SB NON-PROFIT SPOTLIGHT
BY URSULA BRANTLEY
areas: education, income, and health. They bring together community leaders, various businesses, government agencies, and NGO’s to discuss the most pressing matters in local communities and how they can positively impact those issues. United Way of Northwest Louisiana has been serving the residents of our local communities since 1921. Their programs have provided opportunities for those who may have never been given a chance had United Way not been there.
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or 134 years the United Way organization has been a life changer and life saver for millions of people around the world. It was 1887 in the city of Denver when Frances Wisebart Jacobs, the Rev. Myron W. Reed, Msgr. William J. O’Ryan, Dean H. Martyn Hart and Rabbi William S. Friedman gave birth to the idea of an organization that would provide much needed assistance and bring hope to the communities of Denver. What began as a movement to help one city would eventually become the world’s largest, privately funded, non-profit organization. United Way has thousands of chapters in 41 countries striving to advance the common good through three key
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APRIL 2021
| SBMAG.NET
United Way of Northwest Louisiana has offices in Shreveport and Minden and offers a variety of services to anyone regardless of financial situation. However, their target demographic can be summed up in one acronym, ALICE. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE households are homes where financial stability is a dream because the breadwinners of the family are barely making ends meet. They are lucky to make it paycheck to paycheck. If they do, it is still never enough. No one should have to decide whether to pay the light bill or buy groceries, but everyday there are men and women who must make these difficult decisions to keep their families afloat. Fortunately, United Way of Northwest Louisiana through the Shreveport Financial Empowerment Center the help families in our area need to get on the right financial path. The Financial Empowerment
