Creating lasting change for children and families requires more than addressing a single challenge. Financial stability, educational success, and family well-being are deeply interconnected. That is why Heart of Indiana United Way has adopted a multi-generational approach to community impact, supporting both caregivers and children through two complementary initiatives: the THRIVE Network and the Read & Achieve Partnership.
Across our region, nearly 46% of households are living at or below the ALICE threshold, meaning families are struggling to afford necessities such as housing, childcare, food, transportation, and healthcare—despite working hard. At the same time, nearly one in five children live below the federal poverty level, and many schools experience lower reading proficiency and higher rates of chronic absenteeism amongst children from lower income households compared to their more affluent peers.
These challenges affect entire families. When parents are financially stressed, children often face barriers that can impact learning, attendance, and long-term success. Addressing those challenges requires solutions that support the whole family.
Heart of Indiana United Way’s THRIVE Network helps working adults and families build pathways to financial stability. Based on a proven national model, THRIVE combines employment and career advancement services, financial education and coaching, and assistance accessing income supports. Through one-on-one, family-centered coaching, participants establish goals, strengthen financial skills, increase income, reduce debt, and build assets that support long-term economic mobility.
A new feature of THRIVE will be its focus on the whole family. Coaches will help participants identify goals not only for themselves but also for their children and other family members. By strengthening financial stability and family resilience, participants are better equipped to navigate challenges and build a stronger future.
At the same time, the Read & Achieve Partnership focuses on helping children from birth through third grade succeed academically. Research consistently shows that reading at grade level by the end of third grade is one of the strongest predictors of future success. These critical years are when children master the foundational skills of reading so they can become students who read to learn.
Read and Achieve brings schools, after-school providers, early learning nonprofits, libraries, healthcare organizations, and community partners together to create seamless supports that promote school readiness, attendance, summer learning, grade-level reading, and family engagement.
Together, these initiatives recognize a simple truth: when adults thrive—their children thrive, and when families thrive—communities thrive.
To build upon this approach, Heart of Indiana United Way is pleased to announce that requests for funding proposals are now available for both the THRIVE Network and the Read & Achieve Partnership. We invite nonprofit organizations and collaborative partnerships that share this vision to apply at www.HeartOfIndiana.org/rfp.
Successful candidates will share Heart of Indiana United Way’s commitment to listening to the people we serve, collaboration and partnerships, and using data to measure results to improve outcomes. By bringing organizations together around shared goals, we can create stronger systems of support for families across our region.
No single agency can tackle these challenges alone. But together, we can build stronger families, create brighter futures for children, and ensure more individuals across our communities can thrive.