Accelerate Magazine October 2020

WAUKESHA COUNTY BUSINESS ALLIANCE, INC. | WAUKESHA.ORG COVID-19 has changed the lives of everyone in one way or another. Whether it’s converting the spare bedroom into an office or adapting the kitchen into a classroom, families in our community found new ways to stay safe and healthy and still keep their lives in motion. Yet for some, the pandemic only added to the challenges they were already facing every single day. We watched as companies made tough business decisions. Jobs were furloughed or lost. Evictions skyrocketed. Parents wondered how they would continue to feed their families. Many of UnitedWay’s nonprofit agency partners remained open during the early days of the pandemic, offering essential services and supplies to individuals and families in need throughout our communities, including Waukesha County. As the pandemic grew, so did their needs: food, medical and cleaning supplies, support for staffing, especially at shelters…the list went on and on. It was then that our phones started to ring. We received call after call from people asking how they could help, wondering what they could do. So many in our community quickly began looking for an organization to support during this crisis. And they didn’t hesitate in their choice. They turned to UnitedWay. UnitedWay was built for times like this. We’ve been doing this for over 100 years. We’re connected to some amazing agencies. We can mobilize action quickly. And donors know they can absolutely trust us with their dollars. Quite simply, people know UnitedWay gets things done. Since March, we’ve focused our efforts on some key initiatives: COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund. We look at the staggering list of items and UNITED WAY UNITED WAY WAS BUILT FOR TIMES LIKE THIS AMY LINDNER President & CEO, UnitedWay of Greater Milwaukee &Waukesha County Over 60 nonprofits received support from United Way's COVID-19 Urgent Needs Fund. Agencies received food items, cleaning supplies, PPE, diapers, digital no-touch thermometers, personal hygiene products, and more. 14