President’s Desk

President’s February Blog – Honoring Black History Month

When the UWSWA management team met early in January to discuss Blog topics for each month this year, we decided to aim our February focus on Black History month.

According to the History Chanel website, Black History Month grew out of “Negro History Week,” the brainchild of noted historian Carter G. Woodson and other prominent African Americans. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month.

Go Forth and Do Good

On the first work week day of 2021, I feel a sense of renewal and hope.  Friends in recovery remind me that every day is a new day, and so today is not only a new day but the beginning of a new year.

Wendy Wasserstein reminds us, “Go out there and do something remarkable.”

Step Into Growth to Fulfill Our Mission

John Maxwell noted that “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.”  This quote sums up 2020 to me.  Faced with a global pandemic, thirty named tropical storms, raging wild fires, economic uncertainty, civil unrest, and political chaos, “We have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety.” Abraham Maslow

The United Way of Southwest Alabama chose to step into growth to fulfill our mission to improve the quality of life in Southwest Alabama.

November is Nonprofit Awareness Month

In the month of November, we celebrate Nonprofit Awareness. As the United Way of Southwest Alabama, we partner with forty-six agencies in Choctaw, Clarke, Mobile and Washington Counties to improve the quality of life.

Why celebrate nonprofits?

According to the National Council of Nonprofits in its 2019 report “Nonprofit Impact Matters: How America’s Charitable Nonprofits Strengthen Communities and Improve Lives,” nonprofits are vital to making America what America is.

“Why should I support United Way?”

The staff of the United Way of Southwest Alabama answer this question daily.  Here are their responses:

“You should donate to your local United Way to be vested in your community and lead by example.  Someday it might be you who is need of an agency’s help.”

Food Insecurity in America

One of the things that I cannot wrap my head around involves food insecurity in America.  How can the greatest nation on the planet have so many hungry people?  The food insecurity rate for Alabama equals 17%.  Mobile County’s food insecurity rate equals 16.8%; Washington County’s rate equals 19.3%; Choctaw County’s rate equals 20.7 %; and last but certainly not least, Clarke County’s rate equals 21.1%.  That’s right, around 20% of us who live in Southwest Alabama go to bed hungry and wake up hungry.

United Way Works to Address Inequities

“In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and in eternity.” Abraham Lincoln

The first five months of 2020 represent some of the greatest challenges I have faced in a lifetime.  The pandemic brought to surface the inadequacies of our Republic – the disparity in health care; the inequality in education; and the inequity in housing. Then the death of George Floyd sparked an already restless, vulnerable population into action.

“H” Season Begins June 1

It’s May, and for those of us along the coast, we know that this means the beginning of the “H” SEASON. I can’t even say it or write it, because I cannot imagine a storm on top of the pandemic. However, it is my job to think about these things.  So, I must journey down this path and encourage others to join me.

Your World Can Change in an Instant

“We are all only one disaster away from being a donor to becoming a client.”  I heard this phrase at every campaign rally and meeting I attended with the 2019 campaign chair, J. Guy Helmsing, during the United Way of Southwest Alabama’s 2019 Community Campaign.  Unfortunately, how true those words ring now.

National Women’s History Month

In 1920, Congress passed and ratified the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote. As we celebrate the 19^th amendment’s 100^th birthday, I thought that I would highlight the state of women in America today.