UNITED WAY OF SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in every community. We have the influence and relationships to make sustainable change a reality. By harnessing resources from corporate, nonprofit, and public partners, we provide immediate assistance to our most vulnerable populations while addressing the root causes of our community’s longstanding challenges and changing lives for the better.

To join the fight - through giving, advocacy, and volunteering - contact us at info@uwsm.org.

What's Trending

Are you ready to ROCK THE BOAT?!?

Whirlpool Corporation’s 4th Annual Rock the Boat cardboard boat race takes place on Thursday, July 18 at 5 p.m. at The Inn at Harbor Shores. For this summer’s event, there will be a record 75 boats!

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Coming in August: Cass County School Supply Spectacular!

United Way of Southwest Michigan is proud to partner with businesses and organizations in Cass County to present the School Supply Spectacular. This annual event will provide backpacks with age-appropriate school supplies to low-income students throughout Cass County.

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Everything was at risk.

Angelica Hatchew was having trouble making ends meet while she was on early maternity leave for health reasons from her job at Lyons Industries in Dowagiac. Five months pregnant and with two other children, she was afraid of losing her home. “Everything was at risk,” Angelica says. “I was at the bottom of the bottom.” That’s when she met Nancy Miller, a success coach at The LINK, a program at United Way-funded partner Kinexus. “She was my backbone,” Angelica says. Nancy counseled and reassured Angelica, evaluated her situation and informed her of her options. She helped Angelica connect to disability assistance and utility bill extensions. She directed her to mobile food pantries and ways to get her kids school clothes. After Angelica’s son was born, Nancy saw to it that the newborn received medical insurance.

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United We Win.

WHY ME? It’s natural for people to ask when their lives and livelihoods hang in the balance. There’s no single answer to that question. But United Way does everything humanly possible to provide responses and solutions that protect, improve and empower lives around Southwest Michigan. Whether it's through volunteerism, our strong nonprofit sector, or community-wide initiatives, change is happening in a big way.

We may be wrapping up our 75th year serving Southwest Michigan, but we’re excited to to begin the next 75. Without the support from our community, we couldn't do the work that we do. But, there is still so much work to be done. Please join the fight. Because change doesn’t happen alone. Hope isn’t a one man band. And there’s no such thing as self-taught or self-made.

We have one life. To live better, we must LIVE UNITED.

View our 2017 Annual Report →