Despite reports that the economy may finally be recovering, Bay Area nonprofit organizations – and the clients they serve – are still reeling from the recession, according to United Way’s eighth annual Bay Area Nonprofit Pulse Survey.

The financial well-being of the Bay Area nonprofit sector continued to erode in 2009. Fifty-one percent of survey respondents indicated that revenues declined in 2009, with 39% stating their organizations’ revenue dropped by more than 10%.

When asked if they are observing signs of recovery among their clients, only 3% of respondents indicated their clients are faring better now than they were a year ago, while 45% stated that their clients are faring worse.

Demand for services continues to surge, with 62% of nonprofits reporting an increase in service demand last year. Of that group, 40% indicated they were unable to meet increased service demand.

“We know that the families and individuals who have been hit hardest by the recession will need months, even years to fully recover and get back on their feet,” said Anne Wilson, CEO of United Way of the Bay Area. “To ensure local nonprofits can weather this storm, and serve mounting needs, it is so important for everyone who can to step up now – to give, advocate and volunteer – in support of our community.”

Read the press release. Media coverage:

San Francisco Business Times – “Over half of nonprofits see revenue drop”
San Francisco Chronicle – “Bay Area jobs hit harder by recession than U.S.”
KQED Radio’s California Money – “Nonprofits Still Hurting”
Times-Herald – “Solano County, Bay Area nonprofits see few signs of a rebound”
CC Times -  “Survey:  Bay Area nonprofit agencies still scuffling”
Inside Bay Area – “Bay Area nonprofits report rising demand, declining revenue”

This past January in Fremont, the mayor, members of the city council, and others gathered at Fremont Family Resource Center to celebrate National Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Awareness Day.  During the event, Fremont Family Resource Center was also presented with a $10,000 check by Citi to support their EITC work.

According to recent reports, as many as 100,000 Californians fail to file for the EITC leaving as much as 1 billion in unclaimed refunds. This is why our Earn It! Keep It! Save It! coalition partners are so important.

With about a month to go before the April 15 deadline we thought we would check in and find out exactly how the VITA sites are able to do what they do. We asked Carolyn Robertson, Program Coordinator of the Fremont Family Resource Center’s Family Economic Success Program (via email), to tell us more about what they and their volunteers are able to accomplish every year and it’s pretty amazing.

United Way: How many volunteers do you have?
Carolyn Robertson: 76 returning Volunteers, and 69 new volunteers

United Way: How many languages do you offer?
Carolyn: 22 languages, which includes American Sign Language

United Way: How many tax returns are you hoping to do this tax season?
Carolyn: 1,600 returns

United Way: Do you do anything special with or for clients while they are waiting to be seen by tax preparers?
Carolyn: We offer a number of extra services including:

• Food stamp eligibility screening

• Pre-paid debit card enrollment

• Informing customers about other services/programs offered by the Family Economic Success Program and the Fremont Family Resource Center

• And offering access to banking institutions:  Citibank, Fremont Bank, and US Bank.  Bank representatives also serve as VITA screeners and/or translators

United Way: What other services do you connect your tax clients to? How?
Carolyn: The screener & tax preparer interview process provides an opportunity to get a sense of the customer’s situation. In the course of the conversation, or based on the customer answers to the questions on the in-take sheet, we determine if we are able to offer the customer resources in the area of children’s health insurance, financial education, financial counseling/coaching, AC CAN (Alameda County Community Asset Network) banking tool, unemployment services, food stamp & Medi-Cal benefits, family counseling/case management, legal services, or housing services.

United Way: What is the secret to your success?

Carolyn: Keeping our volunteers happy by…

• Helping volunteers to succeed in their volunteer roles, providing in-house training for all volunteer positions, providing opportunities for new volunteers to shadow returning volunteers; providing volunteers with constructive feedback; and also allowing volunteers to provide feedback as well

• Keeping volunteers informed of our successes/challenges via email and verbal communication; distributing quality alerts to keep everyone abreast of new rules/procedures, etc.

