Greensboro, NC (June 28, 2022) – Today United Way of Greater Greensboro (UWGG) launched Guilford Success Network (GSN), a county-wide, mobile friendly network that will connect people to services and coordinators who help them identify, track, and achieve their personal goals of becoming financially stable.
Since 2014, UWGG’s single focus has been to reduce the number of people living in generational poverty. GSN is one of UWGG’s strategies to achieve that goal.
During today’s launch event, attended by nearly 100 community members and partners, Greensboro Mayor, Nancy Vaughan, said, “For a lot of organizations, when they talk about ending poverty, it’s just a tagline and a way to raise money. But United Way has really put action behind those words for many, many years.”
GSN is initially launching as an 18-month pilot project with core partners serving the Greensboro area and will expand county-wide over time. GSN partners will learn to identify people who may benefit from joining the Network and people who wish to join will be connected to a coordinator. After the pilot phase, people will be able to access the Network through an online portal.
UWGG’s GSN launch falls within the organization’s yearlong centennial celebration, and during the kickoff event, Khari Garvin, UWGG President and CEO said, “As we continue to celebrate 100 years of transforming your compassion into community change, I am excited that in a year of celebrating our past, we are yet again making history. Today, we are officially launching a new pilot project that will give our community another tool to leverage in our collaborative efforts to help households leave poverty. Together, we can, and I know we will, continue to move families out of poverty.”
People who access the network will be connected to services and supports that are focused on three areas:
- Work, Health & Income Supports – to stabilize people’s basic needs
- Education & Career Advancement – to help people learn skills and land jobs
- Financial Education & Coaching – to help people build upon their success.
GSN was developed based on community feedback listening sessions and workgroups comprised of residents with lived experience, nonprofit staff, and local government representatives.
GSN is rooted in a service delivery approach that is often referred to as an Integrated Service Delivery (ISD) model. ISD models connect people to multiple support services through sequencing and bundling so that people who need help can access what they need, when they need it. Research shows ISD strategies empower families to achieve better social, economic, and health outcomes.
UWGG and GSN partners are committed to tracking outcomes and providing annual updates. Data will be captured during intake at all partner locations and will be stored within GSN’s virtual platform.
GSN pilot partners include: GuilfordWorks, Housing Consultants Group, Triad Goodwill, Nehemiah Community Enrichment Center, The Servant Center, Welfare Reform Liaison Project, Guilford Community Care Network, and The Forge Greensboro.
During the pilot, the Network will measure household progress towards self-sufficiency. Metrics include:
- Income
- Educational Attainment
- Housing
- Safety of Environment
- Health Condition
- Health Access
- Employment
- Work History
- Money Management
- Benefits
More information, including a Q&A document can be found at: www.unitedwaygso.org/guilford-success-network.
