United Way of Central Alabama celebrates 100 years of serving metro area

The United Way of Central Alabama has been special to Kimberly Jackson for around 15 years now. She’s seen it change people’s lives firsthand.

“It really resonates for me in my service on several nonprofit boards that are United Way agencies; I get to see how important United Way’s support is to those agencies and how impactful it is,” she said.

Jackson is the president of the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Birmingham, and she said for the past seven years, she’s seen how funds from United Way have made a difference in the lives of Birmingham-area children and teens.

BBBS is one of more than 200 programs, services and initiatives in six central Alabama counties that are meeting community needs. UWCA pools resources from donors to help fund the work of these agencies.

“As long as we can continue to undergird and support United Way, those nonprofit agencies will have the support they need,” said Jackson, who lives in the Liberty Park area.

That’s why in conjunction with UWCA’s 100th anniversary celebration this year, the organization has a goal of making sure its work is endowed for the next 100 years.

“We are firm believers that when we come together as a whole, the possibilities are endless,” said Drew Langloh, UWCA president and CEO. “Our 100-year impact on the central Alabama community proves this, and we look forward to continuing to pave the way for real, tangible change for the next 100 years.”

Those future plans start with a celebration of where they’ve been and where they’re headed. On June 24, UWCA supporters, partners and neighbors are invited to CityWalk in Birmingham from 3 to 8 p.m. to enjoy live music, food, performers, games, a partner agency fair and more.

In the coming months, UWCA will also unveil six community park projects, one in each county served by the organization.

Jackson said she’s especially excited about that aspect of the 100th anniversary. As part of her long involvement with UWCA — which has included being a part of its Young Leaders Society, DIVAS, Women United, J. Mason Davis Leadership Society and the Tocqueville Society — she is now serving on the centennial celebration committee and the centennial parks subcommittee.

“We want to identify an existing park that can be renovated or expanded or find a property where a park can be built,” she said.

Part of the project involves fundraising to construct and maintain the parks as well as to find volunteers needed along the way.

“I’m excited about the impact that the parks will have on bringing the community together, as well as offering opportunities for outdoor classrooms, providing a chance for children to learn in an outdoor space that is in the heart of their community,” Jackson said. “We’re trying to make the parks accessible to the whole community and bring diverse individuals together to enjoy the space. That helps communities thrive.”

Jackson said bringing different voices to the table is one of the best parts of UWCA.

That’s how it all started 100 years ago, Langloh said — around a table. In 1923, a group of local business people got together to deal with the social problems in the rapidly growing city of Birmingham. 

“When you read the minutes from back then, you begin to understand that the organization was seen as a device or a mechanism,” Langloh said. “Oftentimes, they would come together if there was a big issue brewing in the community that needed attention.”

Calling themselves Birmingham Community Chest at that time, they organized to help fight issues like tuberculosis, a disease that was heavily burdening local medical facilities.

“What I find interesting is that even though the issues today are very different, the dynamic is very similar for the organization,” Langloh said, noting that BCC has gone through several name changes over the years, including United Appeal in 1956 and UWCA in 1992. “Today, we still roll up our sleeves and sit at a common table together and talk about issues facing us today and how we are going to go about solving them. Even though we’re very different than we were in 1923, the reason for our existence is the same.”

Over the past 100 years, UWCA has met a variety of changing needs. It organized relief during the Great Depression. It led the way in race relations with the addition of its first Black board member, Dr. A.G. Gaston, in 1966 and with the establishment of a boys’ club in his name.

UWCA also leveraged nearly $21 million to help Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Alabama in 2006.

All of this and much more has been done with the vital support of the community, Langloh said. In 1923, Birmingham Community Chest met a fundraising goal of $500,000 to help its 31 agencies. Now with more than 200 agencies, UWCA is hoping to raise its endowment to $100 million to ensure that kind of assistance keeps going.

“The whole reason for United Way is to serve the community,” said Langloh, who has worked with UWCA for 24 years, 15 of those as CEO. “To me, it all starts with this fundamental belief that this organization is owned by the community, not owned by anyone in particular. Because of that, we’ve been successful in that each generation that comes along has picked it up and stewarded it through their time and then handed it off.”

UWCA has worked over the years to “keep fighting for the health, education and financial stability of every person in our community,” and Langloh said he is “pretty confident and hopeful that the work we’re doing now will help perpetuate that model into the future.

“The issues will be different, but what I’m really hopeful for as we’re launching this endowment campaign is to make sure it’s still there to bring the community together to work on their problems, whatever they might be,” he said. 

For more information about the centennial celebration, visit uwca.org/100years.