One year ago, United Way of Greater Chattanooga launched its first multiyear funding collaborative, the Impact Cohort. On June 11, the cohort marked its one-year milestone with a celebratory gathering, bringing together the 19 participating local nonprofits to reflect on the "strategic, meaningful outcomes of their first year of partnership."

Officials said, "This three-year collaborative, fueled by a $6.6 million investment from United Way, was designed not only to fund critical services but also to intentionally connect and align organizations.

The Impact Cohort is focused on better serving ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) households with children across the community. By pairing sustained funding with deep collaboration, the cohort is helping ensure families do not just access services, but experience coordinated, whole-family support that can lead to lasting stability."

"At the cohort gathering, United Way of Greater Chattanooga President and CEO Lesley Scearce reflected on the strength of the cohort’s partnerships. “We’ve all heard the phrase ‘misery loves company.’ But I think excellence loves company, too. And the Impact Cohort is an example of this in action,” Ms. Scearce said. “This group embodies patient urgency. Together, we’re recognizing the urgency of our community’s needs, but we know that change does not happen overnight. When we work collaboratively like this, in unity, we make long-term systems change.”

"Working together with proven, holistic approaches, the Impact Cohort is making meaningful change for local families," officials said. Each organization brings a unique role in delivering whole-family services, ensuring that economically vulnerable households can move toward long-term stability and opportunity. From early learning and financial empowerment to mental health care and workforce development, each of the 19 organizations contributes a distinct perspective and service model. After one year of collaborating, the most powerful outcome is not just the reach, but the relationships.

"While the early months focused on building trust and establishing shared language, the cohort has evolved into something more connected. Increasingly, these organizations are operating not as individual programs, but as a coordinated ecosystem, referring families to one another, aligning services, and problem-solving together in real time. A group of highly relational, mid-sized nonprofits is increasingly serving as connective tissue across the cohort, helping accelerate coordination among partners. That collaboration is translating into measurable impact. In just one year, the cohort has reached over 13,000 ALICE households, including more than 8,700 children and caregivers.

"Partners consistently note that the value of the cohort goes beyond funding. It is about stability, connection, and shared purpose."

Momentum Network shared, “As a small organization, we know stability is really important for our clients, but stability is also really important for us to be able to keep our promises to our clients. Because of both the funding and fellowship of this cohort, we can speak to our clients with confidence and have colleagues to lean on when we face a challenge.” 

Crabtree Farms echoed that sentiment, noting, “This is the first time funding has allowed me to prioritize community partnerships, rather than that being something I do only when I have time. This has been extremely impactful, helping me create and maintain valuable partnerships around town.”

Officials said, "Those partnerships are already driving new and innovative work across Chattanooga. Several partnerships that have grown from the cohort include Crabtree Farms and YMCA Mobile Food Market partnering to bring locally grown fresh produce to families, the Chattanooga Area Food Bank and Signal Centers exploring workforce development pathways, and Chattanooga 2.0 partnering with Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise to strengthen place-based family engagement in Alton Park. These partnerships (along with many others), point to a deeper level of coordination, one in which the cohort and United Way are creating solutions that begin to match the complexity of the challenges local families face." 

To read more stories of collaboration the Impact Cohort has made possible, visit unitedwaycha.org/impact-cohort.

“One of the most encouraging outcomes has been the growth of meaningful partnerships across the cohort,” said Meghan Creecy, director of Strategic Partnerships. “United Way is a convener, and this cohort reflects a new way of approaching that role, bringing organizations together around the understanding that our community’s challenges are interconnected, and the solutions must be as well.”

Officials said, "The Impact Cohort’s inaugural year has not been without challenges. Rising cost-of-living pressures, housing instability, workforce barriers, childcare access, food insecurity, and ongoing shifts in public benefits and policy have all shaped the landscape in which these organizations operate. As frontline responders, Impact Cohort partners continue to experience these challenges in real time.

"Despite that complexity, the response has increasingly been rooted in partnership, including shared referrals, coordinated strategies, and a commitment to long-term solutions. What began as a funding initiative is now clearly evolving into a connected learning and support ecosystem.

"The Impact Cohort was launched at a time of rising need, and one year in, it is meeting that moment with both urgency and intention. Cohort partners are feeling and responding to the pulse of the community in real time. United Way is proud to convene and fund this group of organizations that are not only responding to immediate needs but also laying the groundwork for lasting systems change."