By 2017, the number of households that are financially
self-sufficient in our region of Amador, El Dorado, Placer,
Sacramento and Yolo counties will increase by 10 percent.
The Facts:
25 percent of our region’s households are below the
self-sufficiency standard.
55 percent of people below this standard have a high school
diploma or never graduated.
30 percent of the region’s households are unbanked or
underbanked.
Children in financially challenged households are twice as
likely to repeat a grade.
Half of former foster youth experience at least one of these
hardships: inability to pay rent or utilities, gas or electricity
shut off, phone disconnected or eviction.
United Way’s Project
$en$e-Ability is working to ensure low-income households are
financially literate so they can meet their current obligations
and maximize longer-term financial well-being. Through better
financial education and follow-up support, these households will
rise to the self-sufficiency standard. As part of $en$e-Ability,
United Way’s Women in Philanthropy is supporting work with
foster youth to increase self-sufficiency through Individual
Development Accounts, bank accounts that provide a 2:1 match for
every dollar a foster youth saves.
United Way’s Partners:
Amador-Tuolumne Community Resources
Community Link
Women’s Empowerment
Yolo Family Resource Center
United Way’s Foster Youth Partners:
Amador-Tuolumne Community Resources
Child Abuse Prevention Council of Sacramento
Koinonia Family Services
New Morning Youth and Family Services
If you are interested in joining the group of volunteers on the
Income Impact Council that oversee this project, contact
impact@uwccr.org.
The Board of Equalization (BOE) and the Board Member who
represents Sacramento County, Senator George Runner produced a
public service announcement to help get the word out
about the Sacramento Coalition for Working Families VITA program.
Why spend hundreds of dollars a year to cash your checks when you
can deposit your money for free and pay your bills at no
additional cost? Even if you’ve had problems with an account in
the past, have never had an account before, or don’t have a
social security number, you can open a bank account in
Sacramento, Amador, El Dorado, Placer and Yolo counties through
our Bank On California Capital Region program.
February 3, 2012Debra DeBondt, Deputy Director at Opening Doors, Inc.
A little over a year ago, when I learned that United Way
California Capital Region was going to support our
MoneyWork$ program I was absolutely thrilled. I helped develop
and teach Opening Doors’ first financial literacy classes about
six years ago, for our microenterprise clients whose poor
personal financial management skills were dragging down their
businesses. The classes were useful, but they weren’t
enough.
Participants could sit through a budgeting class and learn some
very useful tips about banking, and they definitely got good
things from the sessions. However, what they really needed
was the tools and support to focus on and clarify their financial
goals, to develop plans for reaching those goals, and then to
stick with their plans. United Way California Capital
Region has given us the chance to provide such a program in
both English and Spanish.
Rita Massey is a single mother of three children, one of age 6,
and two twins of age 9. Rita’s family was living in an apartment
but due to the passing of her husband, she and her children had
to move into our Emergency Shelter. During her stay at the
shelter, Rita needed many services. One opportunity caught her
eye and she voluntarily enrolled in our $mart Money classes. She
told the class instructors that her husband had handled all their
financial decisions and she was determined to learn how to manage
her money. Her husband had not only handled all their finances
but also was the family breadwinner.
