United Way Community Services Executive Office Records

Accession Number: 
UR002537
Extent: 
32 linear feet (31 SB, 1 MB, 1 OS)

The United Way Community Services of Metropolitan Detroit (UWCS) has its origins in the establishment of the Detroit Community Union in 1917. The Union was reorganized into the Council of Social Agencies of Metropolitan Detroit in 1932, and merged with the Detroit Community Chest in 1951 to become the United Community Services (UCS). UCS operated alongside the United Way for Southeastern Michigan (UWSM, United Foundation until 1989), which was primarily a fundraising organization. The two merged in 1995 to create the UWCS. This merged foundation existed until 2005, when the UWCS merged with the United Way of Oakland County to create the United Way for South Eastern Michigan, which exists to this day.

UWCS was an umbrella organization for a wide range of social welfare agencies in the Metropolitan Detroit area, and sought to promote social services (including child care, family, health, recreation, and community planning) through the centralized planning, coordinating, and budgeting of those agencies. The Executive Office oversaw the various departments within UCS and UWCS, and was headed by the Executive Vice President, who was the managing director of the organization. This collection includes materials from the tenure of Executive Vice President of UCS Robert P. Arndt, and COO and Executive Vice President of UWCS Dr. Geneva J. Williams, the former President and CEO of UCS.

This collection consists of files produced by the UCS Executive Office, the UWCS Executive Office, and the merged offices during the transitional period of the 1990s. A substantial amount of the included files consist of meeting materials from the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for each iteration of the foundation, as well as meeting agendas and minutes for numerous other committees, such as the Nomination Committee. Also included is extensive material relating to the foundations’ finances, campaigns, special projects and events, and associated agencies. Of particular note are the files relating to the planning and organization of the transition period in which the UCS and UWSM merged

Date: 
1979-1998, bulk 1991-1998
Attachment(click to download)
UR002537.pdfUR002537_guide.pdf148.22 KB