UNITED WE ACT

Join us in advocating for public policies that help people live the lives they are capable of living.

People Power the Economy: Public Policy Agenda 2025

To build a strong workforce and economy, Indiana needs thriving people. By addressing child care, housing and medical debt, we can invest in human capital and secure our state’s competitiveness. 

Early Care and Learning

United Way of Central Indiana is a proud member of the Early Education Works Coalition, which advocates for reliable child care and access to early childhood education for low-income families.  

In Indiana, only six in 10 children who need care can access it due to limited capacity.  

To change this, we are leading efforts to: 

  • Increase families’ access to state and federal support for high-quality early childhood education. 

  • Support models that bring together employers, governments, and individuals to share in the cost of care. 

  • Address the low pay for Indiana’s early childcare workers – 98% of whom don’t earn enough to support two children – by implementing the recommendations of the Indiana Early Learning Advisory Committe (study here.)

Housing

Hoosier families deserve a safe and affordable place to call home. Right now, Indianapolis has one of the highest eviction rates in the country.  To help increase access to stable housing, United Way is collaborating to: 

  • Increase the supply of affordable housing through additional development and reduced infrastructure costs;  

  • Help people stay in their homes by securing funding for home repairs and preventative maintenance; 

  • Enhance support for legal aid for renters so that settlements can be reached between landlords and tenants, reducing eviction rates. 

Medical Debt

Medical debt impacts a diverse range of Hoosiers across the state. Indiana leads the Midwest in its proportion of residents with medical debt, with nearly one in five Hoosiers affected. United Way is collaborating alongside health and business groups to: 

  • Strengthen charity care policies by evaluating income requirement thresholds; 

  • Ensure that medical debt can’t damage patients’ credit scores and ensure wages can’t be garnished to pay for debt; 

  • Increase price transparency and control the cost of healthcare. 

Supporting Our Advocacy Partners

To complement our issue areas in education, housing and medical debt, United Way joins its advocacy partners in advocating for mental and physical health, transportation, food security, broadband and digital equity, paid family and medical leave, equitable access to public benefits and services, support for small business development and household economic stability.   

Meet our Public Policy Team

Sam Snideman

Vice President of Government Relations

Aaron Gore

Director of Local Government Relations 

Ryan Myers

Manager of Government Relations 

Public Policy Work Group

  • Maddie Augustus

    Faegre Drinker

  • Caryl Auslander

    Torchbearer Public Affairs

  • Susan Brock Williams

    Eli Lilly and Company

  • Michael Budd

    Indiana United Ways

  • Tory Callaghan Castor

    IU Health

  • Betsy Delgado

    Goodwill Industries

  • Marlene Dotson

    Indiana Latino Institute

  • Mark Fisher

    Indiana Association of Realtors

  • Karen Gentleman

    Gentleman McCarty

  • Christina Hage

    MHS Indiana

  • Taylor Hughes

    Indy Chamber

  • Kelley Karn

    Duke Energy

  • Amy Levander

    Krieg DeVault LLP

  • Lawrence McCormack

    Cummins

  • Nadine McSpadden

    Indiana Youth Group

  • David Sklar

    Jewish Community Relations Council

  • Connie Bond Stuart

    Civic Leader

  • John Willey

    19th Star State Solutions

  • Marshawn Wolley

    Black Onyx Management

Get Involved

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Elected officials need and want to hear from you. Join us in advocating for public policy that helps our community thrive. We’ll keep you up to date with what’s happening and how you can take action.

Who is my lawmaker?

Use the interactive tool embedded on this page to learn who represents your community in the Indiana General Assembly.

How does it work?

United Way of Central Indiana’s VoterVoice tool allows individuals to connect directly with their legislators for targeted calls to action.

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United Way of Central Indiana's advocacy work is produced with support from the Alliance for Early Success, a 50-state early childhood advocacy resource that provides connections, expertise, technical assistance, and targeted investments to allies pursuing policies that improve outcomes for children birth through age 8.

Public Policy Milestones

  • United Way and its partners secured some of the largest and most meaningful updates to Indiana’s early care and learning system since the General Assembly approved On My Way Pre-K. Additionally, we were successful in increasing both eligibility and cash benefit amounts for families who receive TANF.

  • In partnership with Early Education Works coalition partners, we achieved passage of a bill that addressed the growing shortage of Indiana’s early care and learning education workforce. Additionally, United Way advocated to help address barriers to housing, access to mental health services and transportation.

  • Indiana continues investment in On My Way Pre-K and expands to serve more families who otherwise would not have access to child care

  • 2-1-1 services were transitioned to the Family and Social Services Administration to better align state resources with community supports, early learning was incorporated into the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet’s education planning, and investments in mass transit were preserved.

  • On My Way Pre-K became a statewide program and a statewide bias crimes law was enacted.