Who we are
United Way encompasses a global network of non-profit organizations operating in 48 countries and a national network of more than 1,300 locally governed organizations that work to create lasting positive changes in communities and people’s lives.
Building on more than a century of service, United Way engages local communities to identify the underlying causes of their most significant issues, develops strategies and pulls together financial and human resources to address those issues.
Locally, the United Way of Hudson County focuses its fundraising and support efforts on four critical areas that have the greatest impact on our communities: protecting and saving children and youth who are victims of child abuse and neglect, advocating for resources to help people with special needs, organizing the non-profit sector into a community resource bank and joining a nationwide alliance to end to homelessness.
Our Mission
United Way of Hudson County’s mission is to improve the lives of the women, men and children in our communities by mobilizing the caring power of our leaders in government and the non-profit and corporate sectors, so they may have the greatest effective impact on improving the quality of life in our communities.
United Way workers and volunteers reach out, network and motivate individuals and corporations with access to financial and material resources so that we can improve the lives of those in need and provide positive community impact.
Our Vision
United Way of Hudson County believes there are solutions to the obstacles people in our community face as they live, work and provide a home for themselves and their families. We believe everyone is entitled to a good quality of life free of hardship and with easy access to health care and other important resources for themselves and their families. To support this vision, we will utilize the resources we have to:
- Energize and inspire government leaders and representatives of the corporate and non-profit sectors to face our communities’ complex issues and find solutions
- Involve ourselves and support human care agendas within and across our communities
- Gather money, goods and volunteer services and distribute this support to local projects and charities.
- Work closely with companies, foundations and government to help craft philanthropic strategies for the people we serve
- Build alliances and coalitions around these strategies
- Increase investments in these strategies by expanding and diversifying our own development efforts and supporting those of others
- Measure, communicate and learn from the impact of our efforts
- Respect, serve and advocate for every individual in our culturally-and-economically diverse communities
Who We Serve
United Way of Hudson County serves the women, men and children residing in the communities of Bayonne, Guttenberg, Hoboken, Jersey City, North Bergen, Secaucus, Union City, Weehawken and West New York.
Our History
United Way began in 1887 in Denver, Colorado, when a priest, two ministers and a rabbi recognized the need for cooperative action to address the needs of their poorest citizens. The Rev. Myron W. Reed, Msgr. William J. O’Ryan, Dean H. Martyn Hart and Rabbi William S. Friedman convened and put together the first united campaign for ten health and welfare agencies. They created an organization to serve as an agent to:
- Collect funds for local charities
- Coordinate relief services
- Counsel and refer clients to cooperating agencies
- Make emergency assistance grants in cases that could not be referred.
That year, these clergymen and the citizens of Denver raised $21,700 and created a movement that would spread throughout the country and that would later become the United Way.
More than 120 years later, United Way continues to focus on the needs of the poor and disenfranchised and to mobilize the caring power of the nation’s communities so that they may join together to make a difference in the lives of the men, women and children who need their help. Here is a timeline of United Way history.
