Metro United Way

For more than 100 years, Metro United Way has been improving lives and our community, which includes Jefferson, Bullitt, Oldham, and Shelby counties in Kentucky and Clark, Floyd, and Harrison counties in Indiana. We are uniquely positioned to harness the power of donors, volunteers, thought leaders, experts, other nonprofits, and government at all levels to ensure positive, sustainable change for every person in our seven-county region.

Now more than ever, we are focused on three priorities:

We invite you to join us and be a part of transforming Greater Louisville! Why this work is so important to our community's success:

• Louisville ranks 5th in the nation for concentrated poverty
• Kentucky is the 7th poorest state in the country; Indiana has the 20th highest poverty rate
• There is a 12-year life expectancy gap between East and West Louisville
• Homelessness has increased by 41% from 2018 to 2021 in Louisville
• 1 in 5 families in MUW’s 7-county region struggle to make ends meet
• Kentucky ranks 40th in the country in child wellbeing; Indiana ranks 24th
• 22% of Kentucky children live in poverty; 16% of Indiana children live in poverty
• In 2019, the poverty rate for African Americans in Louisville was around 26%, compared to approximately 10% for white residents.
• When compared to peer cities, Louisville’s nonprofit organizations receive less support from several key sources.
• High-income households give less and our local government is spending less to address challenges than local governments in other cities.
• If those who make more than $200,000/year raised their annual giving by simply 1% of their total income – that would put Louisville on par with our peer cities for individual giving – and bring in an additional $80 million a year.

Sources: 2023 Kids Count Data Book, aec.org, JCPS Brigance, Louisville Metro Public Health, 2021 U.S. Census American Community Survey, MUW data analysis, Zillow ZORI metric, Louisville Metro Housing, Coalition for the Homeless, Feeding America, Opportunity Atlas, CNPE State of Nonprofit Report, Kentucky Department of Education, U.S. Census data