United Way of Central Alabama celebrates 100 years of service

For as long as Craft O’Neal has been a part of his family’s company — 39 years — he’s been involved with United Way of Central Alabama. But the family ties with UWCA go back much further than that. 

“Our company has had a close tie with United Way since the beginning,” said O’Neal, chairman and CEO of O’Neal Industries.

His grandfather started the company in 1921, and two years later, UWCA got its start. As the population of Birmingham was growing with new businesses like the O’Neal family’s, the social needs of the community were also growing.

Drew Langloh, UWCA president and CEO, said that’s when a group of local business people got together around the table to see what they could do to help. 

“When you read the minutes from back then, you begin to understand that the organization was seen as a device or a mechanism,” he said. “Oftentimes, they would come together if there was a big issue brewing in the community that needed attention.”

Calling themselves Birmingham Community Chest at that time, they organized to help fight issues like tuberculosis, a disease that was heavily burdening local medical facilities.

“What I find interesting is that even though the issues today are very different, the dynamic is very similar for the organization,” Langloh said, noting that United Way has gone through several name changes over the years, including United Appeal in 1956 and UWCA in 1992. 

“Today, we still roll up our sleeves and sit at a common table together and talk about issues facing us today and how we are going to go about solving them. Even though we’re very different than we were in 1923, the reason for our existence is the same.”

More than 200 programs, services and initiatives in six central Alabama counties are currently provided with help from UWCA. The organization pools resources from donors to fund the work of these agencies.

O’Neal said UWCA “provides so much for immediate and long-term needs.”

“We want everyone in the community to have the resources they need to thrive, not just survive,” he said.

That’s why in conjunction with their 100th anniversary celebration this year, UWCA has a goal of making sure its work is endowed for the next 100 years.

Langloh said they are “firm believers that when we come together as a whole, the possibilities are endless.”

“Our 100-year impact on the Central Alabama community proves this, and we look forward to continuing to pave the way for real, tangible change for the next 100 years,” he said.

Those future plans start with a celebration of where they’ve been and where they’re headed. On June 24, UWCA supporters, partners and neighbors are invited to CityWalk in Birmingham from 3 to 8 p.m. to enjoy live music, food, performers, games, a partner agency fair and more.

In the coming months, UWCA will also unveil six community park projects, one in each county served by the organization. Each project will either renovate an existing park or choose a property and build a new park, including outdoor classroom space and inclusive play areas.

Part of the project will be to provide funds to maintain the park in the future as well as provide the volunteers needed along the way.

O’Neal, who is serving as chair of the centennial celebration committee, said UWCA “builds a great community and advances the common good by bringing people together to help others,” and projects like this are part of that legacy.

Over the past hundred years, UWCA has met a variety of changing needs. It organized relief during the Great Depression. It led the way in race relations with the addition of its first Black board member, Dr. A.G. Gaston, in 1966 and with the establishment of a boys’ club in his name.

UWCA also leveraged nearly $21 million to help Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Alabama in 2006.

All of this and much more has been done with the vital support of the community, Langloh said. In 1923, Birmingham Community Chest met a fundraising goal of half a million dollars to help its 31 agencies. Now with more than 200 agencies, UWCA is hoping to raise its endowment to $100 million to ensure that kind of assistance keeps going.

“The whole reason for United Way is to serve the community,” said Langloh, who has worked with UWCA for 24 years, 15 of those as CEO. “To me, it all starts with this fundamental belief that this organization is owned by the community, not owned by anyone in particular. Because of that, we’ve been successful in that each generation that comes along has picked it up and stewarded it through their time and then handed it off.”

O’Neal is part of that story. 

“In the early years of our company, my grandfather initiated a payroll deduction process as part of onboarding new employees,” he said. “There was the expectation at hiring that all new employees would sign up to provide ongoing support for United Way, and I believe most everyone did. While support is no longer expected, we are thankful most company team members continue to support United Way through our annual employee campaigns and or through volunteerism.”

As part of O’Neal Industries’ own centennial celebration two years ago, the company brought hundreds of team members from across the U.S. and around the world to Birmingham for two days.

“The most rewarding part of our time together was partnering with United Way on an afternoon of giving back,” O’Neal said. “The group dispersed to work on projects at United way agencies across the community, and everyone loved it.”

He said by partnering with UWCA, “you’re part of something bigger than yourself, fulfilling your own life and the lives of others. We have certainly found that to be the case with our involvement at O’Neal.”

Langloh said UWCA has worked over the years to “keep fighting for the health, education and financial stability of every person in our community,” and he is “pretty confident and hopeful that the work we’re doing now will help perpetuate that model into the future.”

“The issues will be different, but what I’m really hopeful for as we’re launching this endowment campaign is to make sure it’s still there to bring the community together to work on their problems, whatever they might be,” he said. 

For more information about the centennial celebration, visit uwca.org/100years.