United Way of Southern Cameron County
Live United
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Southern Cameron County has one of the highest poverty rates in the United States. Everything we do is aimed at mitigating and changing that.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Financial Stability Partnership
The Financial Stability Partnership tackles the biggest problem in southern Cameron County: poverty. Nearly one-half of the children in our area live below the poverty line. The Financial Stability Partnership helps families increase income, save money and gain sustainable and appreciating assets for their financial security.
Partners for Postsecondary Success (All In)
All In is a partnership of local stakeholders committed to doubling the number of young adults who achieve postsecondary credentials with labor market value by 2025.
United Against Hunger
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected the people of the Rio Grande Valley. Most of our families live paycheck to paycheck, and when pandemic related furloughs began in March of 2020 requests for emergency food assistance grew exponentially week by week. We turned our focus to the best ways to get more food to more people more quickly. We hired furloughed restaurant workers to prepare, package and distribute food--using their unique skills and talents while supplementing their incomes. We have spent millions on food and workers to ensure that people all across the Rio Grande Valley have enough to eat.
Where we work
Awards
Common Good Award 2017
United Way Worldwide
Affiliations & memberships
Charity Navigator Four Star Charity 2021
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Earned Income Credits claimed at Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families
Related Program
Financial Stability Partnership
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Earned Income Credits help lower income working families. Our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites help families and individuals earning less than $56,000 complete and e-file their income taxes.
Number of tax returns completed by volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Men and boys, Adults
Related Program
Financial Stability Partnership
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The number of tax returns prepared by volunteers grew year over year until the pandemic. We now provide this service throughout Cameron and Willacy counties.
High School students certified by the IRS as Volunteer Tax Preparers.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Men and boys, Intersex people
Related Program
Partners for Postsecondary Success (All In)
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
High school students earn a postsecondary credential when they become IRS-certified tax preparers. These students prepare and file taxes, gaining career awareness and workplace skills.
Number of meals served or provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
United Against Hunger
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
The pandemic hit the Rio Grande Valley hard, and we saw food insecurity soar. We quickly created United Against Hunger to increase our capacity to get food to people quickly and efficiently.
Recovery services for victims of human trafficking
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Victims of human trafficking require legal services, counseling, housing and other supports to rebuild their lives.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
United Way of Southern Cameron County works to identify opportunities for real change in the fields of Education, Income and Health--the building blocks of a good life. We recruit people and organizations with the passion, expertise and resources to get things done. Partnerships are at the heart of our work, and many of our goals revolve around strengthening partnerships. Those goals include:
1. Double the number of young adults with postsecondary credentials with labor market value by the year 2025.
2. Increase the number of children who enter kindergarten ready to succeed in school.
3. Improve the financial stability of people in our community.
4. Improve the health of people in our community by reducing obesity and increasing physical activity.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
United Way of Southern Cameron County believes in the power of partnerships. We subscribe to the adage that "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
Our work to double the number of young adults with postsecondary credentials with labor market value by 2025 is accomplished through our high-capacity, cross-sector partnership, All In. Please visit AllInBrownsville.org to read all about the work of this partnership, which was established with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Increasing the number of children who enter school prepared to succeed is a long-term goal of United Way of Southern Cameron County. In 2001, we launched our Success By 6 initiative. In 2013 we completed the EDI (Early Development Inventory) of kindergarten children in southern Cameron County and have detailed data by neighborhood of the school readiness of our children. Community-based stakeholder groups are examining the data and creating strategic plans to improve the readiness of children in their neighborhoods.
Brownsville, Texas is one of the poorest communities in the United States, and increasing the financial stability of local residents is an important goal. For many years, United Way of Southern Cameron County has organized the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites in Cameron County, and in the most recent tax year more than $10 million in Earned Income Tax Credits, Child Tax Credits and tax refunds were returned to the people of Cameron County and Willacy County through these efforts. United Way of Southern Cameron County also worked to help create an alternative to payday and car title loans--a small dollar loan product that is offered through the workplace to help workers avoid predatory lenders and the spiral of debt that results from an emergency loan.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
United Way of Southern Cameron County is blessed with a strong and active Board of Directors, a volunteer base of over 300 people, and very experienced staff members.
Our work is known locally and nationally. We were one of three organizations in the country selected for the Partners for Postsecondary Success grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. MacKenzie Scott chose our organization as one of her 384 multi-million dollar grantees in 2020.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Every year our funded programs and collaborations affect over 100,000 people in our area.
* Local volunteers engage in virtual tutoring and mentoring with 2nd graders who are at risk of not reading on grade level by 3rd grade. This increases the reading levels of those 2nd graders and helps ensure school success.
* We are a pilot site for Bright By Text and distribute age-appropriate parenting and development guidance to nearly 800 parents via text message.
* College students in their final year are eligible to participate in paid internships to increase their chances for employment in demand occupations.
* We are one of four communities in the United States funded by United Way Worldwide to pilot strategies to respond to human trafficking.
*Our United Against Hunger initiative served over seven million meals during the pandemic, which was a time of greatly increased food insecurity in the Rio Grande Valley.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
United Way of Southern Cameron County
Board of directorsas of 06/19/2023
Mr. Francisco Lopez
IBC Bank
Term: 2022 - 2023
Rick Villarreal
Villarreal Dental Center
Frank Lopez
IBC Bank
Frank Acevedo
Valley Regional Medical Center
Juanita Hernandez
Wells Fargo Bank
Robin Cowen
Community Volunteer
Jaime Garcia
Zavaleta Realty Group
Pete Maldonado
Community Volunteer
Michael Limas
Michael J. Limas & Associates
Carlos Garza
Texas Regional Bank
Juan Loya
PNC Bank
Maribel Bermudez Guerrero
City of Brownsville
Elizabeth Ramirez
Valley Regional Medical Center
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 06/29/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.