United Way: How it started. How it’s going.
by Ann Murtlow, president & CEO of United Way of Central Indiana
I love these memes on social media. “How it started. How it’s going.” places two images side-by-side, simply showing the passage of time (or sometimes, the lack thereof). Many times, these images poke fun at a before-and-after moment.?Some are poignant, charting the course of a relationship. My favorites are the pet memes — cute puppies come home (How it started) and then puppies doing not-so-cute things like getting in the garbage (How it’s going).?
How it started. How it’s going. It’s also the perfect concept to use when I speak about United Way.
Crisis then. Crisis now.?
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How it started. United Way began as an innovative idea to unite a community’s philanthropy to support relief agencies, especially those serving the basic needs of adults and children who were stricken with and affected by tuberculosis — the major health emergency during the late 19th century.?By 1918, the United Way movement spread to Indianapolis, and the city’s civic and corporate leaders raised millions of dollars in one campaign on the steps of Monument Circle to support those vulnerable to crisis – especially in the height of a world war and the deadly flu epidemic.?
How it’s going. Today, United Way is proud to play a pivotal role in our community’s emergency response to the health and economic effects of COVID-19. In partnership with trusted funding partners Lilly Endowment, Central Indiana Community Foundation, Richard M Fairbanks Foundation, Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust and Lilly Corporate Foundation, we raised money for the first-of-its-kind economic relief fund to provide food, housing supports, childcare and mental health services in our community. United Way convened direct service organizations all across our region to problem solve in the face of emerging and unpredictable challenges, make safety improvements to facilities during the pandemic, and to upgrade technology for our “new virtual normal.”?
Back then, United Way was made to respond to crisis, and today, it still rings true.?