By Jack Brittle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On April 1, four Ontario United Way (UW) branches (Brant United Way, United Way Haldimand and Norfolk, United Way Halton and Hamilton, and United Way Niagara) merged to create United Way Golden Horseshoe (UWGH), a new regional organization focused on increasing impact and efficiency.

Brad Park, interim president and CEO of the new branch, said that the idea of a merger has been in the works for a while.

“Our boards have been doing all of the due diligence and the legal work behind the scenes to make sure that it was the right decision,” Park said. “They also reviewed different models to see what the outcomes would be. But it’s been two years of pretty intense conversations and workload to get here.”

Park said that UW branches are seeing a spike in demand, but also a decrease in the number of donors.

“The conversations sparked from, ‘Hey, we’ve got some challenges here. Is there something we could be doing together that would make us stronger and better,’” Park said.

He said that the merger will help to reduce duplication and free up more UW employees to be “out in the community,” instead of in the back office. This will mean more people “meeting with donors and agencies, discussing community issues and looking for solutions to problems in the community,” Park explained.

In a press release from UW, they stressed that there will be no reduction in headcount as part of this process.

“This work is not about reducing staff, but about finding efficiencies and strengthening how we operate together,” the statement read. “By aligning certain back-office functions and reducing duplication behind the scenes, we can operate more efficiently while continuing to run a very lean organization.”

Park said that having a bigger organization will also give UW a “larger voice” at community, regional, and provincial tables.

“We now have a more powerful voice to start to tackle these community issues, and to try to get to the bottom of them,” Park said. “As opposed to just doing them by community and hoping that they don’t bleed over into other communities.

“Community issues don’t stop at our borders,” Park continued. “They run through every one of our communities, so by tackling it with a bigger voice and a bigger team, we’re able to have a bigger impact.”

The press statement also noted that funds will remain local and that community voices will still be front and centre in UW’s efforts.

UW will also carry forward all current agency funding into the 2026 program year. “This means that for agencies that are currently receiving funding through your local United Way, there will be no need to complete an application process for funding for 2026,” read the release.

Park said that more and more community organizations are merging in an effort to “find new resources.”

“There’s plenty of pullbacks in funding, and in order to find more, you have to get creative,” he said. “I think for us, as a United Way movement nationally, we have been looking to create scale over the past decade. We’ve gone from 120 United Ways back in the early 2000s to now just over 50 United Ways for United Way Canada.”

Park also spoke about what he expects from the upcoming United Way Evening of Celebration on April 15.

“We’re looking back at the past year,” Park described. “We were able to raise a large amount of revenue that we’re excited to celebrate and share with the community. That event is going to be about celebrating what we’ve accomplished and, of course, looking forward and saying, ‘Where are we going to go now?’”

George Araujo, former executive director of United Way Haldimand and Norfolk (and newly-appointed senior development officer at UWGH), gave his thoughts on the merger.

“This decision reflects careful planning, strong collaboration, and a genuine commitment to doing what’s best for local communities,” Araujo said. “I have confidence in the leadership and in the continued focus on people and partnerships at the local level.”

Beth Luciani, former executive director of Brant United Way (and now regional director for Brant Haldimand Norfolk under UWGH), said that she is “confident this new organization will strengthen local impact while benefiting from a more connected regional approach.”