United Way of New York State

Our goal is to have vibrant, effective United Ways serving the state of New York.

Our goal with 2-1-1 is to provide accurate, up-to-date referrals for services that people are looking for in their communities.

Our goal for ALICE is to increase the number of households in New York that are above the household survival budget level.

UWNYS strives to meet our goals in the following ways:

Public Policy and Advocacy:
We advocate for inclusion of 2-1-1 New York in the NYS executive budget each year, to provide the baseline third of the system-wide funding required to operate 24/7/365 statewide.
We partner with effective entities to advocate for expansion of Earned Income Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits to strenthen the financial stability of hard working New Yorkers, and the mitigate against children in poverty.
We support efforts to expand access to child care and early childhood supports to improve the wellbeing of children ages 0-5 in NYS.

ALICE NY Convening:
We procure a data study from the National ALICE project, and coordinate a steering committee, research advisory committee and marketing committee to leverage this resource.
We engage local United Ways in learning and sharing opportunities to make further impact in reducing the number of ALICE households in NY.
We present the data at statewide, regional and local events to raise awareness and engage collaborations around these goals.

Training and Technical Assistance
We provide ongoing training and TA to members to strengthen their work.
We coordinate an annual conference to showcase best practices, build the network resiliency and move local United Ways along stronger business models.

UWNYS has two professional staff leading the work on behalf of our members. Mary Shaheen has 26+ years with United Way of New York State and oversaw the development of 2-1-1 New York from an information and referral task force. Brenda Episcopo brings 20+ years of non-profit experience, and former leadership of a local United Way to her lense of assisting members.

With $1.25M from the state of New York each year, we are able to engage one third of the funding required for the network to operate 211 statewide 24/7/365. We have a strong network of 10 lead organizations and 8 contact centers operating this work. 2-1-1 NY Board oversees the efforts and strategic plans for the future.

With investments from local United Ways and other partners, we are able to engage the ALICE data report. Our steering committee, marketing committee and research advisory committee ensure accuracy and ability to leverage this data.

Our board of directors is comprised of members and non-members and engages in the goals of the organization.

As a membership organization, UWNYS will always have a role in moving the work of United Ways forward.

One big accomplishment was obtaining 24/7/365 statewide coverage by 2-1-1 in 2017. Next, we are working toward a statewide platform that brings together the data of 10 lead organizations and 8 contact centers.

An accomplishment in measuring financial wellbeing of New Yorkers was the engagement in ALICE. Next, we will launch an updated report, enhanced interactive website, election guide, social media guide and mapping of facilities and indicators of well being in July 2020.