United Way layoffs in Southwest Florida follow $1.6 million fundraising shortfall

LEE COUNTY, Fla. —

United Way, which supports nonprofits across the Gulf Coast, is $1.6 million short of its $11.5 million fundraising goal, resulting in layoffs and financial pressures.

"We eliminated ten positions internally here. But we do feel confident that that is helping us get on that road to meeting our campaign goal of the 11.5 million," Madison Mitchell of United Way said.

The nonprofit has laid off ten employees at its Lee, Hendry, and Glades office but has managed to maintain its 92 partnerships, including Lighthouse of Southwest Florida, which provides essential services to people who are blind or vision impaired.

Amy Price, CEO of Lighthouse of Southwest Florida, highlighted the potential impact of losing funding. "A loss of funding would impact our organization extremely. The loss of funding, we would not be able to provide these essential services," Price said.

Ani Fuentes, an assistive tech specialist at Lighthouse who was born blind, shared how the organization has helped her. "Being blind is a challenge. But at the same time, Lighthouse helps us to deal with it, you know, and to become, like, independent," Fuentes said.

Fuentes, who learned Braille in English through Lighthouse, now teaches technology to others who are blind. "It was so hard for me. So how about if I try to help clients to help to do the same," she said.

Reflecting on her work, Fuentes added, "We don't see clients as clients. We see clients as families. So, it's, it's, it's beautiful. It's, you know, it's amazing when you see clients here every day. They feel like a family."

The United Way also funds 260 social services across the region. If you are interested in contributing, you can visit United Way's website.

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