Tackling barriers to families’ financial stability

When families are stable, our community is stronger. One way that Metro United Way helps individuals strengthen their families is through a partnership with the Siemer Institute. The program works to prevent family homelessness and reduce school mobility so that families gain financial security, and their children can succeed in school.

We have six partners in this work in Jefferson and Bullitt counties in Kentucky, and Floyd County, Indiana. Through referrals from Americana Community Center, Bullitt County Housing First, Family Scholar House, Hope Southern Indiana, Jewish Family & Career Services, and Salvation Army Pathway of Hope, we helped 258 families last year.

These families included 553 children, 449 of whom are school-aged. Of the families served, 99% were able to avoid a disruptive school move, 60% were able to increase their income stability, and 61% were able to improve their housing stability.

The numbers are great, but success stories from families show the true impact of this life-changing work.

After living in a Louisville shelter for six months, a mother and son gained stable housing after being enrolled to help her meet her financial goals. She’s now going back to college and is an active member of her community.

Through the program, a mother in recovery was able to gain stable housing to reunite with her three young children. Her kids were able to stay in their same school district, and she was able to secure a full-time job in the field of recovery. She has saved $2,000 after six months in the program, and the family is beginning to heal, together.

Needing emergency financial assistance to remain in stable housing, another single mother entered the program in September 2022. She was pregnant at the time with two young sons. Circumstances caused her to get wrapped up in payday loans, but through the program she has learned to budget effectively and no longer relies on those predatory loans. A hard worker, she has excelled at her job, earning a higher income and gaining health insurance. The family is now stable and can start setting long-term goals to create generational change.

In Bullitt County, a pregnant mother and her three children who were staying with a friend found stable housing through the program, transforming their lives and their futures. After a year in the program, her children are thriving in school, and she is a manager at a successful retail store. She can now work toward becoming debt free and establishing savings.

A family whose home was destroyed by the Mayfield tornadoes in December 2021 was still living in a hotel in Louisville in April 2022, using Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money. Through the program, they were able to find stable housing before the 2022-23 school year. While the husband was already working, his wife has now gained employment, as well. The family was able to develop a budget and set long-term financial goals to secure their stability in the longterm.

After an eviction, a single father who fell on rough times was able to get a housing voucher to move into a safe place that kept his child in the same school. The program helped him set goals and get back on his feet, rejoining the workforce.

These are just a handful of stories – representing only six of the 258 families whose futures were transformed for the better through our program.

If you would like to invest in this life-changing program, please click here or the button below.

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