The United Way of the Big Bend's annual community meeting packed the arena at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center on Tuesday, August 25.
From 2023 through 2025, the regional United Way provided more than $2.7 million of aid to 88,000 people in its service area. President and CEO Berneice Cox says that need is still growing as income levels continue to slip in the region.
"One in two people in our eight-county region are either ALICE - Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed - or below the poverty level."
So the United Way keeps its focus on core needs such as safety net, early learning, housing, health and mental health and skills development services. With so many present economic uncertainties, Cox and her team expect those core needs to continue and even grow.
