Darla, a San Mateo County school-district worker, knows what it’s like to have her finances fall apart because of illness. When her father had open heart surgery, she had to give up her job in order to care for both of her aging parents.

Her husband’s income wasn’t enough to keep up with the bills, and they were soon falling behind on rent, PG&E, and water. Darla said she was so shocked by one month’s water bill that she made her husband check to see if there might be a water leak (there wasn’t).

She felt her life was in constant stress, and because of her dad’s rising medical bills, she needed to ask for her help.  When she called 211, I picked up the phone.

I was able to refer Darla to several local agencies that could help her family get back on track – programs that provide temporary rent and PG&E assistance, as well as discounts on auto insurance and the internet service that she uses daily to home school her daughter. I also referred Darla to a program that, if her parents are eligible, could pay her to take care of them.

Darla was surprised by the number of resources we were able to give her and thankful.

If you find you are in such financial distress that you don’t have enough money for food – or perhaps even for a place to live – call 211. Our call center specialists are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to assist people who suddenly find themselves in financial peril, which can happen alarmingly quickly in these tough economic times.

Stay up-to-date on 211 in the Bay Area: “like” us on Facebook.

United Way needs Spanish-speaking volunteers to greet clients at our SparkPoint Center at Plaza Adelante in San Francisco’s Mission District.

Volunteers will help introduce clients to the wide variety of services available at SparkPoint, including:

• Free tax preparation
• Job training and career development
• Financial coaching • Accessing higher education
• Establishing and building savings

Volunteers can serve as their schedules permit, within the following dates and times:  January to April,  Monday – Friday, 1 to 8 p.m. or Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Learn more by contacting Stephan Pippen,  United Way’s Director of Volunteer Engagement, at  spippen@uwba.org or (415) 808-4345.

Help us spread the word by downloading and posting our SparkPoint Volunteer Flyer in your workplace.

Many thanks to our generous sponsor, the law firm of Bryan Cave.

Click below to view a few photos from our event.

Want to learn more about United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council? Join us on February 29 (Leap Day) for the first session of our year-long speaker series, “Cultivating Women Leaders.”Hosted in partnership with the Bay Area Council, this first session will feature a panel of extraordinary women business leaders. What better day to “leap” into leadership than Leap Day!

You can also join our mailing list at www.uwba.org/wlc.

For example, Yolanda D. visited the Earn It! Keep It! Save It! site at the SparkPoint San Francisco at Plaza Adelante last year. Free tax preparation was just the first step for Yolanda. She earns a living by cleaning houses, and dreamed of formally starting her own house-cleaning business someday.

Our free tax sites can connect you with local programs that can help you start saving, go back to school, get a good job, buy a first home or start a new business.

With SparkPoint’s help, she connected with a business consultant who helped her register her business and develop a business plan. Mission Economic Development Agency, which runs the SparkPoint San Francisco center, provided Yolanda with a $1,500 business-startup grant, which she invested in her business.  Yolanda was also referred to the Mission Asset Fund, a partner organization at Plaza Adelante, to sign up for the Individual Development Account (IDA) matched-savings program with the intention of saving more money to invest in her business.

With a robust plan for expanding and sustaining her company, Yolanda is well on her way to financial success. And, it all started with a tax return.

Earn It! Keep It! Save It! kicked off in the Bay Area last week and is providing free tax preparation at more than 200 locations to households that earned less than $50,000 in 2011.  Call 211 or visit www.earnitkeepitsaveit.org to find the free tax site near you.

And when your taxes are done, don’t forget to ask about programs

- Kelly Batson, a director of United Way’s Earn It! Keep It! Save It!, which kicks off its 10th year in the Bay Area today.

The Earn It! Keep It! Save It! coalition provides free tax preparation at more than 200 Bay Area locations to households that earned less than $50,000 in 2011. To find a tax site, call 211 or visit www.EarnItKeepItSaveIt.org.

Last year, the program prepared taxes for nearly 60,000 families and helped bring back $63.8 million in tax refunds back into our community. That money gets spent locally, helping generate economic growth, jobs, and a stronger tax base.

Read the press release.