United Way of King County recently went through a major reorganization in our Community Services Department (this is the department that allocates the money to various non-profit direct service organizations that our Fundraising Department raises).  As a result of this reorganization, two new Community Impact Councils were born, Strengthening Our Community (SOC) and New Solutions (NS).  Both councils do great work that helps to support many programs that work to positively affect the lives of thousands of King County residents each day!  The SOC council is a subject area council that is made up of the following focus areas: Youth, Older Adults, Employment, Health/Mental Health, Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault and System Support.  This council works with a large majority of the grantee agencies (agencies who receive UWKC funding) who provide programs to meet specific predetermined outcomes in these specific areas.  The New Solutions council is a community focused council that works to address new and emerging issues and/or needs at the community level in all regions of King County.  This council does it’s work by conducting ongoing research thorough analyzing various types of data, meeting with community leaders/stakeholders, conducting community information-gathering sessions and monitoring current events through various forms of media.  This council also allocates money to various groups, once per year in the form of small grants ($5,000 to $20,000 each) to address many different types of community-identified issues.  To see what great programs we recently awarded small grants to, please visit our website at the following link: http://www.uwkc.org/nonprofit/impact/default.asp.

Please click on the “Our Impact Councils” tab at the top of the page for more information about each council.

 Each council is currently made up of between 12-16 volunteer council members who work along with UWKC paid staff to help with funding decisions, conduct research and bring information to the attention of UWKC that they may hear as a part of their job or in their community.  The council members come from all walks of life and many different backgrounds.  Currently our councils are made up of full-time community volunteers, local government employees, small business owners, medical professionals and corporate professionals.  Both Strengthening Our Community and New Solutions still have several openings for additional volunteers and we welcome all ages and backgrounds.  If you are interested in helping to improve the lives of King County residents and would like to find out more information about volunteering as a council member, please contact NaKeesa Frazier at 206-461-8544 or nfrazier@uwkc.org.