UNITED WAY OF SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA
Non-Profit Spotlight
Non-Profit Spotlight: United Way of Southeast Minnesota Taking an in-depth look at a local non-profit, United Way of Southeast Minnesota and their community impact
Tell us about the United Way of Southeast Minnesota. United Way of Southeast Minnesota, formerly United Way of Olmsted County, is driven by a vision to create a resilient region defined by care and collective action, where every person can thrive. We meet basic needs today while working to create a better tomorrow. We mobilize people to action so that together, Southeast Minnesota residents are healthy, households are financially secure, and young people succeed in school and life. We have seen how our communities’ greatest challenges are connected — and how we can bring people and resources together to address them. Since 1925, fueled by hundreds of thousands of contributions from individual donors, we have invested more than $150 million into addressing our communities’ most pressing issues, provided free resources and referrals to anyone who may need them, and convened with multiple sectors to address local challenges. Working with our partners across Southeast Minnesota, we impact over 37,000 individuals annually.
What inspired the founding of United Way here in 1925? United Way of Southeast Minnesota was first established in 1925 as the Community Chest of Rochester. Rochester community leaders saw the need for an organization that could efficiently and effectively collect and distribute local resources to local charities. The Community Chest was established to meet this need, and our first partner organizations were the Red Cross, Civic League, Salvation Army, Rochester Park Band, Boy Scouts, and the YMCA. How has your organization evolved in the past 100 years? We have evolved to meet changing needs in our community, from mobilizing the flood response in 1978 to pioneering classroom mental health services in 1989. More recently, we invested over $1 million into critical community support during the COVID-19 pandemic and supported the health of our neighbors experiencing houselessness in 2023. We also invest in the future of kids and youth in our community through initiatives such as Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and our annual Running Start for School supply drive. Throughout our history, we supported local programs that make a difference. In the early 2000s, we conducted community needs assessments that helped refocus our efforts on creating measurable and data-
Mayo Clinic volunteer group, coordinated by United Way, at the Oak Terrace Neighborhood in Rochester
United Way President Jerome Ferson presenting to community leaders
12 | ROCHESTER AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ADVANTAGE MAGAZINE — APRIL 2025
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