UWSELA: Collaborative Grants

The United Way of Southeast Louisiana is launching its second cycle of collaborative grants aimed at eradicating poverty through community-driven initiatives. The grants focus on five priority areas aligned with their Blueprint for Prosperity, which addresses stability, prosperity, wellness, and vibrant communities. Eligible applicants must operate within specific parishes and demonstrate a commitment to systemic change and equity. Funding supports planning, implementation, and continuous improvement efforts to foster long-term community impact.

In 2014, United Way of Southeast Louisiana embarked on a journey to renew our approach to creating lasting change. Participants discussed their aspirations and the challenges they face. Some of the barriers that emerged included low wages, limited education, inadequate health care, and unaffordable housing.
Through research and engagement, it became clear that poverty is the fundamental issue in the region.
We introduced our Blueprint for Prosperity – our plan to eradicate poverty informed by community voices and validated by external research – to present a compelling path toward a stronger, prosperous, and more equitable Southeast Louisiana for us all. As a part of the Blueprint, we also introduced our programmatic grants – designed to support distinct programs or projects – in alignment with our new prosperity outcomes framework (see below).
Today, our grantmaking is rooted in addressing the complex interplay of symptoms and drivers of poverty in the region and supports the vision of equitable communities where all individuals are healthy, educated, and economically stable.
In 2022, we hosted another series of community conversations to listen to residents and refine the most pressing issues in our communities and pathways to maximize local impact.
As a result, we’re launching our second cycle of collaborative grant process – rooted in equity, community voice, and data – to foster systems-level change across the region.
Criteria
UWSELA seeks grant requests across five priority areas aligned with our Blueprint’s prosperity outcomes that we believe will produce long-term change to sustain our mission of to end poverty. In particular, we will consider proposals that focus on one or more of our four outcomes and five priority areas and align with our guiding principles.
Prosperity Outcomes
Data, community conversations, and partner convenings conducted in 2014 and 2015 resulted in four interrelated outcomes that describe the region United Way and residents want to see.
Stability Today: Families have the skills, resources, & opportunities to access basic needs.Prosperity Tomorrow: All families have the social, emotional, and financial assets to create a better future.Personal Wellness: People of all ages enjoy a high quality of life and well-being.Vibrant Communities: All communities are safe, equitable, and thriving.
Priority Areas
Additional community conversations held drilled down into the four prosperity outcomes, resulting in five priority areas for each parish. Once again, we will give priority to those programs that address these areas for each parish.
Youth Development: Investing in organizations with a primary focus on serving youth, including both academic and recreational programming, to support the learning, well-being, and prosperity of our next generation.Mental Health: Investing in organizations that provide direct counseling and substance abuse treatment to expand the capacity of local providers supporting those facing mental health challenges and to create a more supportive and healthy community.Financial Empowerment: Supporting workforce development, community-level economic development, and emergency assistance programs to provide all residents pathways to attaining the skills, opportunities, & supports that undergird economic stability for communities and families.Access to Resources: Investing in personnel and community-facing platforms to ensure residents are aware of and able to access existing local supports & resources.Coordinating & Convening: Supporting efforts to drive coordination between community-serving organizations with the goal of enhancing accountability, information-sharing, and referrals across the ecosystem, resulting in holistic services and solutions for residents.
Funding
Eligible collaboratives must support a group of organizations and stakeholders taking a unified approach to systems change. The grants may be used for:

• Planning: Up to $25,000 in funding to help collaboratives come together to create a steering committee, common agenda and working groups.
• Infrastructure-Backbone: Up to $50,000 in funding to support backbone organizations or functions.
• Infrastructure-Shared Measurement: Up to $50,000 in funding to support shared measurement systems.
• Implementation: Up to $100,000 in funding to support systems-change strategies developed by working groups.
• Continuous Improvement: Up to $50,000 in funding to conduct evaluations.

UWSELA intends to be a long-term partner in supporting collaboratives. As such, at the end of a funding cycle, grantees will have the opportunity to reapply for a funding extension based on a successful evaluation of the work. Funding for the second and third year of the grant is contingent on available dollars and the funded collaborative's performance in the previous year.

Eligibility

Additionally, applicants must also have the following for funding eligibility:Collaborations must operate within Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, or Washington parishes.Collaboration grants will not be awarded for endowment campaigns, land purchase, construction of new facilities or major renovating of existing facilities, or capital campaigns.​All youth-serving organizations in Orleans Parish must align with the Youth Master Plan.

Ineligibility

Collaborations organized for primarily religious, educational institutions (schools/universities), fraternal, governmental, political, cultural, animal welfare purposes are not eligible for funding through UWSELA.Collaborations may include these organizations but must have a fiscal agent that is a 501(c)(3).Collaboration grants will not be awarded for endowment campaigns, land purchase, construction of new facilities or major renovating of existing facilities, or capital campaigns.​