United Way Bay Area

Gross funds awarded/allocated to agencies

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 2022, 211 answered approximately 42,000 calls and texts providing Bay Area residents with information and a total of approximately 110,000 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. During the past year, uwba also expanded uwba partnerships with county offices of emergency services as well as public health departments to ensure callers received the most up-to-date information in a natural disaster such as a wildfire, or a public health emergency such as a pandemic. the number one need of callers is housing-related, and 211 is 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 13,000 individuals throughout the san francisco Bay Area region through 11 sparkpoint centers and 20 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 2,000 participated in free one-on-one financial coaching services to reach their financial goals, among whom 78% were able to make progress toward their financial goals after enrolling in sparkpoint and approximately 350 obtained job placements.

Free tax help (formerly known as earn it! Keep it! Save it!) - 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 2022, 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 30,000 households and helped them claim over $52 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 1,000 volunteers.emergency food & shelter program ("efsp") - 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 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 $7,692,000 to agencies in eight counties. Approximately 500,000 unduplicated individuals were served by one of the 131 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.labor community services - 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. In fiscal year 2022, uwba continued to feel the impact of covid as some members returned to work, others were still out of work, and more workers were fighting through contract negotiations and in some cases strikes for protections. Uwba three labor community services staff served approximately 1,800 households (approximately 5,000 individuals) with direct financial assistance for hardships, or provided case management and connection to other local social services agencies.youth workforce - through uwba youth workforce initiative, uwba are providing career exploration and readiness opportunities for youth aged 14-24. This year, uwba not only expanded uwba programming region-wide; uwba also expanded to include a focus on post-secondary educational opportunities by including representation from the trades introduction program and career technical education programs. Uwba continued to host virtual youth workforce opportunities across the Bay Area and partnered with community agencies in santa clara, solano, and alameda counties as well as corporate partners including target, exact sciences, deloitte, and others, to provide career readiness workshops, career panels, and resources. Uwba on track career expo, which exposes youth to professional pathways and industries, returned to an in-person format at san jose city college. the event was held for the first time at a post-secondary space, marking a shift in uwba youth workforce programming. On track featured 10 different industries and engaged over 100 youth and 50 volunteers from across the Bay area.housing justice - with a worsening housing crisis in the Bay Area that severely impacts low-income people, and people of color, uwba has amplified uwba work and is operating on multiple fronts to find solutions to the lack of affordable housing. Uwba allocated $640,000 across 16 organizations, working to redress racial wealth through homeownership; advance innovative housing solutions; and support local community-led policy advocacy that advances housing justice. In addition, our uwba ambassadors, a group of community members adding client voice to shape programmatic and advocacy strategies, granted $250,000 to 10 housing organizations. Over the past year, uwba expanded partnerships with regional housing coalitions and partnered with organizations that are working to advance housing justice. Uwba also supported four affordable housing organizations across the region with grants totaling $110,000.public policy advocacy - uwba recognizes that in order to achieve uwba's goal of ending poverty in the community, we must advance public policies that support uwba 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. In march 2022, uwba met with every member of the state legislature representing the Bay Area, where the main topics of discussion were creating a statewide funding request for 211 improvements, continuing to ensure residents were able to sustain themselves after the pandemic, and ensuring the extension of the expiring child tax credit and earned income tax credit. Uwba advocated for a federal one-time child tax credit payment increase, creating a federal source for 211 improvements, and ensuring the federal budget does not cut essential funding for the emergency food and shelter program.a wildfire fund - in august 2020, the first of a series of wildfires decimated more than 800,000 acres and caused the evacuation of more than 100,000 households throughout northern California. By fall, this would be the worst fire season in California's history. the areas affected were enormous, including alameda, contra costa, humboldt, lake, marin, mendocino, monterey, napa, santa clara, santa cruz, san mateo, solano, and sonoma counties. the greater Bay Area central coast wildfire relief fund was created to provide immediate and long-term recovery assistance to Bay Area and central coast residents and consisted of United Way of the wine country ("uwwc"), United Way of santa cruz county ("uwsc"), United Way of monterey county ("uwmc"), and uwba.