To Our LUW Community,

As we reflect on 2022 it is worth highlighting some of the accomplishments we achieved together and the challenges that we continue to be face heading into 2023:

Accomplishments:

• 2,526 people received support to move their lives forward, including housing placements, employment opportunities and degrees earned.

• 138,181 meals were provided to help reduce hunger.

• Completion of a year long strategic planning process laying the groundwork for two game-changing initiatives — Community Central and Job Central.

• Customized client data system to track services provided and outcomes across all LUW programs as well as identify needs, trends, and areas for improvement.

Challenges:

• Hiring and retaining qualified employees — most employers are struggling to find and retain talent in their organizations. The intensity of our work and the compensation and benefit levels we are able to offer heighten these struggles for LUW. We are working hard to invest in staff compensation but also training, professional development and other benefits to make LUW an attractive place to work.

• Rising costs — costs for most of the goods and services we need to execute our mission (food, benefit costs, office supplies, utilities, property and liability insurance, etc.) have increased without corresponding increases in our funding.

• Funding gaps and the challenge of raising funds in the year in which they are being spent make it difficult to make long-term program investments with confidence.

Funding gaps occur when our funders limit the expenses they will cover. This creates a gap in revenue required to fully operate the program. That gap is most often felt in CORE mission expenses which are necessary, vital, and integral to effectively operate ALL programs. Investing in nonprofit CORE and Fundraising infrastructure is savvy, prudent, and absolutely necessary. See our breakdown on pages 6 and 7. The growth and effectiveness of our mission depends on having a solid core at the center of Lifting Up Westchester.

To help address these challenges over the long-term, LUW launched The Wiggins Legacy Society in 2022 to help grow the resources we need to build stronger communities for future generations.

Your belief in Lifting Up Westchester carried the day in 2022 and for that we are forever grateful.

Sincerely,

George Kontogiannis CEO Board President

Anahaita N. Kotval