UNITED WAY OF SOUTH TEXAS
LIVE UNITED
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Junior Staff Program/Boys and Girls Clubs
We are funding Junior Staff Programs at 7 Boys and Girls Clubs in our region. This program teaches youth responsibilities around specific assigned tasks. Some of the lessons include, punctuality, interpersonal and organizational skills, improved self esteem, and being positive roles models for the younger participants. The rewards for the Junior Staff include field trips, back to school supplies and clothing, and in some cases scholarships towards a Community College or a University.
Most of the youth involved come from extreme poverty and would not have opportunities described above.
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program
VITA is a free income tax preparation service helping local families who earn $60,000 or less. Volunteers are certified by the IRS to prepare and file taxes. Every year, there are 12 to 16 VITA sites throughout Hidalgo and Starr Counties available to residents for this assistance. During the 2021-2022 tax season, about 84 volunteers assisted 2,629 families. The families saved approximately $788,700 and received over $5.7 Million in returns.
Day of Caring "Project FreshStart"
United Way launched Day of Caring "Project FreshStart" in 2011 to provide school supplies for high school Freshmen. Since the start of this project, UWST has invested $292,761 for 31,600 Freshmen across 16 school districts in Hidalgo & Starr Counties. Every year, over 225 volunteers gather to assemble the bags of school supplies.
Leadership Program
United Way Youth Leadership Program empowers Juniors and Freshmen with leadership skills, soft skills, volunteer opportunities and financial literacy training. School counselors identify Freshmen to participate as mentees and Junior volunteers as mentors. In the past three years, 301 students have benefitted from the program.
Back to School "In Style" Shopping Spree
Every year, junior high students (approximately 125-150) from 16 school districts return to school "in style" with the help of United Way and Target Stores. United Way awards the same opportunity to every participating school district in Hidalgo & Starr Counties on a rotating basis. Each student receives a $125 to $150 gift card to purchase school clothing and personal hygiene items. Target donates backpacks with school supplies. Over 2,200 United Way supporters from companies that run United Way Employee Campaigns have volunteer as "Shopping Buddies" and help students select school attire.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of children who received school supplies
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Day of Caring "Project FreshStart"
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
The school social workers identify the most needy. 6-8 school districts out of 18 are rotated on an annual basis for the last 13 yrs. We are helping students start the year with much needed tools.
Number of low to moderate income families served for free tax preparation services.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Families, Retired people
Related Program
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Serve more families who invest their returns in paying bills and in the local economy. Saving families an average of $300 per year. Providing basic budgeting classes, starting savings accounts.
Number of transportation vouchers distributed.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Seniors, Unemployed people, Veterans
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
Conducted this program for 16 yrs. Help connect people to medical, job seeking/training and access social service agencies. This encourages self sufficiency and independence. Helps elderly, veterans
Number of children receiving back to school clothing.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Back to School "In Style" Shopping Spree
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Helps 150 middle school students yearly with new clothing, haircuts, hygiene products to help them fit in and stay in school and positive attitudes. Self esteem shows significant improvement.
Goals & Strategy
Learn 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?
The three specific goals are:
1) Build leading synergies to bridge gaps and services. Continue to identify resources to help partners and school districts deal with mental health, homelessness of student population, and food insecurity.
2) Maximize public relations platforms to expand United Way impact message; thus educating the community about available health and human services and volunteer opportunities.
3)Expand the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program to include finance literacy education tools to at least 50% of the projected 2,800 families served.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1) The Education Council, led by a Region One ESC Board Member and comprised of 8 school district representatives, meet to discuss issues of interest and gaps in services. We facilitate conversations that identify specific topics unique to Hidalgo and Starr Counties. Some of these concerns include the number of youth who are homeless due to deportation of undocumented parents. Children and youth are often left with a distant relative or a friend who do not want or cannot take on the responsibility of raising additional children. At one school district the Parental Involvement Director has identified over 170 youth who meet the description of "homelessness" but the families refuse to acknowledge their state of being for fear of deportation. These teens are alone, feeling abandoned and at risk of human trafficking. In addition, families of diverse financial backgrounds are struggling to put food on the table. In our community, this includes multiple generation households; as many as four living in one home. We are working with community leaders to find solutions.
2) The UW of So. TX. has established internal goals to increase messaging by on social media platforms . This alone informs more community members about our work, volunteer opportunities and their impact. A Volunteer Management Program was launched in 2015. The growth was steady, however, the pandemic reduced volunteer responses.
3) The United Way of South Texas expanded the VITA committee's responsibilities to include Financial Literacy and begin basic budgeting sessions to help clients set financial goals.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
With the leadership of the Board of Directors and staff executing strategies to accomplish these goals, we believe these goals can be met. Local businesses are engaged in the work and are committed to dedicating skills, talents and time to help the organization do the work. One additional staff member was added in December of 2022, for a total of eight full-time personnel. The new Administrative Specialist provides executive support to the four professional staff and Financial Stability Coordinator.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
For each goal, we either have a baseline, ie. number of children and youth dropping out as a result of homelessness, or number of families served thru VITA and Financial Literacy provided to them, and tracking volunteer hours dedicated to nonprofits in our region. Since these goals are overseen by United Way of South Texas, the numbers will demonstrate progress.
1) In addition, United Way is funding five food pantries in Hidalgo & Starr Counties, to help alleviate food insecurity. One pantry is located at a district in a very low income community.
2) The UW of So. TX. has increased messaging on social media platforms by 58%. This alone informs more community members about our work, volunteer opportunities and their impact. Staff is working on offering more training to non-profits and agencies that are interested in recruiting volunteers and using the Volunteer Management platform.
3) In 2022, financial literacy tools were provided to over 900 families, or 44% of clients.
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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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
We serve children, youth and adults. Low-to-moderate income households make up the majority of the population that benefit from United Way programs. However, not all programs funded by United Way are income-based. Clients are selected by Partner Agencies that offer the direct service or by social workers at school districts that we partner with to meet needs.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, 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 identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
Recently, we changed our method of providing services to our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program clients. Instead of serving clients on a first come first serve basis, we required for all clients to have an appointment. This change was due to address the concern of clients and volunteers for their safety. This new method limited the number of clients we were able to serve this year, but it ensured that those who signed up with time were able to get the service they needed and meet the IRS deadline to file their taxes.
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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 look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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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 SOUTH TEXAS
Board of directorsas of 04/19/2023
Ms. Blanca I. Villalobos
International Bank of Commerce
Term: 2022 - 2023
Edna Garcia
Security Service Federal Credit Union
Tyler Stone
RIOCO
Lisa Killion
Forged Technology Solutions
Dr. D'uAndre Drain
GE Aviation
Elvira I Alonzo
City of McAllen
Lisa Garza
RGV Sector USBP/Fleet Mgmt
Larry Gonzalez
Plains Capital Bank
Robert Rosell
Self-employed
Michelle Quiroz
Reserva Coffee Roasters
Dr. J.A. Gonzalez
McAllen I.S.D.
Gerardo Paz
South Texas Federal Credit Union
Cris Moncayo
Vantage Bank Texas
Benita Mendell
AIM Media- The Monitor
Annette S Garcia
Region One ESC
Robert McGurk
Greater State Bank
Miles Bullion
Halff Associates, Inc
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:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 04/10/2023GuideStar 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 disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- 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 use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- 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.