ABOUT DR. DARIENNE HUDSON:
Dr. Darienne Hudson is a high-energy nonprofit executive and life-long educator serving as President and CEO of United Way for Southeastern Michigan, located in Detroit and serving Macomb, Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne Counties. Before joining United Way in July 2018, she spent four years as superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools. Dr. Hudson began her career as an elementary school teacher in Detroit Public Schools, a point of personal pride.
Dr. Hudson believes in the power of collective impact and in the importance of public-private partnerships to solve societal issues and inequity. She is purposefully and intentionally leading her 100-plus-year-old organization in a direction that places an emphasis on listening to the community to address its greatest needs and improve the lives throughout the region.
Her ability to mobilize corporations, foundations, and individual donors to orchestrate a coordinated community-based effort in response to the coronavirus pandemic garnered international praise and recognition. Dr. Hudson continues to lead United Way with the same sense of urgency and passion. Throughout her tenure, the organization has raised more than $348 million to support individuals and families in need across Southeastern Michigan.
Dr. Hudson proudly co-chairs the Mayor’s Workforce Development Board, and she serves on the boards of the Detroit Children’s Fund, the Detroit Public Schools Foundation, Connect313, United Way Worldwide, and recently completed her term on the Board of Overseers for Harvard University.
Dr. Hudson's academic achievements include a doctorate from Harvard University in Urban Superintendency, a master's degree in education from Harvard University, and a master’s degree in curriculum development from the University of Michigan. Her undergraduate degree in child development is from Spelman College.
RESOURCES:
United Way for Southeastern Michigan (UWSEM)
ALICE Report — Michigan Association of United Ways
TRANSCRIPTION:
David Fair: This is 89 one WEMU, and tomorrow marks an anniversary. It was October 1st of 2023 that a merger formally took effect. It saw the United Way of Washtenaw County become a part of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. I'm David Fair, and the formal announcement of that merger was made right here on WEMU's Washtenaw United. The president and CEO of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan is Dr. Darienne Hudson. In our conversation about the upcoming merger last year, Dr. Hudson outlined plans for maintaining a bricks-and-mortar presence in Washtenaw County with aspirations for increased staffing services and community investment. So, where are we after year one? And what is year two going to bring? Well, I'm glad to say that Dr. Hudson is here to mark the anniversary and answer those questions for us. Thank you so much for the time today, Dr. Hudson, and congratulations!
Dr. Darienne Hudson: Oh, thank you so much! And it's always a pleasure to be here with you, David!
David Fair: Well, generally speaking, has the merger gone about as expected in its first year?
Dr. Darienne Hudson: Yes. I feel that we had high expectations for our merger, and it has gone extremely well. We're very proud of this partnership. As we told you many times when we've had conversations, Washtenaw County is our home. We've been operating 211--the information and referral call system--for 15 years-plus in Washtenaw County. I am a U of M alum, and I have a number of staff who live in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor and beyond in Washtenaw County. And so, this merger has done very well, and we've been able to deliver on several of the guarantees and the promises that we made to our community.
David Fair: Well, the United Way chapter you lead also serves Wayne, Oakland, Macomb and Lapeer counties, and I'm sure all have specific needs, and all reach out to you to have those needs better addressed. Within the structure of a comprehensive service agency, how do you accommodate and serve the individual needs of the counties that are included in your chapter?
Dr. Darienne Hudson: So, I first want to make sure that it's clear that we serve the 211 call center for Lapeer County, but they are actually their own independent United Way from us. So, we are a four-county in terms of the services that we are providing. And the way that we do that is really an intense focus on our ALICE population and our ALICE families. ALICE is an acronym. It stands for Asset Limited Income Constrained and Employed. And essentially, this gives us an assessment of how much it costs for either a single adult or a family of four to be able to meet their most basic needs in Washtenaw County and across our four-county footprint. That is actually $90,000 for our families of four and $32,523 for single adults. So, with the ALICE threshold, it gives us a sense of how our families are doing. And it's 2022--39% of our households in Washtenaw County actually classified as either being in poverty or they were ALICE population. So, this gives us a sense specifically of what needs are most affecting them and what are they most being impacted by. We know, just from looking at this data, that childcare continues to be the highest cost for our families. But from our 211 call center, we know that utility assistance is still in high demand. Housing shortages are still affecting our families as well as food insecurity. So, that's really how we're able to drill down to the individuals in our community and find out exactly what they need for their families.
David Fair: Washtenaw United and our conversation with United Way for Southeastern Michigan President and CEO Dr. Darienne Hudson continues on 89 one WEMU. As I mentioned in the open, a little over a year ago in announcing the merger, the plan included increased staffing in Washtenaw County, increased services and more community investment. Now, that's a big ask in one year. Have those aspirations turned to reality?
