United Way
of Whatcom County

Partner Agencies

It takes a variety of groups and strategies to change a community, not just one agency. Because we have such a large network of partners we can make an even greater impact on our community. Below are the local nonprofits we have dedicated funds to this fiscal year.

Current Partner Agencies

Bellingham Childcare and Learning Center

Bellingham Childcare & Learning Center, a non-profit corporation, provides high quality, affordable childcare to families of all income levels, assisting low-income families to become self sufficient. 

Bellingham Food Bank

Hunger is unacceptable but is very real for far too many families in Whatcom County. The Bellingham Food Bank staff and volunteers feed 3,500 Whatcom County families every week, from Sumas to Sudden Valley, from Bellingham to Glacier, doing everything they can to make sure every single person in Whatcom County has access to fresh food.

Bellingham Public Schools

The GRADS program provides instruction and support for pregnant and parenting teens in Whatcom County along with certified childcare for their infants and toddlers, helping pregnant teens and young parents stay in high school and work toward graduation. 

Brigid Collins Family Support Center

Brigid Collins envisions a world without child abuse and works towards achieving this goal by supporting families with evidence-based parenting education and child sexual abuse prevention training to stop abuse from happening in the first place and forensic interviews, case management, trauma therapy, and advocacy when it does happen.

Communities In Schools

Communities In Schools is dedicated to empowering students to stay in school and on a path to a brighter future. Working directly inside several Whatcom County schools, CIS connects kids to caring adults and community resources designed to help them succeed.

Compass Health

Compass Health is a community-based non-profit healthcare agency, integrating behavioral health and medical care services to support clients and communities when and where they are needed, including comprehensive mental health treatment, crisis prevention and intervention, supportive housing, children’s services, community education and much more.

DVSAS

Serving individuals throughout Whatcom County, DVSAS is a volunteer-driven non-profit organization working to heal victims and end domestic violence and sexual assault. With client-centered, accessible housing and support services, DVSAS empowers victims and survivors while offering safe housing and the possibility of a new life.

Evergreen Goodwill

Goodwill's mission is to provide quality, effective employment training and basic education to individuals experiencing barriers to economic opportunity. Because jobs change lives. The Whatcom County Job Training and Education Center (JTEC) in Bellingham helps people build skills and knowledge, reduce barriers, and move toward further education, employment, and increased financial security.

Ferndale School District

The Family Resource Center staff helps connect students and families with a variety of local resources to promote student success.

Futures NW

Futures NW supports students who are first-generation, low-income, and BIPOC in navigating and planning for post-secondary training and college pathways by providing resources, personal and academic support, mentorship, comprehensive financial aid literacy training, and college/training/career advising to succeed in college and beyond.

Interfaith Coalition

Interfaith Coalition empowers local families experiencing homelessness to get into housing and out of poverty. Through the Family Housing programs, families gain not only shelter but also case management to help rebuild their lives—a personal connection that re-instates human dignity and results in long-term self-reliance.

Lydia Place

Lydia Place provides a wide range of services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Whatcom County, including housing, case management, parenting support,  counseling, and advocacy about the faces and causes of homelessness.

Max Higbee Center

Max Higbee Center provides social and recreational programs for teens and adults with developmental disabilities. These programs also offer respite and support to families.

Mercy Housing Northwest

Mercy Housing helps residents live healthy, secure and dignified lives by providing a full spectrum of services that foster continued growth and empowerment for residents, their families and their communities including health education, after-school support, financial literacy classes and more.

Northwest Youth Services

Northwest Youth Services (NWYS) provides housing, case management, and wraparound services to youth, ages 13-24, experiencing a housing crisis in Whatcom & Skagit Counties. 

Opportunity Council

The Opportunity Council is a community action agency providing a range of human services with the goal to help people improve their lives through education, support and direct assistance, while advocating for just and equitable communities.

Road2Home

Road2Homes provides a range of services to homeless individuals, particularly those aged 55+ years of age and/or medically fragile individuals. Services include shelter, case management, and community connections including trainings to reduce stigmas about homelessness.

Sun Community Service

Sun Community Service offers an emergency shelter service for adults who are homeless and have a mental illness, providing meals, medication monitoring, 24-hour supervision, crisis intervention, and a bedroom in a warm, homelike environment. 

The Arc of Whatcom County

The Arc of Whatcom County is dedicated to meeting the needs of children and adults with developmental disabilities, providing information and referrals, educational programs, and funding for people with developmental disabilities, their families and the organizations that serve them. 

Whatcom Center for Early Learning

WCEL provides comprehensive, family-centered, early intervention services to infants and toddlers, ages birth to three, with developmental disabilities and delays in Whatcom County.

Whatcom Council on Aging

Whatcom Council on Aging's Meals on Wheels and More program creates affordable nutrition options for seniors by offering community meals for Whatcom County seniors, weekly home-delivered meals, and nutritional information and assessment. Services help local seniors receive the nutrition and social support they need to stay as healthy and independent as possible. 

Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center

WDRC provides a variety of services some of which include landlord / tenant conflict resolution, parenting seminars for divorcing couples with children, family mediation to help navigate conflict, and supervised visitation to help parents and children heal from violence and abuse.

Whatcom Family YMCA

The Y brings people together, connects people of all ages and backgrounds to bridge the gaps in community needs. The Y nurtures potential and believes everyone should have the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive.

Whatcom Literacy Council

The Whatcom Literacy Council offers free one-to-one tutoring and small group classes to adults who wish to improve their literacy skills or learn English. 

Work Opportunities

Work Opportunities strives to promote self-determination, self-respect, and valued participation in the community for persons with disabilities through work, offering supported employment services for individuals with disabilities through vocational evaluation/skills assessment, job preparation, training, placement, and retention services.