Our Impact

Facilitating community prosperity from WITHIN

Our commitment to ensuring that every child and family is stable and thriving goes beyond words. We drive tangible change in disinvested urban communities.

We listen intently and become part of the fabric of communities so that our strategies produce meaningful, sustainable change.

With over 40 years as a national non-profit leader, our most notable achievements include:

  • Implemented comprehensive Human Capital planning in 25 major cities, including two territories.
  • Secured over $400 million in federal Choice Neighborhood Initiative funds.
  • Leveraged over $3 billion from public and private sources for innovative support service programs and initiatives.
  • Secured $8.5 million in COVID-19 rent relief
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  • Partnered with schools in 13 major cities to support cradle-to-college/career pipelines.
  • Served as the lead implementation partner for people support services in 20 Choice Neighborhoods.
  • Coordinated Community Support Services in 12 HOPE VI communities.
  • Became selected as an Annie E. Casey Results Count Hub, a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “Your Money, Your Goals” cohort fellow, with Executive Leaders chosen for the Center for Community Investment at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, The Bridges Collaborative by The Century Foundation, and ProInspire.
  • Gained approval as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in 2020.
  • Doubled in size during the pandemic years.
  • Emerged as a leading PEOPLE grantee with HUD’s Choice Neighborhood Initiative, receiving 19 grants.
  • Received Missouri’s First Promise Neighborhood Grant, focusing on equity in education strategies.
  • Expanded as an organization of color serving communities of color.

KIND WORDS

It’s not often that we run into organizations that put a stake in the ground for improved outcomes that are measurable, that are equitable, that are really being held at a kind of a population level. Because of the relationship that we’ve had with USI for almost 20 years, we feel like they are someone who can produce the outcomes but ultimately always for the well being of the family.

BARBARA S.
Director of Leadership Development
at Annie E. Casey Foundation

Impact Reports

We believe our communities are stronger thanks to the collective strength of empowerment for each individual USI resident. We showcase the positive changes happening in distressed communities across the country in our national annual Impact Report.

2021 Impact Report

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2020 Impact Report

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2019 Impact Report

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Latest News and Announcements

Stories of U.S.

Beyond Capacity Building:  A Call for Narrative Shift
Beyond Capacity Building: A Call for Narrative Shift

Over our 45 years working in neighborhood transformation, we've learned that narrative matters. Prevailing narratives can either shape, reinforce or shift accepted truths, widely held mental models and prevailing biases. And ultimately, narratives influence the...

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