About United Way
Committed, caring, informed, relevant, and local.
Our Mission
United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin strives to meet existing and emerging social needs in order to improve lives and build community.
Our Values
In pursuing our mission, we are committed to the following guiding values:
Social Justice
We believe that everyone deserves equal rights and opportunities and work to dismantle systems of oppression that marginalize individuals and communities.
Community-Centred
We put community first. We focus on collaboration and ensure our work is guided by local voices, needs and assets.
Compassion
We bring humanity to our work by actively listening and respecting all voices. We respond to others with understanding, patience and kindness.
Courage
We are bold, open-minded and innovative leaders in making lasting positive change.
Integrity
We build trust by being transparent, accountable and live our values even when it’s uncomfortable or difficult.
Adaptability
We continue to learn, listen and respond quickly to our community’s changing needs and shift approaches when needed.
Our History
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1940
The local United Way began in 1940 as the Guelph Community Chest for War & Welfare Services. It was established to conduct a single, annual campaign for voluntary sector agencies that were conducting individual campaigns.
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1945-1970
From 1945 to 1970, the organization was known by many names, including: Red Feather, United Community Funds, Community Chest, and the Guelph United Way.
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1971
By 1971, the organization had adopted the name of the Guelph and District Community Services Council. At this time, an important shift took place – the organization established a Social Planning program to identify and respond to community needs, as well as to develop a rational basis for distributing funds.
One of the first activities of the social planning program was the identification of agencies that provided services in the community. This exercise resulted in the creation of Guelph Information – an information and referral service that helped residents access community services.
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1976-1982
Between 1976 and 1982, it was recognized that the public did not easily understand or identify with the “Community Service Council”. Therefore, the name was changed to United Way Social Planning Council, to clearly identify the organization’s core programs.
During this period, the campaign experienced tremendous growth, more than doubling its results in 10 years. This was attributed to having participated in one of United Way of Canada’s first On-site Campaign Analyses — a thorough assessment of data and campaign practices.
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1995
In the following years, the organization made significant gains in its campaign, the number of funded programs increased significantly, and a volunteer leadership development program was established. After the loss of government funding in 1995, the organization re-examined its activities and decided to outsource Guelph Information and the Volunteer Leadership Development service (which became the Volunteer Centre of Guelph/Wellington). This shift reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to three core programs: social planning, campaign, and fund distribution.
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2012
In 2012, United Way funded local social service programs in Guelph and Wellington County. Additionally, United Way serviced Orangeville and Dufferin County. United Way board of directors changed the working name of the organization to better reflect all of the areas served to United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin.
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2015
United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2015. In the past 20 years, nearly $59 million has been raised through the annual campaign to support the local community.
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2020
United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin responds to the COVID-19 pandemic with the Community Response Fund in partnership with the Guelph Community Foundation and locally distributed the Government of Canada’s Emergency Community Response Fund, which saw more than $1 million in emergency funding invested in our local community.
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Today
Today, United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin continues to unite people and resources to improve lives, build community, and create lasting positive change.
Our Community Investment
United Way staff work closely with local community groups to achieve meaningful, long-term improvements to quality of life in the communities of Guelph, Wellington, and Dufferin Counties. Community Impact is about addressing not just the symptoms of problems but also the root causes.
United Way invests in local programs that help thousands of people in our community on their journey to a better quality of life. Click here to see the list of programs we support.
United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin is a charitable organization (Registered Charitable no. 10745 7053 RR0001).
Strategic Plan
Like many organizations, United Way has experienced major changes over the past few years – both to the work that we do and the environment we do it in. The effects of the pandemic and changing donor behaviour has disrupted traditional fundraising campaigns as well as the needs of the community. The timing was right to refresh United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin’s strategic plan, re-engage & re-energize staff and donors and build on the strong foundational work already completed as a leader in social services for the past 85 years.
Our 2025-2027 Strategic Plan is the result of extensive consultation with the community, partners and interest holders. We listened, we learned and we celebrated. We are proud of the work we do and are thrilled that we have so much support for that work behind us. What has come from our robust conversations is a plan aligned with our values, that looks to continue to build partnerships and collaborations that will enable us to make positive, lasting change for everyone in our local community for years to come.