• Providing immediate access to site coordinator and/or VITA coaches (expert VITA volunteers) to answer questions or to provide guidance

• Having cheat sheets to help with various procedures

• Allowing our volunteers to grow professionally and personally:

• volunteers are able to learn from one another and transition to other volunteer positions, i.e. greeter to tax preparer, translator to screener, or tax preparer to VITA coach

• volunteers are offered an opportunity to learn new skills

• Incorporate a recognition event at the end of the tax season
• Feed the volunteers!!!

Thank you Fremont Family Resource Center for your help filing the almost 50,000 tax  returns we expect this year. They are just one of the many great partners who together with volunteers are making a real difference across the Bay Area.

Last month, United Way and our 2-1-1 Alameda partner, Eden I&R, participated in the New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. Education Fair, where they educated hundreds of NUMMI employees about how to connect with support services in the community, as they prepare to lose their jobs when the Fremont plant shuts down on March 31.

Representatives from United Way’s Earn It! Keep It! Save It! free tax program and 2-1-1 Alameda/Eden I&R spoke with hundreds of workers at the fair.  Earn It! Keep It! Save It! informed workers that they can receive free tax filing assistance if they earned less than $52,000 last year.  2-1-1 encouraged workers to call the community information line, which can help them connect with the social services they need, manage limited financial resources and know their rights during this difficult transition.

In addition, Susan McDonough, United Way’s Labor Liaison for Alameda County has been working with the county’s Workforce Investment Board (WIB).  At the event, they shared information with NUMMI employees about the Trade Adjustment Act, Unemployment Insurance and other information that is part of WIB’s “Rapid Response” workshops.

“It is heart-wrenching to see more people about to become unemployed.  We are working diligently to lend our support to not only the NUMMI employees, but also the other thousands that will lose their livelihood when NUMMI closes,” said Anne Wilson, United Way of the Bay Area CEO.  “Our United Way team is collaborating with others to lend our support in the most meaningful way possible.”

KCBS’ Bob Butler reports, “More Bay Area residents appear to be reaching out for help, many describing themselves as first-time callers to the nonprofit 211 center, run by United Way.”

Listen to the 50-second audio clip.

Hard times preceded the recession for a significant number of Bay Area families.  Even before the global economic crisis, having a job was not a guarantee of adequate income: 86% of Bay Area households with incomes below the Standard had at least one worker. 

United Way’s report, “Struggling to Make Ends Meet,” released today, reinforces the plight of the Bay Area’s working poor by revealing that local families require three full-time, minimum wage jobs to pay for basic necessities, when measured by the California Self-Sufficiency Standard. 

The report indicates higher education continues to be a key indicator to achieving self-sufficiency.  Nearly 60% of 168,556 Bay Area households headed by someone who did not complete high school have incomes below the Standard, compared to 15% of householders with a Bachelor’s degree or at least some college.

“This report raises important questions about how we can better serve the thousands of low-wage workers and families who were already struggling before the recession, whose situations are undoubtedly more precarious now,” said Anne Wilson, CEO of United Way of the Bay Area.  “While United Way continues to support programs that provide emergency food, rent and utility assistance, we are also working hard to build pathways out of poverty for hardworking families, to ensure they are not left behind in the economic recovery.  Low-wage workers must have access to education and training opportunities that will enable them to earn higher wages, advance up career ladders, support their families, and contribute to our region’s success over the long term.”

A press release and the full report are available here.

Media clips:

San Francisco Chronicle Editorial, “Poor are educated and employed.”

KQED Radio News – Audio clip of Cy Musiker’s interview with United Way’s Lorne Needle.

KPFA’s Letters to Washington  - Audio clip, advance to the 48:30 minute mark in the show.

San Francisco Chronicle, “20% of families in Bay Area struggling”

Marin Independent Journal, “Marin’s working poor face major hurdles”

Times-Herald, “Just making ends meet is hard for area families, report finds”

CBS-5, “Education Key To Earning Living Wage”

SF Appeal, “Three Minimum Wage Salaries Necessary To Meet Expenses In Bay Area”

ABC-7, “1-in-5 households can’t afford basic needs”