Your Impact in Action: the Cachiguango Family
Watch this short 1-minute video to see how your investment in United Way helped the Cachiguango family connect with our community.
When we all work together – we can truly make a difference. Here’s how one local family built on its strengths and was empowered thanks to your support.
Mati Cachiguango learned firsthand the importance of community when she and her husband began raising their daughters in Madison over two decades ago. Their family felt disconnected, but then Centro Hispano of Dane County, a United Way partner agency, gave Mati and her daughters a community of support and growth.
There Mati’s daughters were introduced to two United Way programs, By Youth for Youth (BYFY) and HIRE.
BYFY is a unique volunteer opportunity for high school students in Dane County, where participants gain the skills, confidence and opportunity to effectively promote positive community change by awarding grants to youth-focused programs.
According to Mati’s daughter Nina, a sophomore in high school, “It’s been a good experience…it helped me talk a lot in front of groups… [I learned] leadership skills especially.”
Sarayana, another of Mati’s daughters, participated in the HIRE program, which links employers seeking talented individuals with job training programs at local agencies. The Caminos program at Centro Hispano is one of these programs, and the Caminos program is how Sarayana obtained her nursing aide job.
This is just one family’s experience – one family amongst thousands. United Way’s programs reach over 140,000 individuals across this community, forming a more connected and supportive Dane County thanks to your support. When you add up the donors, volunteers, local organizations, partner agencies, program participants and advocates – that’s nearly 200,000 people working together. It’s not charity – it’s a movement.
Mati summed it up best when she said: “I believe that getting involved in the community makes one stronger. We only have one life, we need to take advantage of being alive, and if we can do something, we should.”
Thank you for being a part of this community – thank you for representing the very best of what this place has to offer by always striving to do better for all our residents. We hope you take Mati’s words to heart and join the local United Way movement. Let’s do this together.

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Impact Lives Forever
Consider endowing your annual gift (multiply by 25). Remember United Way in your estate plans.
United Way of Dane County Foundation, Inc.
For 97 years, United Way of Dane County has fulfilled a mission of changing lives and strengthening our community. Gifts to the United Way of Dane County Foundation, Inc. sustain this mission and extend your legacy of effective, local philanthropy.
For more information, please contact Kristi Shepard at (608) 246-4399 or foundation@uwdc.org

Call 2-1-1, text 898-211 or access our online 2-1-1 database here.
Get Connected. Get Help.
United Way 2-1-1 is a 24/7 information and referral service that connects people to a variety of resources such as food pantries, utility and rent assistance, job training, transportation resources, support groups, home chores for older adults, tutoring and youth recreation, and community clinics. Call us if you have any questions or are having difficulty finding the resources you need. There are not currently enough services to meet demand, but we will do our best to connect and support you. Calls to 2-1-1 also help the community understand what resources are needed, and provide insight so United Way can continue to tackle the root causes of these issues.