Recap from United Way’s recent Racial Justice Community Gathering
UNITED WAY’S LAUNCH OF THE RACIAL JUSTICE FUND
United Way envisions a community where every child succeeds in school and life. But we cannot reach this vision without recognizing and addressing racial injustice, allowing impacted communities to identify solutions, and investing deeply in this work.
So last October, under guidance and leadership from our advisory council, United Way launched the Racial Justice Fund, aimed at advancing racial justice through community-led solutions, and have since raised $56,000 so far.
Since then, we have collected surveys, hosted listening sessions, held youth and elder gatherings, and had one-to-one conversations with people of color in our communities. We are so grateful to all who shared their time, their hopes, and their ideas with us.
“What we heard from the community wasn’t just about challenges they were facing, but we also heard a lot of ideas that we could use to move the needle, and actually, as our mission states, create opportunities for a better life for our communities of color. These ideas centered around ways to build power, create access, increase influence, and establish wealth within our communities of color.”
Collina Beard with her family at the Racial Justice Community Gathering
RACIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATES GATHER TO HEAR UPDATES
Collina speaking at the Racial Justice Community Gathering
A few weeks ago, we hosted our Racial Justice Community Gathering at the Eugene Science Center. Over 100 community members gathered to hear an update on the Fund, as well as enjoy local food from Yardy, IRIE Jamaican Kitchen, and The Bold Flavor, hear live music performed by the local jazz group The Invisible Arts Project, and participate in art projects facilitated by local artists Helen Liu and Lola Buckwald.
“Our Racial Justice Community Gathering was really to celebrate our BIPOC community, and to share what we’ve been doing over the past few months, what we’ve learned so far as well as to announce what will be happening next,” said Collina Beard, the Racial Justice Advisory Council Co-Chair.
NEXT STEPS
When it comes to making grants, it is clear we need to intentionally remove barriers in the application process. And that is exactly what we intend to do.
“Through our community engagement efforts, we also heard that the United Way always or only funds the usual suspects. In hearing that constructive feedback, the UW recognizes that we have more work to do in expanding our partnerships, and we have to be intentional in removing any actual or perceived barriers in the investment process.”
Community members at the Racial Justice Community Gathering
We are excited to announce that in January 2023, we will launch an open application process to invest the first round of racial justice funding back into our community.
In the meantime, we will work hard to ensure anyone and everyone who has an idea in mind for these funds has a chance to apply, and we will continue seeking feedback to shape the fund.
This will include:
targeted outreach to organizations who have never applied for United Way funding
hosting several learning sessions with individuals and organizations about the application process to make sure applicants feel prepared to be successful
Thanks to everyone who joined us for this event, has donated, shared feedback, hopes and dreams, and more! We are excited to share more details soon.
In the meantime, sign up for our Racial Justice email list here and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn for the latest updates. You can also view more photos from the Racial Justice Community Gathering here, and check out KLCC’s recent article about the Gathering here.
