About Us
The mission of United Way of Connecticut is to help the people of Connecticut to thrive through trusted partnerships and innovative solutions. Our unique way of helping includes:
Connecting People to Services
Every hour of every day, people in Connecticut turn to United Way of Connecticut 211 as the state’s 24-hour information and referral service that provides free health and human services and community referrals, including mental health crisis intervention and the National Suicide Prevention Line (988), to anyone in Connecticut. Residents simply dial 2-1-1 or log into 211ct.org to get connected. 211 operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with multilingual contact specialists and TDD access available.
Early Childhood Development and Education
The earliest years for children are the most critical to their long-term health and development. We help low- to moderate-income working families pay for child care. We also assist parents and child care providers in locating appropriate resources and referrals, educate parents/providers about quality indicators of early childhood programs, maintain a database of 5,000 licensed and license-exempt programs in Connecticut, deliver provider orientation training and materials for in-home providers, and provide information to help unlicensed providers become licensed. In addition, we offer training programs, technical assistance and professional development opportunities to early care and education providers, as well as digital fingerprint collection services.
Crisis Intervention and Emergency Response
We stand ready to respond in the event of weather emergencies, natural disasters and family and personal crises of any kind. Our crisis-response specialists are available around the clock for family and personal crisis intervention. We participate in drills and exercises with the State Emergency Operation Center that prepare us to communicate critical information to the public before, during and after major events.
Supporting and Strengthening Communities
We work with many partners in the state government and in Connecticut’s communities to build stronger, more resilient and more equitable communities where everyone can thrive. In our role as the state association for Connecticut’s 14 local United Ways, we lead the network’s collective efforts to improve the health, education and economic mobility of every person in every community we serve. Connecticut United Ways partner with United for ALICE on a data-driven, comprehensive research project that provides a look at financial hardship for households across Connecticut that are ALICE, an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. The goal is to raise awareness about the 39% of working Connecticut residents who are not able to afford basic needs and to advocate for policies that build a bridge to stability for Connecticut families, our essential workforce.
UWCT is classified as an exempt organization under section 501©3 of the Internal Revenue Code, and further is classified as a public charity under sections 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of the Internal Revenue Code.