GREENFIELD — United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region is celebrating its fifth anniversary this month.
Prior to July 2021, two separate United Ways served Franklin and Hampshire counties: United Way of Hampshire County and United Way of Franklin County. On July 1, 2021, after more than a year of vetting and exploration, the two officially merged and became United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region, a change that was geared toward creating a larger, more consistently staffed organization that would be more flexible, more stable and have access to more resources.
United Way, a nonprofit agency, raises money for dozens of partners in a local network of social service agencies. The agency also uses a community-driven process to identify the greatest needs in the region to decide which agencies are best positioned to address those needs, and then it allocates resources accordingly through grants.
Over the past five years since the merger, the United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region has continued to grow. According to agency leaders, this past year has been the organization’s most successful yet in terms of overall revenue and diaper donations for the Diaper Bank. The nonprofit also supports a Digital Navigation program (uw-fh.org/digital-navigators), which provides free technical support and digital education to Franklin County residents.
At least some of the United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region’s success can be attributed to emergency campaigns like the United Response Fund, which was created to counteract cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) last fall, and the “Diaper Deficit” emergency drive in April and May to fill the gap created by a loss of funding and diapers as part of a federal pilot program.
“In the five years since our merger, United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region has grown stronger, more resourceful and more connected to the communities we serve. We’ve worked hard to show up as a real convener and collaborative partner,” Geoff Naunheim, United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “But the needs around us are growing faster than we can keep up. Reduced government support, rising costs and real economic uncertainty mean more families are leaning on a safety net that’s been systematically eroded. Front-line nonprofits are being asked to do more with much less. That’s not a sustainable trajectory for the community.”
Every year, United Way of the Franklin & Hampshire Region secures multi-year partnerships with other local agencies to address the region’s pressing issues. This month, the organization is awarding grants to partner agencies as part of its Healthy Communities priority area, which will run from 2026-2029. Each year during that three-year period, $45,000 will go to general partnerships and $85,000 will go to Health & Social Connectedness Aligned Impact partnerships. Still, only about one-sixth of requesting agencies will be awarded funding this year.
General partnership recipients include Amherst Mobile Market, The Heartwing Center in Turners Falls, Artspace Community Arts Center in Greenfield, Hilltown Community Health Center in Worthington and North Quabbin Citizen Advocacy in Orange. Aligned Impact partnerships will be with Craig’s Doors in Amherst, It Takes a Village in Huntington and LaunchSpace in Orange. More information is available at uw-fh.org/our-partner-agencies.
