Unite Us and Metro United Way Invest One Million Dollars Directly into Greater Louisville Community

This pilot marks the first of future community investments, as Unite Us partners with local community leaders to take direct action to help residents. 

NEW YORK, April 8th, 2021 10:10 a.m. ET — Unite Us, the enterprise technology company that builds coordinated care networks nationwide, today announced it’s investing half a million dollars in Greater Louisville, Kentucky – matched by the same amount from Metro United Way – to provide longer-term housing and wraparound support for those struggling with the continued effects of the pandemic. 

The funds will be used for housing-related costs to help Greater Louisville residents impacted both by the COVID-19 pandemic and persistent, historical inequities. The funds will be distributed and tracked through community-based organizations (CBOs) in the United Community network using Unite Us Payments. 

“This donation to United Community is validation to us, as well as our early investors, that connecting individuals through this innovative platform with what they need, when they need it is vital,” says Theresa Reno-Weber, president and CEO of Metro United Way, and one of the co-chairs of the United Community effort. “We thank our partners at Unite Us for investing dollars into our local community – dollars we wouldn’t have otherwise received. We have to get this right because of what’s at stake for so many kids and families, and we’re happy to announce that we’re matching this donation 100% to ensure this crucial work is maximized, giving our local nonprofit partners more power to do what’s needed,” she says. 

The ultimate goal is to keep Greater Louisville residents in their homes.  In order to do that, the program will provide financial support for both rental/mortgage payments, and flexible cash assistance for housing-related costs not typically funded by traditional grants and government programs. 

“While many cities have received significant federal funds to address the impacts of the pandemic, they don’t address every community in our region, nor cover specific needs seen through the United Community network, which is causing people and families to fall through the cracks,” Reno adds. 

The Unite Us-Metro United Way program is composed of the following components:

• CBO care coordination: Several CBOs will be funded to provide care coordination support as an intervention for enrolled households, and support capacity-building within the community.
• Longer-term rental/mortgage payment assistance: Enrolled households will be able to receive up to six months of rental assistance.
• Flexible cash assistance: Since there are so many variables that keep someone housed, enrolled households will be able to receive flexible cash assistance to provide wraparound support (e.g. transportation to a job interview, diapers for a newborn, utility bill payment assistance, child care assistance, and more).

Greater Louisville has been hard hit by the pandemic, social upheaval, and long-term housing inequalities, and residents are struggling to achieve economic stability. This investment, while not the only solution, will help families and individuals with the greatest need find solid ground as they start to build back after an unprecedented year of trauma, extreme social challenges, and financial uncertainty. 

Unite Us is committed to this work in Greater Louisville and hopes to find and work with additional funders to be able to continue to help keep people in their homes. 

“While Greater Louisville is the first place where Unite Us has invested, it will definitely not be the last,” says Taylor Justice, Co-founder and President of Unite Us. “United Community is an example of true cross-sector collaboration, where partners from government, community, and the private sector have worked tirelessly to find common ground in people’s best interest. The Unite Us Payments pilot is a game-changer, because community investors will be able to connect the outcomes to the dollars spent, and know that they’ve made an impact,” he adds. 

Unite Us Payments will not just track dollars, but also create essential pathways and relationships between healthcare systems, payers and CBOs to coordinate reimbursement for social services, not by replicating the medical system, but by introducing a methodology and framework more appropriate for social care. Most importantly, Unite Us Payments will contribute to sustainable, targeted funding for social care–something CBOs have been seeking for decades. 

The data from Greater Louisville will help drive and inform future, ongoing investments from the company. For those interested in supporting efforts and helping Greater Louisville communities through additional local investments, please contact Metro United Way at info@metrounitedway.org. 

About Metro United Way

For more than 100 years, Metro United Way has empowered individuals and families to achieve their fullest potential by generating meaningful and lasting change in our community. We use data-driven insights to identify and prioritize the community’s greatest needs with a focus on equitable outcomes for all. Together, we fight to improve the disparities that persist in education, income, health, housing, and racial equality in Jefferson, Bullitt, Oldham and Shelby counties in Kentucky and Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties in Indiana. We invite you to stand with us and be a part of transforming Greater Louisville.