Financial Stability


 

As many as 70,000 people in the Midlands do not earn enough money to meet their basic needs.  These individuals are walking a financial tightrope — they are barely able to get by, with no ability to save for education, a home, or for retirement.  United Way of the Midlands focuses on financial stability to help lower-income individuals and families increase and maximize their income in order to meet daily expenses, as well as to begin the longer-term process of saving and building assets. 


The Work We're Doing

Local volunteers on Community Councils use their knowledge of community problems to distribute funds through multi-year, competitive grants where the needs are greatest. 

To make the best use of contributor dollars, United Way holds agencies accountable for the programs they run, only funding programs with good results. Grants are typically awarded for a period of three years, with continued funding dependent on satisfactory outcome reports. 

This chart shows how funds were distributed last year to United Way financial stability programs throughout the community.

How Does My Gift Help?

Issue: More than 65,000 people in Richland and Lexington Counties live below the federal poverty line. People in persistent poverty or who lack jobs with livable wages cannot meet their basic needs. Many households in our community daily struggle to pay for housing, utilities, food, clothing and legal help.
Solution: Last year, United Way helped fund programs that provided emergency basic needs such as food, shelter and transportation on more than 170,000 occasions. 

Issue: Many working families in the Midlands miss out on earned income tax credits. Instead of going directly into the pockets of Midlands residents who spend it here, it ends up at rapid refund outlets or sitting unclaimed in Washington, D.C.
Solution: United Way helped provide free tax preparation for more than 2,500 individuals resulting in $2.5 million in refunds, including $850,000 in Earned Income Tax Credits claimed. 

Issue: There are more than 1,000 homeless individuals in Richland and Lexington counties alone.
Solution: United Way helped provide 70 people with transitional housing and 130 people with permanent housing to help them get back on their feet.