Making Change Happen: Year One Results
In 2007, United Way of Greater Los Angeles adopted a ten-year plan with specific goals designed to tackle the root causes of poverty in the Los Angeles County. With your help, we are creating a better quality of life by focusing on 3 interconnected areas (improving educational achievement, increasing financial stability, and meeting basic needs) that are critical to helping our communities thrive.
Fighting Poverty with Results
Educational Achievement: Successful Transitions Mean Working Together
Goal: Help all students graduate from high school prepared for college and the workforce
Year 1 Results
- Authored Middle School Report that resulted in successful policy efforts to create smaller classes and schools
- Supported 34 organizations that provided after-school and academic enrichment programs to 31,465 low-income students
- Provided leadership training for 2,000 parents of low-income middle school students
- Piloted the Principals to Watch Academy, an innovative on-the-job training program for principals:
- That implements academic reform at 18 disadvantaged middle schools
- Helps 22,000 students and almost 1,000 teachers develop academically and professionally
Goal: Provide all adults with the financial tools they need to thrive
Year 1 Results
- We invested in job readiness, literacy, and training opportunities in select growth industries
- Over 7,000 people received training and over 2,000 were placed into well-paying jobs with career ladders that increased their average monthly income by 15%
- Partnered with the County to help over 37,000 working families’ access free tax preparation assistance. This program resulted in:
- Over $11 million claimed in Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and over $25 million in total tax refunds
- Spearheaded the Saving for the American Dream program for low-income families to take advantage of matched savings to buy a house, start a business or save for a college education. In the past 5 years, the program has:
- Helped underwrite more than $26 million in home equity - 100% of homeowners have maintained their loans
- Launched 350 small businesses with startup investments totaling $1 million
- Launched the Ramp Up pilot program, which is being replicated across the nation
- One-of-a kind program that incentivizes families to save by offering higher interest rates, allowing them to watch their money grow month by month
Goal: Making sure all people have access to affordable housing and health care
Year 1 Results
- Helped 3,411 homeless families and individuals move off the streets into permanent housing
- Mobilized 4,300 walkers from across Southern California to participate in our first annual HomeWalk
- Made it possible for another 2,300 homeless families and individuals to move into permanent housing in the next twelve months
- Helped provide primary health care, mental and dental health services for 62,711 men, women and children
Thank you for working with us to create pathways out of poverty.
Together we’ll fight poverty. United we’ll win.