UNITED WAY OF THE BAY AREA
550 KEARNY ST NO 1000, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94108 www.uwba.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: TO BE THE CATALYST THAT ENABLES PEOPLE TO STRENGTHEN THEIR COMMUNITIES BY INVESTING IN ONE ANOTHER.

GROSS FUNDS AWARDED/ALLOCATED TO AGENCIES

211 IS A FREE, EASY-TO-REMEMBER PHONE NUMBER AND WEB RESOURCE THAT ANYONE CAN CALL FOR INFORMATION AND REFERRAL TO LOCAL PROGRAMS AND SERVICES. LAST YEAR, UWBA AND ITS CALL CENTER PARTNER RESPONDED TO APPROXIMATELY 66,200 CALLS AND TEXTS. MORE THAN HALF OF THESE REQUESTS CAME FROM THOSE REQUESTING HELP WITH BASIC NEEDS ISSUES SUCH AS FOOD, LEGAL HELP, AND SHELTER. ONCE THE PANDEMIC HIT, 211 BEGAN TAKING COVID RELATED CALLS. IN FY20, MORE THAN 24,000 OF THE CALLS WERE COVID RELATED. 211 BAY AREA INCREASED CALL VOLUME BY ALMOST DOUBLE FROM THE PREVIOUS YEAR.

SPARKPOINTSPARKPOINT HAS SERVED MORE THAN 30,000 INDIVIDUALS SINCE LAUNCHING SPARKPOINT OAKLAND IN 2009, AND APPROXIMATELY 5,950 PEOPLE IN THE LAST YEAR ALONE. MORE THAN 26% OF OUR CLIENTS ARE SEEING PROGRESS ON THEIR INCOME, SAVINGS, CREDIT OR DEBT GOALS. SPARKPOINT CENTERS OFFER AN ARRAY OF SERVICES IN ONE CONVENIENT LOCATION FOR A PERSON OR FAMILY TRYING TO MOVE OUT OF POVERTY, INCLUDING FINANCIAL COACHING ON BUDGETING AND SAVINGS, CREDIT AND DEBT MANAGEMENT, CAREER OR EDUCATION COUNSELING, SCREENING FOR PUBLIC BENEFITS, AND OTHERS. SPARKPOINT AIMS TO HAVE CLIENTS MOVE FROM POVERTY TO ECONOMIC SUCCESS BY (1) INCREASING INCOME; (2) REDUCING DEBT; (3) INCREASING CREDIT SCORES; AND (4) INCREASING SAVINGS. THE SPARKPOINT REGIONAL NETWORK INCLUDES MORE THAN 100 OUTSTANDING PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE BAY AREA.FISCAL YEAR 2020 HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: 217 CLIENTS ACHIEVED SELF-SUFFICIENT INCOME, 1,789 CLIENTS ARE MAKING PROGRESS TOWARD ONE ELEMENT OF FINANCIAL PROSPERITY: SELF-SUFFICIENT INCOME, 3 MONTHS' SAVINGS, 700 CREDIT SCORE, NO REVOLVING DEBT. THERE ARE MORE THAN 20 LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT OUR 8 COUNTIES, WITH TWO NEW COMMUNITY COLLEGE LOCATIONS PLANNED TO OPEN IN FY21.THE EARN IT! KEEP IT! SAVE IT! ("EKS"), A VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE PROGRAM ("VITA"), IS A UWBA-LED COALITION OF PARTNERS THAT PREPARES TAX RETURNS FOR FREE, ENSURING LOW-TO MODERATE-INCOME FAMILIES GET THE REFUNDS AND CREDITS FOR WHICH THEY ARE ELIGIBLE. DURING THE 2019 TAX SEASON, 2,887 VOLUNTEERS PREPARED MORE THAN 80,595 RETURNS AND BROUGHT BACK OVER $80.6 MILLION IN REFUNDS. ADDITIONALLY, $20.1 MILLION OF THOSE REFUNDS WAS IN EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT ("EITC"). EITC GOES TO THE POOREST, MOST VULNERABLE BAY AREA 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. FAMILIES USE THEIR REFUNDS PRIMARILY TO PAY BILLS, RENT, AND TO BUY FOOD OR CLOTHES. THROUGH ITS TAX PREPARATION EFFORTS, EKS PROVIDES RESOURCES TO MEET BASIC NEEDS, WHICH IS CRITICAL TO ENDING THE CYCLE OF POVERTY IN THE BAY AREA. EKS HAS 230 LOCATIONS IN EIGHT COUNTIES.IN ADDITION TO PREPARING TAX RETURNS, EKS USES THE PROGRAM VISIT AS A MOMENT TO OFFER LOW-INCOME FAMILIES THE OPPORTUNITY TO INCREASE THEIR SAVINGS.YOUTH WORKFORCEUNITED WAY'S YOUTH WORKFORCE PROGRAMMING INCLUDES OUR BUSINESS PATHWAYS INTERNSHIP PROGRAM, WHERE 23 INTERNS WERE PLACED IN LOCAL COMPANIES FOR 10-WEEK INTERNSHIP AND WEEKLY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINARS. THE TEAM ALSO CONDUCTED SEVERAL YOUTH EMPLOYMENT EVENTS: 1) CAREERPREP BRINGS VOLUNTEERS IN TO SUPPORT YOUNG PEOPLE IN PREPARING FOR INTERVIEWS AND JOB SEARCHES THROUGH MOCK INTERVIEWS AND RESUME REVIEW AND 2) ONTRACK IS A CAREER EXPOSURE EVENT WHERE EMPLOYERS TABLE AND PRESENT ON THEIR INDUSTRY OR COMPANY TO EXPOSE YOUNG PEOPLE TO VARIOUS CAREER PATHS. IN SAN FRANCISCO, THIS EVENT WAS HELD IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AFRICAN AMERICAN ACHIEVEMENT INITIATIVE AND SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON YOUNG PEOPLE OF COLOR AND PROFESSIONALS WHO ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR TO INCREASE THEIR SAVINGS.

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