Health

United Way works for a healthier America

Whether it is a neighbor without health insurance, a victim of abuse, or someone struggling with mental illness or addiction, United Way is working to ensure everyone has access to affordable and quality care.

Our Goal

United Way of Southwest Missouri and Southeast Kansas promotes healthy behaviors in our communities.

Our Strategy

United Way of Southwest Missouri and Southeast Kansas works to increase the number of community members who:

• Live a healthy lifestyle, eat well and who are physically active.
• Avoid substance abuse.
• Have access to physical and dental health care.
• Have access to personal safety services for individuals and families who face threats to their immediate well-being, including but not limited to domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, and sexual assault.

Health Facts

• More than 33% of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. That’s 25 million kids and teenagers.
• Children with health coverage are better prepared to learn in school and succeed in life.¹
• The number of Americans without health insurance has increased steadily since the beginning of the century, now totaling about 47 million. More than 80% are working families.²
• 8.7 million children live without health insurance – more than the total number enrolled in the first and second grades in U.S. public schools.³

¹Institute of Medicine. From Neurons to Neighborhood: The Science of Early Childhood Development. Washington DC: National Academies Press, 2000.)
²Employee Benefit Research Institute estimates from the March Current Population Survey, 2007 Supplement.
³Compiled by the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), University of Minnesota School of Public Health, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey 2007.