United Way Bay Area

Our Annual Report for fiscal year 2023 is here! Here are some highlights of our impact in the #BayArea! ⬇ 🤝: Across our programs, approximately 84% of people served were from Black, Indigenous, and Peoples of Color (BIPOC) communities 📞: 21% of 211 callers spoke a primary language other than English 👦: Youth Opportunity Pathways program connected 1,053 youth to career resources, among whom 100 were placed in internships 🚨: Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) supported shelters that served 11,495 persons experiencing homelessness 🆘: Emergency Assistance Network (EAN) helped 3,159 renters pay their rent and utility bills in Santa Clara County 🛠️: Labor Community Services helped 1,225 immigrants and refugees connect to legal services 💲: SparkPoint provided free financial coaching for 2,679 community college students and 149 formerly incarcerated individuals 🍎: Labor provided services including food distribution for 12,677 older adults 📝: Free Tax Help program helped 700 veterans and 2,115 individuals living with disabilities file their tax returns Visit https://okt.to/UYWyaZ to see our full report!

A $20 billion housing bond is headed to our ballots in November! We have the opportunity to vote yes that would raise money for affordable housing solutions throughout the Bay Area! Do you live or work in Solano County? Join us to learn how this measure could help make housing more affordable in our community. Visit https://okt.to/XvCrKt to sign up! #HousingJustice #TheWorkUWBA

Can you help us reach the goal of raising $7,000 for our Emerging Leaders backpack drive?! Donate this summer and you'll automatically qualify to join our Emerging Leaders networking group! Don't feel like joining the group? Don't worry, you can still join us on July 25th at 1 pm in San Jose to help assemble backpacks! This event is open to the public! Visit https://lnkd.in/g9wjJuyj to donate now and learn more about our backpack assembly event on July 25th! Visit https://lnkd.in/ePZBsJhD to learn more about our Emerging Leaders! All donations will help our programs, including providing backpacks to Bay Area youth and community college students. This year, if you donate, you will have the option of joining our Emerging Leader's network group! A win-win, support Bay Area youth as they begin the school year, and join a networking group of young professionals! #TheWorkUWBA #BackpackDrive

"ABC": the letters that spell learning success! Backpacks are important for back-to-school days. Students need them, along with the assets that are even more foundational to learning success. We’re talking about the ABCs that help every student thrive! Please visit https://okt.to/UbhFu0 to give today! Your gift will help ensure students have the ABCs they need to position them for learning success, and that local families have the resources they need to thrive. #TheWorkUWBA #BackToSchool

PRESS RELEASE: Statement from Kelly Batson, Interim CEO of United Way Bay Area, condemning the Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson The Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson is a blatant attack on our unhoused neighbors, and will only further entrench underrepresented communities in poverty. This ruling, which gives states and cities across the country permission to punish people who sleep outside by ticketing or arresting them – even when there is no safe shelter option available – will make it even more difficult for people to escape homelessness. Criminalization, like tickets, fines, and arrests, disproportionately harms Black and Indigenous people, who are overly represented among those who experience homelessness due to longstanding, SYSTEMIC RACISM IN HOUSING and other factors. THE NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF HOMELESSNESS IN THE UNITED STATES is the chronic shortage of housing that is affordable for the majority of our residents. Visit https://okt.to/sz2cto to read the full press release. #SupremeCourt #GrantsPassVJohnson

Statement from United Way Bay Area Interim Chief Executive Officer Kelly Batson on Criminalization of Homelessness (re: Grants Pass v. Johnson Supreme Court case): The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling imminently on Grants Pass v. Johnson, a historic case criminalizing homelessness. The case is a blatant attack on our unhoused neighbors, and will only further entrench underrepresented communities in poverty. If the majority of Supreme Court Justices side with the City of Grants Pass, OR, states and cities across the country will have permission to punish people who sleep outside by ticketing or arresting them. This will make it even more difficult for people to exit homelessness. Criminalization disproportionately harms Black and Indigenous people, who are overly represented among those who experience homelessness due to longstanding, systemic racism in housing. The number one cause of homelessness in the United States is the chronic shortage of housing that is affordable for the majority of our residents. In the Bay Area, over one in three households do not earn sufficient income to make ends meet. This ruling will impact the 250,000+ people living outside nationwide, as well as the millions of Americans who are just one missed paycheck away from homelessness. Punishing poverty only makes homelessness worse. Relying on jails and fines will never solve the homelessness crisis, but providing people with housing and services will. United Way Bay Area will be paying close attention to the ruling when it comes from the Supreme Court, and we will continue to advocate for our region’s unhoused and housing-insecure neighbors. We denounce criminalizing homelessness. We fight for housing justice that supports people experiencing homelessness and promotes affordable housing developments that prevent homelessness.

NEW: Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) votes to place BAHFA’s $20B affordable housing bond on the November 2024 ballot!! We are so excited for this #HousingJustice news. It is a huge win in our Housing Justice work at UWBA and we believe it will truly help our housing crisis in the #BayArea. Visit https://okt.to/PoF1T8 to stay up to date on our Housing work, including how you can support #BAHFA on the November Ballot! If this is your first time hearing about BAHFA, visit https://okt.to/l3U6zp to learn more! #TheWorkUWBA

Three years ago we made a change in our decision-making process by creating extra space for community voices to be heard. Those voices were shaped into our Ambassador Council! UWBA Ambassadors Council is an advisory body that centers community and client voices into programmatic, grantmaking, advocacy, marketing, and fundraising efforts. At UWBA, there is no greater reward for our efforts to fight poverty than to see programs at work in the lives of others. Visit https://okt.to/VqMLmW to learn more about our Ambassadors, and how they are making a difference at UWBA and in our communities! #TheWorkUWBA

WE NEED YOUR HELP! Join us at the upcoming Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (#BAHFA) meeting on Wednesday, June 26 at 9:35 AM at the Bay Area Metro Center in San Francisco and give public comment in support of housing in the Bay Area and California!!! The FINAL vote for the Bay Area bond will occur at this meeting and determine if it will be on the ballot in November. Your thoughts on why this bond is so important for your community will help the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) understand the measure's impact and feel more confident placing it on the ballot. Visit https://okt.to/VspGDR for more info. If this is your first time hearing about BAHFA, visit our YouTube playlist, https://okt.to/seFU3w, to learn more about it and how this bond can help the housing crisis! If you plan to attend, bring a sign that says "I am pro-housing!" #TheWorkUWBA #HousingJustice

Last Thursday we had a wonderful day assembling backpacks across the Bay Area! Twilio, Cupertino Electric, Inc., and KKR all participated in UWBA’s Back-to-School volunteer events at their offices. Together we assembled 500 backpacks!! Giving backpacks to Bay Area youth and community college students every summer does more than just prepare them for the school year. When one cost is covered, it gives more flexibility for other necessities like rent, internet, transportation, and other basic needs. You can still help us this summer! Donate today to help us impact the lives of #BayArea families! Visit https://okt.to/uRYK8n to donate now! #TheWorkUWBA #BackToSchool