through community defined strategies, including education supports for children and youth, assistance in reaching self-sufficiency for families and other strategies that build stronger communities.
“This grant affirms our work with many partners in this community to advance the common good by recognizing how better educational outcomes improve income and health outcomes for all,” said Tim Henkel, President and CEO of Spokane County United Way. “By partnering with others we can positively engage families today and change the future for children.” Read press release
Raikes Foundation - In the spring of 2012 United Way entered into a new partnership with this Seattle-based foundation to support and expand the use of the Youth Program Quality Assessment (YPQA) in Spokane County. This research-validated and field-tested tool is designed to evaluate the quality of youth programs and support continuous improvement practices.
Empire Health Foundation –  The Empire Health Foundation has made a capacity building investment in United Way that is intended to enhance our community’s ability to create meaningful social change through collective action.  Grounded in research on the social determinants of health, this work will complement  other efforts by United Way and Empire Health Foundation to improve education and health outcomes in Spokane County.
Department of Commerce – The Washington State Department of Commerce provides funds to United Way to support the asset development work of the CASH Coalition including Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and free tax preparation; Bank-On; and financial education.
Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) - The local process to allocate federal funds to Spokane County social service agencies through the Emergency Food and Shelter Program funds is managed by United Way. These federal funds are used to meet the needs of hungry and homeless people in our community, as well as those at risk of becoming homeless due to an emergency or economic downturn.
In 2011 the local EFSP Board awarded a total of $210,043 in federal funds to fourteen local agencies that provide food, shelter, rental and utility assistance to people in need.  The EFSP Board is made up of volunteers who represent local agencies, the faith community, people who were formerly homeless and the ethnic diversity of Spokane.  These volunteers are responsible for managing the application, review and decision-making process to award federal funds.