United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County Launches $58 Million Community Campaign and Announces a New Homelessness Initiative.
New initiative aims to help prevent homelessness and create greater housing stability for individuals across Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha counties.
L-R, Gina Santagati, Chief Development Officer, United Way; Blake Moret, Chairman and CEO Rockwell Automation and United Way Board Chair, P.J. DiStefano, Deloitte LLP and 2026 United Way Campaign Co-chair; Michael Evans, Marcus Hotels & Resorts and 2026 United Way Campaign Co-chair; Anthony Hudson, BMO and United Way Campaign Co-chair; Renee Ramirez, Community Smiles Dental Retiree and 2026 United Way Campaign Co-chair; Amy Lindner, President & CEO, United Way. Photo courtesy of the United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County.
MILWAUKEE, WI August 26, 2026. United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County is launching its 2026 Community Campaign with a bold goal: raise $58 million to strengthen individuals, families and communities across the four-county region.
United Way is also announcing a new Key Initiative, Safe & Stable Homes: Housing Stability for All.
“A safe, stable home is more than a roof over someone’s head. It is the foundation for everything else – work, school, health, family, and opportunity,” said Amy Lindner, President & CEO of United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County.
“In 2025, we met the criteria for ending family homelessness in our community,” said John Florsheim, Chair of United Way’s Community Impact Committee. “Now we are raising the bar. We are asking our community to join us in preventing homelessness and creating housing stability for all.”
This year also marks the launch of investments for Impact-Based Funding, a new approach that puts measurable community-wide results at the center of how United Way invests donor dollars in the community. The investments support nonprofit organizations across Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, and Waukesha counties that are advancing the strategies of United Way’s Key Initiatives and delivering measurable results for local individuals and families.
“Our donors expect their generosity to make a difference,” said Lindner, “and our community deserves investments that deliver results. Our new funding model strengthens the work that has already been accomplished and looks to continue to move the needle on our community’s most important issues.”
A complete listing of organizations receiving funding is available on United Way’s What We Fund webpage.
A NEW GOAL: HOUSING STABILITY FOR ALL
More than 118,000 people across the four-county region are considered at risk of homelessness, making prevention a critical community priority.
Through Safe & Stable Homes: Housing Stability for All, United Way is building on the work established with ending family homelessness.
The goal is ambitious: prevent homelessness for 40,000 people by 2032.
The initiative will bring together nonprofit partners, government, businesses, volunteers, and donors around strategies that help people stay housed and recover quickly when a housing crisis occurs.
Those strategies include:
- Effective prevention and rapid resolutions. United Way will use what they know works: support for legal aid, shelters, rapid rehousing, and strong street outreach to stop evictions and quickly move people back into stable housing.
- Targeted prevention outreach. United Way will use data from nonprofit partners to provide income support and flexible financial help through an expanded Flex Fund before a housing crisis occurs.
- Coordinated systems. United Way will bring it all together into one coordinated network. The Coordinated Entry process assesses the needs of individuals and families and efficiently matches them with the most appropriate support services available. Housing case managers help individuals and families at imminent risk of homelessness secure safe, stable housing. And shared online systems help partners respond faster and more effectively.
“Ending family homelessness was never the finish line,” said Amy Lindner. “The next step is to build upon our success and make sure that a temporary setback doesn’t become a housing crisis, and a housing crisis doesn’t become homelessness. Housing stability for all is something we can build together with our community.”
THE CAMPAIGN GOAL: $58 MILLION
The 2026 campaign goal of $58 million will support United Way’s work to address critical needs throughout the community.
That work includes Safe & Stable Homes: Housing Stability for All, Techquity, Reducing Barriers to Employment & Advancement, and Teen Mental Wellness: Empowering Minds.
But United Way knows that they cannot do this alone. The campaign is calling on individuals, employers, businesses, and community partners to invest, advocate and volunteer.
Learn more at www.UnitedWayGMWC.org
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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