Multiple givers. Multiplied impact. | United Way Campaign

The following message is shared on behalf of Erica Still, associate professor in the Department of English.

Multiple givers. Multiplied impact.

For me, that is the promise and the power of United Way of Forsyth County. And I need that reassurance, because sometimes the scope of the needs in our community feels so vast: affordable housing; quality education; accessible healthcare, including mental health resources; healthy and affordable food options; safe and green neighborhoods; meaningful and sustainable work. The list can overwhelm me, and I have often felt disheartened and helpless in the face of it. What can I, one person with good intentions and limited resources, offer that would make a difference? United Way of Forsyth County reminds me that there’s quite a bit I can do, as it turns out, when I join in with the many neighbors asking the same questions, caring in the same ways, wanting to share the work of creating strong communities.

United Way of Forsyth County impresses me so much because it brings together the efforts, resources, and talents of a broad collective and multiplies the impact: in their own words, “United Way of Forsyth County exists to bring the community and its resources together to solve problems that no one organization can solve alone.” Through its investment in 55 programs and initiatives with 32 local partner nonprofit organizations, United Way of Forsyth County tackles the intersecting challenges that undermine individual and communal well-being. Committed to long-term economic mobility while meeting ongoing basic needs, to empowering flourishing neighborhoods, and to fostering student and youth success, they turn what might otherwise be unfulfilled potential into tangible outcomes. They help bring the possible to life. 

Things right now are tough, and they’re tougher for some than others. The work that United Way of Forsyth County enables helps ease that burden for so many of us right here, right now. Supporting these efforts isn’t doing “those” folks a favor; it’s living out our commitment to providing for the common good. It’s a chance to change the world for someone right here in our own neighborhoods. I hope you’ll join me and so many others in giving what you can to this community effort. Your gift to this particular place–the one we call home–will go further than you think. Multiple givers. Multiplied impact, indeed. 

Thank you for the good you do.

Here’s to strategic action, grounded in deep hope,

Erica Still
Associate Professor, Department of English