The first century went well, so let’s make the second one even better.
That, in a nutshell, was the challenge presented to North Texas residents by Leah M. King, president and CEO of United Way of Tarrant County as she urged participation in United Way’s Get United campaign. The idea is to support progress and initiatives that will create a more vibrant and stable community for all.
At an event to kick off the campaign and celebrate the organization’s 100th birthday, 100,000 residents were asked to lend their voices and sign up to learn about Get United in the next 100 days.
“United Way is committed to providing leadership, harnessing public and private resources, and developing programs to address the toughest challenges and issues facing Tarrant County,” King said. “Get United Day is a celebration of the work still to be done and an invitation to community ambassadors, civic leaders, partner agencies, businesses, foundations, donors, and each and every individual here in Tarrant County to join us in making our communities stronger for generations to come.”
Former Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams and his wife Karen will co-chair the campaign, which United Way expects to be the organization’s largest fundraising effort in its 100-year history.
“We know the magic of United Way is twofold: identifying and understanding the needs of Tarrant County and building trust in programs to address tough problems facing our region, from food insecurity to youth gun violence to maternal health outcomes and more,” Jeff Williams said. “Through Get United, we can grow the role of a convener in bringing resources to the table and truly become 64 zip codes working to not only fix problems, but also to tackle the reasons they exist in the first place.”
The Get United campaign identifies four focus areas for near and long-term support:
- Community response, providing the basics for daily needs, disaster relief, and military and veteran families.
- Community health, ensuring a community where everyone can be safe and healthy, with a particular focus on underserved neighbors, women, children, older adults, and those with disabilities.
- Financial empowerment, equipping individuals with the tools for independence, from financial literacy to stable housing and transportation.
- Education and learning, preparing the current and future workforce to contribute to their own success and to their community.
The event to get the campaign started and to celebrate United Way of Tarrant County’s 100th birthday was held Nov. 17 on the steps of Globe Life Field in Arlington. A number of leading citizens were hand for the event, including Fort Worth educator and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Opal Lee, Arlington Mayor Jim Ross, Frost Bank President-Tarrant Region Hadley Woerner, and longtime Texas Rangers public address announcer Chuck Morgan.
United Way staff, representatives of other nonprofit organizations, and an array of civic and corporate leaders also joined the party, which featured the unveiling of a 30-foot mural painted by Texas artist Jon McKenzie, who grew up in Arlington and attended Tarrant County College. The mural, which illustrates people from a diverse community coming together to “get united,” will remain on display at Globe Life Field through the holiday season.
The mural will be displayed in neighborhoods across Tarrant County as additional community celebrations are held in 2023.
Official proclamations acknowledging the campaign were issued by the Tarrant County Commissioners Court and the cities of Arlington, Euless, Fort Worth, Haltom City, Hurst, Keller, Mansfield and Saginaw, each formally recognizing Nov. 17, 2022, as Get United Day. Also offering support were Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and first lady Cecilia Abbott; U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz; U.S. Reps. Michael Burgess, Jake Ellzey, Kay Granger, Marc Veasey and Roger Williams; State Sens. Brian Birdwell, Jane Nelson, Kelly Hancock and Beverly Powell; the Texas House of Representatives; and the Mayors Council of Tarrant County.
Representatives of early contributors to Get United, including GM Financial, BNSF Railway, and the Rainwater Charitable Foundation, joined Williams, King, Woerner and Lee onstage for a solemn moment of reflection. Attendees held hundreds of magnets labeled with needs in Tarrant County.
“Get United is about drawing the public’s attention to what their neighbors need and sharing the vision with private and corporate contributors of what it will take to make positive, transformational change in Tarrant County,” said Woerner, who also serves as chair of the United Way board of directors.
To learn more about United Way of Tarrant County and the Get United campaign, visit United Way’s website.