United Way of Greater Cincinnati - LIVE UNITED

Building a strong financial future is not easy. Low-to-middle income families often struggle to meet everyday obligations, and many rarely have enough left to save, or to be prepared for financial emergencies. Families are feeling the effects of high prices and limited opportunities in a real and painful way.

United Way's efforts to provide solutions for increasing income, establishing savings, achieving home ownership, and enhancing economic self-sufficiency are critical.
Consider:

• 42% of those experiencing homelessness are employed
• Ohio adults with only a high school diploma have annual earnings $14,000 less than those with a bachelor’s degree
• 52% of low-income working families and 75% of working poor families spend more than 30% of their income on housing
• Financial instability contributes to family stress and can prevent parents from meeting their child’s developmental needs

United Way is committed to helping local families and individuals develop the skills and access the tools they need to become financially stable. To achieve that goal, we invest in, and partner with, programs and organizations that:

• provide access to adult education, job readiness, training and retention programs, readying them for higher paying jobs with benefits and career potential
• provide legal intervention, homeownership counseling and education to prevent foreclosure
• provide financial literacy education, helping families build assets and better manage income

To learn more click here for the 2012 Income Impact Report.

Strategic Initiatives and Community Collaboratives

Regional Earned Income Tax Credit Initiative (EITC) provides free tax preparation and financial literacy education for families who may be eligible to take advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit (CTC).

place matters is United Way’s place-based investment pilot project that seeks to achieve breakthrough change in three Greater Cincinnati neighborhoods – Avondale, Covington and Price Hill – and the Felicity community in Clermont County. Strategies specific to each neighborhood/community are being implemented through an ongoing partnership between funders and neighborhood/community collaboratives. Initiatives focusing on increasing families’ financial stability in these neighborhoods include:

• helping individuals learn marketable job skills
• increasing the supply of affordable housing
• helping families retain housing

Results

• More than $16.6 million in refunds was returned to more than 15,815 hardworking wage earners in 2009 through the Regional Earned Income Tax Credit – a dramatic increase from $9.7 million in 2008
• 1,851 individuals in United Way-funded workforce programs obtained jobs
• 80% of families receiving foreclosure counseling from HOME (Housing Opportunities Made Equal) avoided foreclosure
• 1,063 families learning emergency shelter maintained their permanent housing for at least six months

Get Involved

Click here to learn more about ways you can help build families’ financial stability.

Through Agency Support, Father Retains Home and Secures New Career

In October of 2009, Ron was laid off from his position as an electrician, where he had worked for thirty years. His wife was laid off around the same time, and was then unable to return to the workforce because of health issues.

When he was laid off, he and his bank negotiated an agreement, which he followed to the letter. Though he put as much money as he could into the newly established escrow account, he was still behind on his mortgage payments when he approached Working In Neighborhoods (WIN).

United Way and its agency partners, like WIN, have formed alliances to address the current foreclosure crisis. We are committed to educating through community outreach and providing ready access to foreclosure counseling and legal intervention. WIN provides counseling to families and individuals at risk of foreclosure, helping them negotiate a loan modification or a refinance agreement with their lenders.

WIN negotiated with Ron’s lender and provided budget counseling. They referred him to additional resources for which he was eligible. As stipulated in their agreement, Ron tracked his expenses and provided regular updates on his job search.

 In spite of his diligent job search, he encountered no good prospects after seven months. He was referred to Super Jobs, through which he secured a scholarship to attend trucking school.

While in the program, Ron contacted top trucking companies, making in-roads to possible job openings. After he graduated at the top of his class, he received an offer within a week, where he now makes more money than he ever did in 30 years of electrical work. In addition, he successfully secured the $5,000 he needed to submit his mortgage payments in full.

Read more Income success stories.