Onward860: United to End Poverty
Imagine the Possibilities 

Your community involves the places you live, work and play. Ideally, it provides you with a sense of belonging, encouragement and connection—and includes a variety of people from all different backgrounds and beliefs.  

Ideally, everyone in your community has access to facets of life that help ensure their well-being, equity and quality of life.  

That would be ideal, right? 

Here’s the dilemma: Fundamental issues including early childhood, housing, workforce and health outcomes affect our community’s well-being. 

Identifying the challenges in our communities helps us strategize solutions and ultimately make efforts to help our communities be more: 

• socially connected and civically engaged 

• thriving, growing and equitable  

• safe and diverse 

• unified and resourceful 

The Challenges 

Child Literacy – To help ensure the well-being of children in our region, they need access to quality child care, healthy food, education and books, health services and exposure to diversity. 

Housing – Income and wealth inequality, in addition to a lack of affordable homes, lead to housing issues in Connecticut, particularly in Greater Hartford. 

Wages – There’s a mismatch between wages and the basic cost of living in our state—and although wages are increasing for the most common occupations, they can’t keep up with the inflation rate. 

Life Expectancy – To minimize health risks and reduce poor health outcomes in our communities, we need to ensure everyone has access to health care and safe, healthy living environments. 

While we’re aware that these issues exist, we can work together within our communities to address them and make a positive impact. 

It’s possible. 

But we can’t just talk about making change. First, we needed to listen to voices from our communities and learn from their experiences.  

So, in 2023, United Way of Northeastern and Central Connecticut conducted more than 40 “Community Conversations” and asked thought-provoking questions, including: 

• Where do you want Central and Northeastern Connecticut to be in five years? 

• What community challenges most affect your family life? 

• What community assets and strengths most enable your family? 

• What community changes are needed? 

With the responses we received, we now have information needed to take action to transform and strengthen our communities. 

Advocating for Our Future 

One of the main challenges is the barriers faced by those who are experiencing extreme or working poverty. Through advocacy, United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut can help address those barriers—particularly including access to resources.  

“Using the policy perspective, we can try to disrupt the systems that contribute to folks falling into those traps or running up against those issues that keep them in poverty,” explains Allyson McGinty, Director of Strategic Initiatives at United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut.  

“The goal is to provide access to healthy foods and education and create stability for those with challenges around housing and homelessness,” she says. 

United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut is advocating for several key issues that will have the most impact on families experiencing working or extreme poverty. The organization’s advocacy agenda focuses on advancing policies that reduce and eliminate poverty. 

Their 2025 policy agenda includes a fully refundable $600 child tax credit, expanding youth literacy initiatives and maintaining Hartford Working Cities funding. 

Child Tax Credit 

A permanent, fully refundable state child tax credit can significantly impact children and families in our community.  

“Families have used those funds to help pay off debts or catch up on bills. Parents will sometimes use the funding to provide new coats and shoes for their children,” shares Allyson.  

“Having that influx of cash can make a huge difference on ensuring that folks are able to stay on top of what they need to continue to provide for their families. It’s beneficial for them to receive some support from our government to help them do so,” she adds. 

Advocating for Our Youth 

United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut is specifically focusing on funding for working cities as part of the Working Cities Challenge, a program that encourages youth career development support and pathways to pursue a better career and improve their financial standing, regardless of their background. 

Our United Way is the backbone for Hartford Working Cities, which is one of the five Connecticut cities in the Working Cities initiative. The others are East Hartford, Danbury, Middletown and Waterbury.  

“In particular, we focus on supporting young adults in leadership, job placement and job opportunities in Hartford,” says Allyson. 

In 2024, Hartford Working Cities secured funding to continue to provide those resources for young people in all five cities that are part of Connecticut’s Working Cities challenge. Funding for the next year will allow the program to continue running. 

The  other focus for United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut is direct funding for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. “We want to help legislators understand that ongoing support for this is really important. Child literacy sets the stage for all of your success later in life,” stresses Allyson. 

“One of the successes we had this year was a partnership with two other organizations that also focus on early literacy work in Connecticut. We also worked with two of our state representatives, Representative Dominique Johnson and Representative Robin Comey, to put together an early literacy roundtable at the state capitol,” she shares.  

“We shared with other legislators and their staff around the importance of early literacy to really get folks thinking about why it’s crucial to continue to provide for our families and how these types on initiatives can really impact children and families’ lives,” adds Allyson. 

Working to End Poverty 

How can advocacy help the United Way end poverty? 

“Poverty is such a large issue. Talking about ending it can seem so difficult to tackle,” admits Allyson. 

“This year is exciting because we’re working on not just addressing individual issues through various programs and partners but really disrupting the system that creates poverty in the first place,” she notes. 

“A lot of that can be done through advocacy by thinking about policies that will either keep people in their homes—or be able to help them provide food on their tables. We need to think through how we can change laws and enact policies that protect and support those in need,” she adds. “Instead of applying a Band-Aid, we must address the root causes of these issues in the first place and find lasting solutions.” 

United Way’s Women of Tocqueville Affinity Group is committed to advocating for policies that will lift local families out of poverty. Meet Irene, a founding member of Women of Tocqueville.

Hear her passion about advocacy in her own words. 

The Solution: Onward860 

Together with support from our communities, the United Way of Northeastern and Central Connecticut is co-creating a better future for our region. Our process includes: 

• Aligning community, corporate, government and philanthropic partners to end poverty 

• Leveraging 100 years of experience, expertise, data, community voice and resources to deepen impact 

• Connecting people with resources and opportunities to make a difference 

• Transforming the future with game-changing solutions and partnerships 

Recognizing and Supporting Our Vision 

There are many ways you can make difference—from donating and volunteering your time to signing up for our newsletter and following us on social media. 

Learn More about our Onward860 Vision