United Way Bay Area

Uwba free tax help program provides high-quality free tax preparation in our eight counties. Uwba work closely with irs and local vita (volunteer income tax assistance) sites. Uwba typically have more than 100 tax sites managed by our coalition locally. In fiscal year 2023, many of uwba sites were able to operate with an in-person component as well as virtual through uwba partnership with getyourrefund.org. This year, uwba served approximately 31,900 households and helped them claim over $45.4 million in refunds. Uwba aim to serve a similar or higher number for next tax season. Uwba assist eitc (earned income tax credit)-eligible families in claiming life-changing tax credits because the eitc and the ctc (child tax credit) are critical poverty fighting tools the credits are well-researched and proven to be the most effective anti-poverty program in the country. Uwba have also been able to keep nearly all uwba sites open, engaging approximately 1,380 volunteers.

211 - 211 connects users with health and human services in their community through calls, texts, and web search. Uwba 211 serves san francisco, santa clara, san mateo, marin, napa and solano counties. In fiscal year 2023, 211 answered approximately 45,960 calls and texts providing Bay Area residents with information and a total of approximately 104,000 referrals to a variety of resources to address their needs. 211 is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week in over 150 languages. the number one need of callers is housing-related, and since 2022, 211 has screening callers for housing stability to ensure Bay Area residents can access everything from shelter information and tenants' rights resources to rental assistance and supportive housing.

Sparkpoint - sparkpoint centers work with families to meet basic needs, increase income, build credit, increase savings, and reduce debt through offering basic needs, career and educational, and financial services. Sparkpoint provides free financial coaching to work one-on-one with clients both virtually and in person to recognize behavioral outcomes, set goals, brainstorm strategies, and set realistic action plans to move people toward financial prosperity. Sparkpoint centers also provide rent relief and connect clients to housing resources. Throughout the pandemic, sparkpoint centers moved toward a hybrid model of services to meet clients both virtually and in-person to better support access to public benefits and financial coaching services. Sparkpoint provided services to approximately 22,000 individuals throughout the san francisco Bay Area region through 12 sparkpoint centers and 24 service locations. Most community members sought out sparkpoint to access supportive services related to rental relief and getting help meeting their basic needs. A total of over 2,800 participated in free one-on-one financial coaching services to reach their financial goals, among whom 65% were able to make progress toward their financial goals after enrolling in sparkpoint and approximately 1,143 obtained job placements.

Efsp is critical to uwba's poverty-fighting agenda. This year, efsp entered its 39th year of funding safety net programs. This federal funding is allocated to the federal emergency management agency ("fema"), which works with United Way worldwide as the fiscal agent for the program. Efsp is a unique public-private partnership between the federal government and the United Way system. Since its inception, uwba and local boards (local boards are mandated local committees that have oversight of the federal funding) have allocated federal funding to hundreds of food and shelter programs. For this most recent round of funding, efsp allocated approximately $11,190,000 to agencies in eight counties. Approximately 645,000 unduplicated individuals were served by one of the 125 efsp-funded agencies in the Bay Area during the current grant period. While this is not funding raised by uwba, it is vital that uwba expertise and relationships are leveraged to support our local food and shelter programs.ean is a collaboration with seven local santa clara county partner agencies that offers assistance to families and individuals experiencing emergency situations. This collaborative provides food assistance, rent and mortgage aid, utility assistance, medical and transportation aid, often alongside case management and financial education. Uwba provided the ean agencies a total of $600,000 in grants to support that work. This year the ean served approximately 84,500 individuals at food pantries and distributed $275,000 in direct assistance. Ean agencies assisted approximately 3,200 households (approximately 8,470 individuals) in the community specifically withhousing and utility assistance.the labor community services program is a comprehensive resource for working families. Uwba labor liaisons, placed with three local central labor councils, provide information and referral, direct hardship assistance, high-impact workforce programs, community organizing, immigration legal services, and civic engagement opportunities. Uwba's three labor community services staff served approximately 1,240 households approximately 2,220 individuals) with direct financial assistance for hardships or provided navigation services and connection to other local social services agencies.through youth opportunity pathways, uwba is providing career exploration and readiness opportunities for youth aged 14-24. This year, uwba continued to partner across the region. the partners to provide youth with mentorship, job readiness activities, and college access support. We engaged with 5 community partners, serving over 1,200 youth. We hosted our first college essay review event which supported 35 youth in their college application journey. Additionally, our signature event, on track, was hosted at san francisco state university, our first time at a four-year university, based on the feedback of our community partners.during the first half of fiscal year 2023, uwba continued support of our housing justice grantees. We also launched our community ambassador grantmaking efforts, training and supporting uwba ambassadors to review applications and awards. the ambassadors led a process to grant $250,000 to 10 grantees. A second round of grants at the end of the year provided continued support to most of the original grantees. In april, uwba hired a new director, housing justice initiative. During fiscal year 2023, uwba drafted a region-wide public will-building campaign that we will begin implementing in fiscal year 2024.uwba recognizes that in order to achieve uwba's goal of ending poverty in the community, we must advance public policies that support uwba's mission. Uwba's public policy team influences policy and engages in advocacy at all levels of government. Uwba's primary policy focus is targeted at the local level in the eight-county service Area (alameda, contra costa, marin, napa, san francisco, santa clara, san mateo, and solano). In addition, uwba provides advocacy support to state and federal issues important to the United Way network. Two key accomplishments include: 1) our work to ensure bi-partisan legislation for 211 funding on the state and federal levels progresses through respective legislatures and 2) uwba worked with partners to educate communities and elected officials regarding local tenant protections ordinances.