United Way Goal: Individuals with long-term disabilities or chronic illnesses, as well as the elderly, live independently in their communities.

Senior Center Accreditation Project

This project supports high quality services in senior centers by providing technical assistance and other supports to help United Way-funded senior centers achieve accreditation from the National Institute of Senior Centers. Participating centers receive board and staff training on accreditation requirements and procedures; technical assistance from directors of accredited United Way-funded senior centers; and financial support to help agencies pay application fees and other approved accreditation-related expenses. In 2004-05, there are nine centers serving over 12,000 senior citizens participating in the project.

Home Savings Plus Individual Development Accounts 

Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) are tool to help working families accumulate assets and overcome the barriers to buying a first home.  The basic concept is to provide an incentive for families to save over time towards a specific financial goal by matching their savings.  With a federal grant and in partnership with Citizens Bank and Beneficial Savings Bank, United Way has established the Home Savings Plus IDA program, which provides a $2 match for each $1 of saving towards the purchase of a first home.  Economic literacy training and homeownership classes are an essential part of this program, giving participants the knowledge they need to buy sound homes at a fair price and obtain mortgages with reputable lending institutions at competitive rates.  UWSEPA expects to assist over 230 families with matched savings over the next five years.

Neighborhood Funding Stream

The Neighborhood Funding Stream, which is unique among Empowerment Zones in the country, uses income from a restricted endowment to assist two North Philadelphia neighborhoods sustain the gains they achieved through the City’s Empowerment Zone initiative.   In partnership with the Empowerment Zone Community Trust Boards and the City of Philadelphia, United Way facilitates this major neighborhood-based grant-making strategy.

Philadelphia Neighorhood Development Collaborative

The Philadelphia Neighborhood Development Collaborative is the only organization in Philadelphia that provides financial and technical assistance as part of a structured capacity building program to “top tier” community development corporations (CDCs).  Established in 1991 and housed at United Way, PNDC is a funders’ collaborative that seeks to build the capacity of select Philadelphia CDCs to achieve neighborhood level change. For the 2001-2004-program period, PNDC is supporting 10 non-profits in achieving core competencies and measurable impacts in the neighborhoods in which they work.