2021-2022 Community Investment Grants
United Way of Merced County fights for the health, education, and financial stability of all Merced County community members. We believe these are the essential building blocks to live a quality life in any given community. To continue spreading the common good throughout the county and amongst all its members, we invite you to be a part of the change by applying to our UWMC 2021-2022 Community Mini-Grants Program. Through this program, we aim to distribute mini-grants for up to $5,000 to local MERCED COUNTY organizations providing programming in the areas of health, education, and financial stability/income.
Currently, we have not launched the Community Investment Grants for 2023. Please continue to check for any updates.
How to know if you Qualify?
To qualify, your program/organization must focus its energies on the areas of either health, education, or financial stability/income; it must also target and benefit Merced County residents. If you believe your program/organization falls into any of these categories, please apply! Please go to our Eligibility Guidelines page for a deeper dive into eligibility.
How are applications approved? Denied?
Once our application window closes, each application is reviewed by the program coordinator, which then hands off the applications to a committee, composed of diverse members of the community, that discusses the program/organization and how it relates to our qualifications. Each member of the committee scores the application and the applications with the highest scores are the ones approved!
What are considered areas of health, education, financial stability?
HEALTH:
Programs that enable people to live healthier. Areas may include: healthy eating and physical activity, access to health care, healthy choices, safe home and community, healthy beginnings, etc.
EDUCATION:
Programs that help increase the number of students graduating from high school and preparing for employment. Areas may include: early childhood literacy, school readiness, early-grade reading proficiency, middle-grade success, high school graduation, post-secondary success, vocational education, or college graduation.
FINANCIAL STABILITY:
Programs that help individuals and families maintain and/or increase their income. Areas may include: workforce training, entrepreneurial program development, budgeting family and finances, public benefit awareness, and asset development.
