Posts Tagged ‘poverty’
FEMA Grants Bring $466K For Local Relief
UWSCMI facilitated a grant process that provided $466,232 in federal funds to local organizations providing food, shelter and utility assistance to people in high-need areas. The emergency funding was announced in February and provided through the Emergency Food And Shelter National Board Program (EFSP), administered by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency…
Read MoreNew ALICE Report Shows Pandemic Impact in Region
While aid programs during the COVID-19 pandemic likely eased financial stress on many households, the risk of more families struggling is rising, according to a new report on financial hardship in Michigan. ALICE in the Crosscurrents: COVID and Financial Hardship, released today by Michigan’s United Way network and the research organization United For ALICE, shows…
Read MoreBehind The Scenes: Getting The Full Picture of ALICE
When communities want to understand how local households are doing financially, they often check the poverty rate. But that doesn’t give the full picture of how many individuals and families struggle to make ends meet. “ALICE encompasses what was once described as ‘the working poor,’ but it stands for much more than that,” said Laurel…
Read MoreALICE Report: Many Local Households Still Struggling Financially
Many individuals and families in Calhoun and Kalamazoo counties are still struggling to keep up financially, according to the latest statistics from the Michigan Association of United Ways. The 2021 ALICE Report, released today, shows 39% of the region’s 157,023 households didn’t earn enough to exceed the ALICE threshold—the income needed to be financially stable.…
Read MoreMeet ALICE: Seniors Face Struggles
This is part of a series of blogs spotlighting the ALICE population and how our community can make a difference. Two major population bubbles are changing communities across Michigan. The largest is the baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964. By the time COVID-19 struck, an estimated 10,000 baby boomers in the United States were…
Read MoreMeet ALICE: ALICE and Race
This is part of a series of blogs spotlighting the ALICE population and how our community can make a difference. Poverty and racism have been inextricably connected since this country’s inception, yet official federal statistics have never fully portrayed the economic impact of that link. United For ALICE, an initiative through United Way Worldwide, was…
Read MoreMeet ALICE: How Much Does ALICE Earn?
This is part of a series of blogs spotlighting the ALICE population and how our community can make a difference. Until COVID-19 hit, Michigan employment numbers had been relatively low in recent years. Yet the numbers weren’t telling the whole story. In Michigan, 61 percent of jobs pay less than $20 per hour, with almost…
Read MoreMeet ALICE: ALICE in Michigan
This is part of a series of blogs spotlighting the ALICE population and how our community can make a difference. People who are Asset Limited, Income Constrained and Employed (ALICE) make up 40% of Michigan’s population. Here’s what the 2019 ALICE Report revealed about these individuals and families: “Despite overall improvement in employment and gains…
Read MoreMeet ALICE: Getting to Know ALICE
Looking at poverty rates doesn’t give the full picture of how many individuals and families in a community struggle to make ends meet. That realization drives United Way’s work with ALICE—Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE encompasses what we once called the “working poor,” but it stands for much more. ALICE encompasses the people and…
Read MoreMeet ALICE: We Have a Lot to Learn
by Ken Toll Maya Angelou once penned an essay titled, “I’ve Learned.” She offered some great nuggets of wisdom, including this one: “I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn.” Having lived nearly all of my life in Jackson, and after many years leading this United Way, I echo Angelou’s insight. I keep…
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