UNCA's commitment.......

UNCA's original and continuing purpose is to improve

  the quality of life at the neighborhood level

• UNCA works in partnership with neighborhood centers to find solutions to social problems which hinder individual self-development and prevent productive community life. In the early settlement house movement, committed volunteers "settled" into needy urban neighborhoods. The settlers came to learn from the neighborhood residents, to receive assistance in solving neighborhood and national problems and to provide help in solving these problems.  The relationship between the settlement workers and the neighborhood residents was one of equality. The houses where the settlement workers lived soon became the neighborhood center and hub.  The houses expanded from mere residences to the large community centers we know today.  Many settlement houses developed multiple branches.  Programs grew to include the first youth groups, senior services, neighborhood development projects, and services for immigrant and migrant workers.  These still compose the core services which most UNCA member agencies provide.

The National Federation of Settlements and its member organizations were in the forefront of the fight for child labor laws, improved race relations, labor union formation and a peaceful world.  For instance, the NAACP was founded at the Henry Street Settlement, and Jane Addams was the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Over time, the number of settlement workers who actually resided in the settlement house or neighborhood center became limited.  However, all local centers remained committed to providing neighborhood services with as much local control and staff as possible. 

Click here to read more about the Policy Issues that UNCA Member Agencies addressed to their Congressional Representatives in Washington D.C. in 2006.

In order to reflect this change, United Neighborhood Centers of America took its present name in 1979.  UNCA continues to believe that the neighborhood is the essential component in the life of a city.  The neighborhood is where children are born and reared, where family life is nurtured.  UNCA members believe it takes a community to raise a child and to support a family.  Neighborhood conditions have a direct bearing on the values and behavior patterns of neighborhood residents; residents and workers at neighborhood centers seek to improve these conditions.

 UNCA's administrative offices are located in Milwaukee, WI and it has member agencies in four regions across America - Western, Southern, Central and Eastern.  These agencies are located in low-income communities where problems are most severe and where help is most needed.  UNCA's programs are structured to strengthen the national network and draw attention to common problems.