The 2023/24 Annual Report
It is YOUR caring, compassion and generosity that provides help, hope and opportunity to Berks Countians. Your commitment inspires us every day.
Your support and generosity are at the heart of everything we do. Together, we are changing lives and taking care of the place we live, raise our families, and work. We are proud to invest in more than 80 programs helping our neighbors when they need it most. Every dollar invested, program delivered, volunteer recruited and trained…It all starts with U! We are excited to share how we’re making a difference through the 2023/24 Annual Report.
Investing in
workforce development
Creating impact through
Read Alliance
Preparing the next
generation of leaders
supporting 80+
programs and services
You inspire us
John and Karen Arnold led an incredible United Way annual campaign and worked with a team of Loaned Campaign Specialists, the Campaign Cabinet, Tocqueville Cabinet and many other volunteers and leaders. The Arnolds also shared tremendous support by providing and matching challenge match gifts to grow Leadership Giving. We are grateful to the community’s support for raising more than $11 million in 2023.
THANK YOU! This amazing generosity helps more than 190,000 of our neighbors every year.
Expanding Our Impact: Education
United Way focuses on kindergarten readiness, early elementary grade-level reading proficiency, high quality childcare and preparing and retaining the workforce of childcare centers located in the City of Reading through programs such as Star Readers, Growing Readers and Read Alliance. Dylan, along with other Read Alliance program participants, is one of many children on the path to greater academic success. Learn more about the program by checking out this brief video
Expanding Our Impact: Workforce Development
One of the greatest barriers to family financial stability is obtaining a well-paying job with opportunities for advancement. That’s why United Way of Berks County is committed to investing in workforce development focused on career pathways through training, placement and other support services. See how United Way’s support is helping drive better career pathways and workforce development by partnering with Tec Centro Berks.
Working Towards Common Goals
The Harwood Institute, United Way, community partners and residents are united to work towards shared goals for positive community change. The work is centered on English as a Second Language, after-school programs and early childhood education (ECE). United Way is providing a leadership role for ECE, which is focusing on raising awareness about the critical importance of quality early learning experiences for pre-K children while also aiming to increase access to high quality early care/learning opportunities. Highlights of the ECE team’s work:
20+ Community Conversations
awareness about
the first five years
Community outreach
Activities
Provided grant support
for family movie nights
Helping Children Become Stronger Readers
The end of third grade is an important milestone, as up until that time, children are learning to read. By the beginning of fourth grade, students read to learn. That’s why our Ready.Set.READ! initiative focuses on kindergarten readiness, reading proficiency by third grade and family engagement. In addition, Summer Learning Grants focus on boosting literacy and eliminating or minimizing the loss of learning over the summer. Grants were provided to summer programming for students up to and including third grade at our Ready.Set. READ! partner schools and other organizations. These grants help boost literacy and lessen summer learning loss.
LEADERSHIP UNITED
United Way’s Leadership United programs deliver developmental experiences designed to shape community leadership. Good things happen in Berks with this work. Leadership United includes Blueprint for Leadership (BFL), Emerging Leaders United (ELU), Leadership Berks and the Volunteer Center.
Learn more
Learn more about our work and the accomplishments you made possible last year by reading the full report.