LANSING, MI — Officials with local United Way organizations have announced a large-scale merger intended to strengthen local impact.
The boards of directors for Capital Area United Way, United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region, and United Way of Jackson County recently voted to merge their organizations and create a new nonprofit, United Ways of South Central Michigan.
The new organization will partner locally and regionally on community impact efforts across six counties—Calhoun, Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, Jackson and Kalamazoo.
As a merger of equals, officials say each of the local United Ways brings unique strengths, shared authority and a continued focus on local needs.
“Each of our communities is unique, with needs that our individual United Ways tackle every day. At the same time, many of those needs are interconnected,” President and CEO of Capital Area United Way (CAUW) Teresa Kmetz said. “We think we can address these issues better together, both locally and regionally.”
Board members from all three United Ways were actively involved in the discussion, as were other stakeholders.
