Greenwich United Way Needs Assessment Highlights Mental Health, Housing, Child Care Needs

GREENWICH, CT — Greenwich United Way, in partnership with Fairfield University, has released its 2025 Needs Assessment, a community-wide survey conducted every five years since 1981 to identify human service needs and community assets and help guide data-informed decision-making.

The 2025 assessment was conducted with the Center for Social Impact at Fairfield University and included data and input from across Greenwich.

According to the report, mental health services, early childhood education and affordable housing were identified by residents and stakeholders as the community's most critical needs, consistent with findings from the 2020 assessment.

The purpose of the assessment is to support nonprofits, philanthropic organizations, government leaders and residents in making decisions for the public good based on data.

"By collaborating on this Needs Assessment with Fairfield University, we are able to drill down into the results and focus on data specific to individual neighborhoods in Greenwich rather than being limited to working with overly general, town-wide metrics," said David Rabin, CEO of Greenwich United Way, in a news release. "This functionality is especially important in a town like ours where, for example, the neighborhood with the highest average income level is bordered by the neighborhood with the lowest average income level in town."

The report notes that while Greenwich has long been viewed as a wealthy community, it also stands out among peer communities for its racial and economic diversity.

Census data cited in the assessment indicates that 9 percent of Greenwich residents live near or below the federal poverty line, a rate that is in line with the national average but higher than that of comparable Fairfield County communities. The report also found that growth in that population segment is outpacing increases seen at the state, county and peer-town levels.

"This 2025 Needs Assessment tells the story of a community that is rich in socioeconomic diversity, and the issues that go hand-in-hand with that diversity," said Reinaldo Gonzales, associate director of the Center for Social Impact at Fairfield University. "Together, we can use this data and our collective expertise to sustain this diversity as one of our greatest assets."

The assessment examined residents' perceptions of needs in five broad categories: basic human needs, community resources, crisis and disaster services, families, children and seniors, and physical and mental health.

Five Fairfield University research committee members and six student researchers worked with faculty members on the project, collecting, analyzing and visualizing data for the executive report and dashboard.

Complete results are available in the Assessment of Human Services & State of Greenwich Statistical Report.