“Sustainability is about creating partnerships. With support from the Foundation, Coalition U brings together nonprofits serving our most vulnerable populations and gives them resources to develop solutions and drive effective change.”
Sharmain Matlock-Turner President and CEO
Urban Affairs Coalition
For nearly 50 years, the Urban Affairs Coalition (UAC) has been building communities, employment, and economic opportunity in the greater Philadelphia region.
The tremendous work the UAC does to support nonprofits in health and human services, education, and workforce development is more valuable than ever, as shrinking budgets make it difficult for community based organizations to maximize their impact.
For these organizations, stretching limited funds to offer additional programs to individuals they serve — and sometimes even simply to keep the lights on — means it’s often necessary to sacrifice professional development opportunities for staff.
With our shared goal of sustainability for the region’s nonprofits, our Foundation and the UAC have partnered to give our Foundation’s grantees access to Coalition U, a series of eight targeted capacity-building workshops.
The workshops focus on improving the overall growth and development of these nonprofits — who fill a specific role in improving the health and well-being of some of our most vulnerable populations — to help them make effective change. They are completely free to participants, saving them hundreds of dollars in training costs.
Staff from these diverse urban and suburban nonprofits have the unique opportunity to come together in the same space to learn from industry experts and each other, network, and build relationships that strengthen their organizations — something that’s not always available in other forums.
The first three Coalition U workshops in 2017 examined how to build a strong and engaged board of directors, find and engage new donors, and collect and present impact data. Participants leave the workshops with best practice resources that they can take back and share with their teams.
In the true spirit of collaboration, the grantees themselves are instrumental in shaping Coalition U workshop content. This ensures what they’re learning is relevant to their needs and effective in uniting them to find solutions for our region’s most pressing issues, such as opioid abuse and homelessness, to help build healthier communities.
We know that we are stronger together than we are alone and look forward to continued collaboration, conversation, and connection to improve the quality of life for everyone in our region.
Building Healthier Communities grants helped 28 nonprofits advance their efforts to address some of our region’s most pressing health issues.
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