Dr. Darienne Hudson: Yes, we have. So, I'm very proud to share, one, that, through this merger, our staff is actually around 160 now with both of our parties coming together. And we are actually still in the process of building programs in partnership with Washtenaw County partners. We were able to deliver an additional $425,000 to our community in Washtenaw County this year--one through our basic needs grants. These responsive grants were actually given to seven different organizations in Washtenaw County in February of 2024. And that was $225,000 that was really focused on helping our families and our organizations stabilize after many of those COVID-era funds went away. We also still operated our Racial Equity Fund. We were able to give an additional $200,000 to BIPOC-led organizations in Washtenaw County to continue to help them grow and do the work necessary to help foster racial equity. And then, we still operate our community unpaid grants. So, over those past three years, part of our commitment with this merger was to ensure that there was $1 million going out to Washtenaw County. And so, we delivered on that promise this year. We intend to do the same thing next year. And then lastly, you talked in your opening about our building. We still have a strong presence in Washtenaw County. We love our building. This is actually where we are able to conduct all of our vital support and programming. That's our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, and it runs out of this office. And so, we are still open and available to serve all of our community partners and our families in our organizations in Washtenaw County.
David Fair: The decision-making process for how best to allocate financial resources has to be a difficult one. And you touched on it in your prior response. But I want to get more specific. How much of that decision-making process is made with diversity, equity and inclusion in mind?
Dr. Darienne Hudson: So, we actually have a blueprint that we follow from Detroit's Future City. It's actually a table of questions that we asked to help us. Are we including our community when we're making these decisions? Do we have an advisory team that is of the community to help us make these decisions? And so, with every bucket of funding, if you will, that we're giving out to the community, we actually have a team of staff and volunteers that are from our four-county footprint to help us with grantmaking across multiple areas, whether it's education, basic needs or any of the work that we're doing with diversity, equity and inclusion. They have a process that they follow in terms of doing some initial workshops with all of our grants applicants to make sure they know how to use their system. So, there's no barriers there. And once we do those workshops, people are able to apply. And then, this advisory group actually does all of the scoring. They use a rubric to be able to make those decisions. Then we bring it to our governance, which is our community impact committee. And so, all of these grants run through that committee. This is also a committee that is made up of community leaders and representatives from our four-county footprint. And then, that actually goes to our board of directors for approval. And our board of directors, again, represents a number of different agencies and corporations and leaders from around our four-county footprint. And once they approve, then those grants are given out. So, this is a very objective and fair process with a number of voices and minds in the process to make sure that it is as fair and accessible as possible for anyone who's interested in applying.
David Fair: Once again, this is 89 one WEMU's Washtenaw United, and we're talking with Dr. Darienne Hudson. She is president and CEO of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. Well, October 1st will mark the formal anniversary of the merger, but it also begins a new fiscal year for you. And I'm curious as to, in your planning, is the commitment going to be increased in the new fiscal year?
Dr. Darienne Hudson: So, our commitment--we look at it in a number of different ways. And we've just been boots on the ground since we started. And so, this year, as we continue to hold our commitment of $1 million to the community, we also have more and more volunteers that are raising their hands to help support us. There are a number of convenings and events and fundraisers that people can expect. We have been very fortunate to have so many volunteers who are helping us with a cornhole tournament that actually raised over $10,000 last year. We have the Power of the Purse, which is committed to boosting economic mobility in Washtenaw County. That is going to be held in April of 2025. We still have our Women of Influence summit that's held in March that goes to support early childhood initiatives. And so, people can expect to continue to receive resources going into the community. This was our first year ever that we did Rev United. This was a fundraiser with Ford Motor Company and Stellantis. We were able to raise $140,000 to go back into the community. So, David, we have no intentions of stopping. We are working full throttle, literally, to have a series of different events that help us raise funds to push right back out into the community. So, the community has very high expectations for us, and we intend to deliver.
David Fair: Well, Dr. Hudson, thank you for making time for our conversation today and providing an update for the one-year anniversary of the merger and a little peek ahead to year two. I appreciate it!
Dr. Darienne Hudson: Oh, my pleasure always, David! And thank you again for the opportunity to speak to the community!
David Fair: That is Dr. Darienne Hudson, president and CEO of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and our guest on Washtenaw United. Again, it was October 1st of last year, the United Way for Washtenaw County officially became a part of the United Way for Southeastern Michigan. For more information and for more on the conversation, visit our web page at wemu.org. I'm David Fair, and this is your community NPR station, 89 one WEMU FM, Ypsilanti.
UWSEM STATEMENT:
One year after the merger between United Way of Washtenaw County and United Way for Southeastern Michigan, the organization remains committed to addressing the financial challenges faced by households in the region – including families across Washtenaw County. While Washtenaw County saw a 2.5% decrease in households below the ALICE threshold in 2022, financial instability remains higher than pre-pandemic levels, with many households still struggling due to rising costs, reduced federal support, and slow wage growth. United Way continues to drive community support, working alongside policymakers, businesses, and nonprofits to ensure long-term solutions for ALICE households and those in poverty, while leveraging the strengths of its partnerships and investments to uplift the community.
WEMU has partnered with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to explore the people, organizations, and institutions creating opportunity and equity in our area. And, as part of this ongoing series, you’ll also hear from the people benefiting and growing from the investments being made in the areas of our community where there are gaps in available services. It is a community voice. It is 'Washtenaw United.'
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