75 Years of Building Community & Changing Lives: United Way Ottawa’s Story
1990s / ON A NEW COURSE: At the beginning of the decade, the economy again is in decline and homelessness is more evident than ever. Despite these socioeconomic realities, there is broad support among governments and the general population for deficit reduction at the expense of social program spending.
UW/CO and the Social Planning Council — which have had a close relationship for many years — again re-examine their roles and responsibilities in light of decreased social program spending by government. Priority goals for funding are established to guide allocations.
For its part, UW/CO continues to support such member agencies as the Union Mission for Men, but also decides to dedicate two per cent of its campaign dollars to tackle new and emerging needs, including funding a school breakfast program. With close to 64,000 immigrants — three-quarters of whom are visible minorities — arriving in Ottawa during this 10-year period, it is clear that some of the community’s emerging challenges relate to this demographic.
A decision by the Council that its involvement in community activities should guide its research choices and that research should contribute to community action results in reports being published on individual sectors (such as seniors, children/youth/families and self-sufficiency/social integration). Together, UW/CO and the Council establish joint task forces to strengthen and coordinate services for ethnic and visible minorities, establish an emergency shelter for youth, develop a service delivery model targeted to homeless women, determine the need for a francophone special needs network, and document the extent of child and family poverty.
Towards the end of the decade, in 1998, both UW/CO and the Council produce A Tale of Two Cities, which highlights the growing gap between the city’s “haves” and “have-nots.” This report — along with campaign shortfalls for a number of years — add impetus to a decision made the previous year by the board of directors of UW/CO to chart a new course for the organization. Not long after, UW/CO ends its long-time relationship with the Council.
UW/CO hires a new executive director in 1998 and approves a new mission — to bring people and resources together to build a strong, healthy and safe community for all — in 1999.
UW/CO's reach during the decade: • spends early part of 1990s engaged in organizational restructuring to better meet the needs of the community
“Taking the organization from a federated fundraiser to a community-builder presented challenges, not least of which was to shift from member-driven to community research-driven planning and decision-making.”
