Community Impact
# grantmaking
Grant Launch Sessions (One of Two)
One of two of our grant launch sessions with our community impact team
Andrea Meinema-Macklin · Oct 15th, 2025
Andrea Meinema-Macklin is the Director of Community Impact - Investments and Community Partnerships for United Way of South Central Michigan. She shares an overview of what collective impact is all about, examples of what it looks like in Kalamazoo County, and why UWSCMI is committed to collaborative approaches across the region.
The UWSCMI staff team met and communicated with local legislators throughout the appropriations process to advocate for funding to help address financial instability and the inequities experienced among ALICE and other marginalized populations.
# advocacy
For more than a century, our United Way has worked with partners of every kind to tackle the toughest social issues our communities face. While times change and issues evolve, we know that financial instability has always been the common thread. What that means—and what this report makes crystal clear—is that ALICE is still struggling.