An award of $67,420 will support United Way’s work to create and grow a network of partners that prioritize and lift the community’s voice in solving local challenges and creating impact in Southwest Michigan.
United Way of Southwest Michigan is one of 57 grant awardees across the state who were selected by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund to take part in the 2022 Community Health Impact Grant Project focused on empowering community health organizations to build impactful collaborations, expand capacity, and respond to critical community health challenges.
Heather Cole, Director of Advocacy and Public Innovation at United Way, will be overseeing the project. “We’re so thankful to the Health Fund for supporting this project. This award will help create more leaders and grow a network of people and organizations who center their work on serving the aspirations of the community,” she said.
The fund’s Community Health Impact program supports health-focused, community-based organizations with bold ideas to address health challenges. United Way of Southwest Michigan’s bold idea is “Building a Network of Turned-Outward Organizations.”
“Turning outward” is a step-by-step process developed by The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, an organization working to stimulate community-led change. “Turning outward” entails taking steps to better understand communities, changing processes and thinking to make conversations more community-focused, being proactive to community issues, and putting community aspirations first. United Way of Southwest Michigan is committed to building a “Turned-Outward” network in our community.
Through UWSM’s partnership with The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, this grant will bring training, resources, and support to United Way and its partners over the next two years.
“United Way has been working with Rich Harwood and the Harwood Institute for several years now. Rich is a wonderful leader and is dedicated to transforming communities and building empathetic, skilled leaders who can help people unleash their potential to create better lives for their families and neighbors,” said Anna Murphy, President & CEO of United Way of Southwest Michigan.
