United Way of Ventura County

In 2019 uwvc launched a homelessness initiative to include a landlord engagement program to increase the housing stock and utilize existing housing vouchers and housing subsidies provided by local jurisdictions and community partners. Everyone needs a safe place to call home, yet that basic need is increasingly out of reach for many people in Ventura County. Advocating for these families includes recruiting, cultivating, retaining, and growing the number of landlords willing to help prevent and end homelessness. In january 2023, the homelessness initiative introduced the home safe program to ensure housing stability for exceedingly low income households in our community to not enter homelessness. In just four years, the program has housed over 450 individuals and families. These households have been welcomed home in Ventura, oxnard, port hueneme, camarillo, thousand oaks, fillmore, santa paula, moorpark, and simi valley.

The earn it keep it save it eks is a community partnership led by uwvc, the Ventura County human services agency, and the irs to increase awareness of and access to earned income tax credit eitc and to provide electronic filing of income tax returns free of charge through the volunteer income tax assistance program vita. The vita program helps ensure low to moderate income families get the refunds and credits for which they are eligible. During the 2022 tax season, 61 volunteers prepared more than 1,599 returns and brought back over 1.7 million in refunds. Additionally, 533,000 of those funds was in eitc. Eitc goes to the poorest, most vulnerable Ventura County households and has been identified by poverty fighting experts as one of the most effective programs nationally, lifting millions of people above the federal poverty level every year.

Allocations and designations to agencies United Way of Ventura County the agency raises contribution pledges to benefit other Ventura County agencies. The agency helped alleviate and overcome the identified needs of the citizens of Ventura County. In connection with this, the agency is responsible for the design, implementation and evaluation of a program of comprehensive year-round dissemination of information concerning the United Way for the purpose of public relations, education and recruitment of volunteers. This is accomplished by a series of newspaper articles, advertising, and personal contact throughout the County.