Underneath the electrical wires, above the hydro systems, and along the city’s roads is another network that — often unnoticed — holds the GTA together: the community sector.

There’s a lot of talk about the city’s physical infrastructure, like highways and public transit, and an increasing dialogue about digital infrastructure, such as smart cities. While that’s warranted, the conversation tends to stop short of social infrastructure, “the very critical and invisible connective network that ties our human care together across the GTA,” says Daniele Zanotti, president and CEO, United Way Greater Toronto.

Since the non-profit organization got its start in Toronto in 1956, it has been the largest funder of social services — next only to government — with 270 agencies across Toronto, Peel and York regions. Of those, 62 are anchor agencies.

“Increasingly our work is not only deepening around poverty but acting in a networked way,” says Zanotti. “In other words, the research suggests that the single most sustainable way to solve local issues is with a network of agencies — not one program, not one agency.”

United Way research also shows that connected communities, where agencies, volunteers and residents work together, have the lowest crime rates, the lowest housing costs and highest GDP growth. “The network of agencies that we fund is a prime example of that,” says Zanotti. “For every buck we invest in that network, we actually save up to $9 in longer-term social assistance, criminal justice and emergency room costs.”

United Way’s 62 anchor agencies are “anchored” in those GTA neighbourhoods with the deepest poverty, offering multiple services. A few years ago, United Way rolled out a more agile strategy grounded in these anchor agencies; they receive five-year funding for work on the ground, in areas where it’s most needed. Wrapped around these 62 anchors are a group of agencies funded for specific programs.

Dixon Hall in Toronto, for example, started out as a soup kitchen in 1929 and joined United Way in 1958. Now, it’s an anchor agency with a multi-service approach to programming. “The objective is to ensure the most vulnerable are given an opportunity to thrive — it is at the core of everything we do, whether it’s youth programming or housing services or seniors services,” says Mercedes Watson, CEO of Dixon Hall.

While the agency has traditionally served Toronto’s downtown east, working with United Way allows it to extend its reach across the GTA. Watson compares United Way to a superhero, like Spider-Man, creating a web that allows agencies such as Dixon Hall to stay connected to partner agencies across the region.

“I’m not sure there would be an easy way to do that without United Way,” she says. “When we do things co-operatively, not only are we stronger, we’re leaving less gaps in the system.”

For example, its housing services department has grown by 75 per cent over the past year. “That tells you a lot about the city,” says Watson. After talking to a contact at United Way about Toronto’s housing issue, she was contacted a few months later by a researcher; United Way donors had put aside funding for research that will provide a framework to better tackle Toronto’s housing issue.

“There’s no way we could have come up with the money for the research, but United Way could help us do that,” she says. “They put words into action.”

Dixon Hall has also partnered with other community groups funded by United Way that will “help us better shepherd those most vulnerable through our system … more efficiently and more cost effectively,” says Watson. “All of us are stretched [for funds]. It really helps us to not only stretch our dollars but our resources.”

While people often talk about social change and impact in grand systemic ways, small investments can have residual spill that makes a long-term impact.

“That would be impossible if we were singularly focused,” says Zanotti. “I think we often forget that the value of the network is not only the 270 agencies — it ripples out from that.” In the past two years, for example, 400,000 people have volunteered with United Way in some capacity.

“I truly believe that because of its scale and professionalism and sophistication, [this model] is a highly effective way to raise funds and get the maximum return on the dollars raised,” says Eric Rawlinson, managing partner and chief financial officer with Ernst & Young Canada.

“What you’re really doing is helping smaller organizations, relieving them from the cost burden of fundraising,” says Rawlinson, also a senior volunteer with United Way and sector chair of individual giving with the Campaign Cabinet. “It’s better to have a centralized approach rather than a couple hundred agencies trying to do it all on their own.”

Across EY Canada, the firm has seen a 30 per cent increase in volunteering from 2018 to 2019. It expects to keep up that momentum, in part thanks to its global portal, part of EY Ripples, that makes it easier for employees to learn of, and sign up for, volunteer opportunities with organizations such as United Way — particularly where they can use their business skills, from accounting to information technology and supply chain management.

“It kind of snowballs and builds on itself,” says Rawlinson. “We tell the stories and people find it motivating — like six degrees of motivation.”

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No single agency can do this on its own, says Zanotti. But social infrastructure also requires “civic muscle,” where people roll up their sleeves and get involved in the neighbourhoods they love. “It doesn’t happen without some sweat equity,” he says, adding that United Way has a goal to get 1 million people involved in their neighbourhoods by 2025.

“To solve some of these unignorable issues,” says Zanotti, “we need to step out of our silos — health, employment, social services — and really think about this as a network.”

Learn how you can give back at unitedwaygt.org. Help make local issues #UNIGNORABLE.