United Way of the Bay Area Blog
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When Nicole, a SparkPoint coach gets out of bed in the morning, she knows she’s going to be empowering low-income community members to take control of their finances. She helps people create a budget, access financial assistance, get good jobs, improve their credit and start saving. Coaching – and supporting a person’s complete financial picture [...]
It’s Saturday morning, and I am on BART heading to the Summer Jobs+ Youth Resource Fair to volunteer for the afternoon where we will set up more than 700 young people with resume prep, mock interviews and job connections. I just started as an AmeriCorps VISTA at United Way, so I am excited to see [...]
It’s the Friday after United Way of the Bay Area’s fabulous 90th Anniversary Gala Celebration, and we are all still basking in the afterglow of a warm and wonderful evening. More than 450 of us had the pleasure of witnessing this historic gathering of donors, volunteers, community partners and well-wishers while we celebrated a near-century [...]
Melissa Thomas is a 21-year old San Franciscan who has been looking for work for more than two years. She’s on public assistance and says she could easily fall into homelessness. At the end of the month, she has no food in the fridge, and depends on an elderly relative to eat. Melissa wants nothing [...]
“Welcome to San Francisco – we’re excited to have you!” said the noticeably overjoyed Alcatraz Island employee and avid 49er fan, as he ushered Nnamdi and his Asomugha College Tour for Scholars (ACTS) students to the boat for their trip to Alcatraz. When news leaked that Nnamdi Asomugha was returning to his “home roots” – [...]
We’ve all wished we had a newer, better car at one point in our lives. But for Andrea Keeling, it was a crisis. Her van was so old that she couldn’t start it with a key. When she wanted to use it, Andrea had to jack up the hood and risk being shocked to turn [...]
Bob Hope once said, “You know you are getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.” This year, United Way of the Bay Area has 90 candles on the cake, and we’re happy we’re getting older because with age, we can build on experience. Throughout its history, United Way has been a philanthropic [...]
Your email to Congress and Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer could mean more shelter beds and food for the Bay Area’s poor. Uncertainty hangs over Washington this week as Congress struggles to come to a resolution on sequestration – automatic across-the-board cuts to government agencies – unless Congress agrees on spending reductions by March [...]
United Way Vice-President, Tse Ming Tam grew up in abject poverty. He and his five brothers and sisters scrounged around restaurant alleys for food, and Tse Ming was functionally illiterate through age 25. His personal struggles have informed his life work, combatting poverty in the Bay Area. And it is because of his visionary work [...]
As I watched the State of the Union Address, I was inspired to hear many issues critical to fighting poverty elevated to the national stage. President Obama put forth agendas around universal preschool, affordable college, immigration reform and well-paying jobs. Senator Marco Rubio echoed many of these sentiments, highlighted by his personal story of finally [...]
