The Community Fund

When you donate to United Way of York Region, your money goes into the Community Fund—a pool of donations that draws on the combined strength of donors like you to strengthen individuals, families and communities by supporting services that improve peoples’ lives. In addition to meeting the critical needs of our agencies working in the frontlines, the Community Fund goes beyond treating the symptoms of social problems in the region and addresses root causes.

Your donation supports a network of close to 100 programs providing vital social services to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the region—single parents, abused women, young children and teenagers, the elderly, the physically challenged, the homeless, and the many new immigrants who need help to realize their dreams of a better life in Canada.

United Way is the only major funding organization that delivers significant core operating support to social service agencies. This base support of funding provides stability and allows agencies the flexibility to develop and respond to emerging needs of the communities they serve. In addition to core funding, United Way of York Region supports several grant initiatives such as the Expansionary Program Fund, the New Program Fund, the Enhancement Fund and the Strength Investments Fund.

Over 35 years of community investment expertise

Annual investment decisions are determined by United Way of York Region’s research and managed through an intense volunteer review process.  Our annual allocation process is overseen by the Community Investment Committee (CIC), a volunteer committee of the Board of Directors.

Each year, volunteers from across the region contribute hundreds of hours of their time and insight to our Community Review Panels.  They visit United Way funded programs and agencies, review governance, finances and outcomes, and make recommendations to the CIC and the Board on how donor dollars should be invested to best meet community needs.

Expansionary Program Fund
The Expansionary Program Fund provides funding to member agencies to expand existing UWYR funded programs. This fund rewards continuous program improvement and addresses the need for an agency to increase their service outputs to meet client demand.

New Program Fund
This fund welcomes new agencies and supports new programs for existing member agencies by investing in programs not currently funded by UWYR. The New Program Fund provides agencies the opportunity to address emerging needs, respond to changes in funders’ criteria, develop services that match current demand and align with UWYR funding priorities.

Enhancement Fund
At the discretion of the CIC and availability of dollars, this stream provides cost of living inflation enhancement to funded programs. All member agencies that are meeting or exceeding UWYR expectations are eligible to receive an increase to their Community Fund allocation.

Strength Investments Fund
Strength Investments is a new funding initiative that builds civic muscle and supports informal voluntary networks of caring in communities. This funding provides financial and leadership help to volunteer groups, associations, and existing collaboratives to fulfill their mandates. Strength Investments supports projects that: 1. bring residents, community, business, faith groups and agencies together; 2. work on simple and collaborative responses to complex social issues; and 3. clearly show the impact of the project on community priorities. Read more here.

For more information about our funding process, please contact Andrea Wong, Community Investment Manager at awong@uwyr.on.ca or call 905-474-9974 ext. 225.