United Way Financial Stability Partnership

Many families today are barely getting by, with no ablity to save for college, a home or retirement. Wages have not kept up with the rising cost of housing, health care, child care, gas and other needs.

In 2008 United Way America launched the Financial Stability Partnership Initiative. The 10-year goal is to cut in half the number of low-income families who are currently financially unstable.

Step 1: Increase Income

The first step in the financial stability continuum offers tools and strategies that help individuals and families increase their income - by fully accessing available public and employer benefits, reducing debt and increasing credit ratings, claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit, learning to budget, and seeking workforce development opportunities to enhance job skills.

Step 2: Build Savings

Low-to-moderate-income families struggle to build and increase their personal savings, often becasue immediate needs take priority over longer-term financial needs, yet savings give individuals the flexibility to make financial decisions that benefit themselves and their families and are critical to helping families manage crises.

Step 3: Gain and
Sustain Assets

Before the 1990s, few believed that acquiring assets--retirement accounts, homes, postsecondary education or life insurance--could help move families out of poverty. However, research conducted over the past decade demonstrates that assets increase household stability, decrease economic strain, and decrease the likelihood of poverty transmittal from one generation to the next.

Local Efforts

Thurston County Asset Building Coalition

In 2007, United Way of Thurston County recently received one of twelve grants from the Washington State Department of Community Trade and Economic Development (CTED) to form a community-based coalition to develop, link and expand asset building programs in Thurston County.

“This support is a smart approach to help promote financial security for Washington families,” Governor Gregoire reported. “These local organizations have worked hard to establish relationships in the communities they serve and I am pleased to support their ongoing efforts to help Washingtonians.”

The overall goal of the grant was to develop a community plan to help low-income income individuals and families:

Increase income and reduce debt
Establish and build savings, and
Gain and sustain assets

Asset building is an approach to encourage financial independence that provides individuals with tangible incentives to save, helping them gain financial stability. Activities and strategies include financial literacy training, savings and Individual Development Accounts (IDAs), home and small business ownership, Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and tax preparation, and programs to assist in credit repair and avoiding high interest loans.

Since the initial formation of the Thurston County Asset Building Coalition, more than 50 local organizations representing financial services, health and human services, micro-enterprise organizations, education and local government jurisdictions have met to begin working collaboratively to help residents gain financial independence.