Supporting United Way helps families get on the pathway to a financially secure future. Together with our partners, we offer a comprehensive approach to connecting individuals with skills and training for jobs in our region as well as the financial services and supports to achieve their goals.
Our Work - Family Financial Security
Family Financial Security
Because of your collective support, the following outcomes were achieved in our region in the last year:
89% of youth and 94% of adults earned job-relevant licenses, certificates and/or credentials, increasing family-sustaining employment.
13,500 people filed their 2022 tax returns at no cost through Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites and MyFreeTaxes.com returning $20M in federal refunds and credits to our community.
82% of adults enrolled in United Way-supported career advancement initiatives obtained a good paying job that helped them earn more than just ends meet.
Strategies
We invest in integrated programs and initiatives that provide employment services, financial coaching and connection to income supports which help families on their path to financial security. We also convene multi-sector partnerships focused on better connecting systems to advance employment opportunities for individuals in our region.
Workforce Solutions Collaborative of Metro Hartford:
United Way is the lead partner for the Workforce Solutions Collaborative of Metro Hartford – a nationally recognized employer led effort that aims to connect lower wage workers with industry specific training and support to find jobs that are in demand by local employers. Over the years, we have convened hundreds of employers, in key industries – including health care, manufacturing and transportation/distribution/logistics – to create a pipeline of qualified employees that meet workforce demand in jobs that pay family-sustaining wages with opportunities for career advancement.
No-Cost Tax Preparation
Get help from an IRS-certified volunteer, if your household income is up to $60,000. Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) is a partnership of United Way, the IRS, The Village for Families & Children, Inc. and Human Resources Agency of New Britain, Inc. which provides tax preparation services at no cost to eligible families at community locations throughout our region. In addition, online filing is also available at myfreetaxes.com.
Hartford Working Cities
Hartford Working Cities aims to create pathways and opportunities that help youth and young adults experience economic mobility by gaining quality and stable employment. We collaborate with quality programs and resources that help youth and young adults become well-rounded workers and leaders. Hartford Working Cities works to reduce unemployment among 16-29-year-old Hartford residents in eight neighborhoods (Asylum Hill, Barry Square, Clay Arsenal, Frog Hollow, Northeast, South Green, and Upper Albany). Our efforts in these neighborhoods are pursued in collaboration with place-based organizations, initiatives, and community groups
Success Story
What makes Upper Albany is the teamwork that happens here. We now have volunteers come to our site from across the region. We work hard, we get to know our taxpayers and we are committed to providing people with a quality and professional experience.
– Naomi McKoy, Upper Albany Neighborhood Collaborative
We tend to think of trailblazers as people who walk ahead, finding new paths and solutions, leaving the trail better for those who come after them. Naomi McKoy, Dorothy (Dot) Biggs and the late Patricia (Pat) Williams are the trailblazers for their neighborhood, their city and the region through the Upper Albany Neighborhood Collaborative.
Every tax season since 2002, the three would work together to provide free income tax assistance to residents through United Way’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) campaign.
“What makes Upper Albany is the teamwork that happens here,” said McKoy. “We now have volunteers come to our site from across the region. We work hard, we get to know our taxpayers and we are committed to providing people with a quality and professional experience. The tax site is often at the center of the Collaborative’s work.”
