Union Capital Springfield First 6 Months Report

Springfield Launches

At Union Capital, we fundamentally believe in Stephen Covey’s adage that, “Change moves at the speed of trust.” Building our model and program in Springfield has meant first and foremost, building trust. Prior to launching we made sure we had first built trust-based relationships with core supporters, including the MassMutual Foundation, core community partners, including New North Citizens’ Council and Baystate Health, and core community leaders, including our talented Director of Springfield, Roberto “Tito” Martinez.

With that foundation of trust and interest in our model, Tito and his team have continued to do the relational outreach that invests community members in our program. Starting with 200 founding members signing up for the new UCS App at our launch, our membership steadily grew to over 500 by the end of 2023, and is now over 750 members at the time of this printing.

In just three months, those 500 members tracked over 3,500 hours of community engagement, resulting in almost $7,000 in earned rewards. We have begun to collect member data on employment, education, finances, voting and more through our entry surveys. The first results of our impact in Springfield will be measured with our December 2024 Annual Member survey.

“As an introvert UCB has gotten me to be more involved and confident. I tried new things and stepped out of my comfort zone, in safe settings.” - UCS Member

On Saturday, September 30, 2023, Union Capital Springfield officially launched with a large resource fair and celebration attended by over 200 community residents and leaders!

Sept 30,2023-March 31,2024

Springfield Data Dashboard

Springfield Launches

The Union Capital model is predicated on community partnerships and community leaders. In Springfield, our early success is thanks entirely to the founding partners and leaders that joined us.

Along with NNCC and Baystate Health, we have been thrilled to welcome new partners Veritas Prep charter school, Tech Foundry, Libertas Academy charter school, and Brightwood Elementary (Springfield Public Schools) to our community. In coordination with these partners, we have trained and stipended eight talented leaders to serve as our first Network Coordinators. As Coordinators, they are coached and supported to serve as ambassadors for Union Capital: they attend community events, invite community members to join the UCS rewards app, help host our Network Nights, and serve as a relational connection to resources and programs for our members

Following our September launch, we immediately began to host community gatherings and our Network Nights across the City of Springfield. Gradually at each Network Night, more and more community members come to attend, learn about opportunities for their families, share resources with each other, and build relationships. Our Network Coordinators host our Network Nights and we have been thrilled to welcome so many of our early community partners and supporters to share their resources at our Nights, which are now averaging over 50 attendees.

“I've been able to make and facilitate so many meaningful connections in my community. It's been wonderful and powerful to create and experience safe, authentic spaces where people support each other."- Network Coordinator

Springfield Launches

As we complete our first full year in Springfield, 2024 promises to be a year of growth, programming, and measuring impact.

We aim to steadily grow our membership to over 1,000 members and award over $25,000 over the course of the full calendar year. Along with our in-person Network Nights, we have begun to host Virtual Network Nights on Zoom to see if there is a need and interest for that type of resource connecting in Springfield. We are also excited to invite new types of programs in Springfield, such as Cafe Meet-ups and summer festivals, that can inform and improve our programming in Boston as well

Additionally, we are thrilled to have our first cohort of Springfield members participating in our UC Leadership Training programs Along with meeting on Zoom for classes, Springfield participants have traveled to Boston for meet-ups and presentations. It has been an exciting addition to our model to think about ways that Springfield and Boston can continue to connect to share our talents, resources, and opportunities with each other.

Although we are celebrating our 10th year of Union Capital, we really are only completing our first year in Springfield. We still have a lot of relationships to build, partnerships to make, and lessons to be learned. We will continue to be responsive to the needs and interests of our Springfield community and “move at the speed of trust.” We hope you will join us and contact our Director of Springfield, Roberto “Tito” Martinez, if you are interested in learning more: roberto.martinez@unioncapital.org