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A young student walking across a crosswalk with a pink backpack, turned back smiling towards camera.

Every student deserves a strong start.

Give a Bay Area student more than a backpack. Give them the confidence to walk into a new school year ready to learn, belong, and thrive.

Upcoming UWBA Events in the Bay Area

Join United Way Bay Area for upcoming virtual and in-person events that bring our community together. Explore conversations, learning opportunities, volunteer events, and other ways to connect with our work across the Bay Area.

A Big City Takes on a Big Challenge

August 11, 2026 at 12:00 PM

Beyond the Bridge: A Film & Conversation On A Solution to Homelessness

September 14, 2026 at 12:00 PM

Limited Seating!

One Tax Return Changed Everything for Chau and Her Son

For Chau, a single mother in the Bay Area, a tax refund meant more than just extra money—it meant being able to pay for food, keep a roof over their heads, and help her son continue his journey to becoming a nurse. With the support of Free Tax Help Bay Area’s caring volunteers, Chau received the assistance she needed to claim the refund her family had earned. Her story is a powerful reminder that free tax preparation can create lasting opportunities for families working toward a brighter future.

Discover Chau’s Journey

UWBA In the Community

Read our latest blogs, press releases and news.

Case Study: How Airbnb.org and 211 Help Connect People to Emergency Housing When Disaster Strikes

Learn how Airbnb.org and 211 Bay Area partner to connect people displaced by disasters with emergency housing, helping communities respond quickly when crises strike.

Read the Airbnb Case Study

OnTrack 2025: A Bay Area Youth Career Fair Unlocking Pathways Through Community Investment

See how OnTrack 2025 helps Bay Area youth explore careers, build connections, and unlock opportunities through community support.

Read the OnTrack story

Case Study: How BMO x United Way Bay Area Partner to “Grow the Good” Through SparkPoint®

Discover how BMO and SparkPoint empower Bay Area residents through financial coaching, resources, and a shared commitment to lasting change.

Read About the BMO Partnership

Welcome!

What Does Poverty in the Bay Area Look Like?

Try Our “Real Life, Real Choices, Real Impact” Digital Experience

Step into the daily decisions thousands of Bay Area families face. This interactive experience shows how housing, food, childcare, and transportation choices add up—and why so many neighbors fall short even while working hard. Explore the real tradeoffs behind poverty and discover how community support can create lasting stability.

You’ll have to make tough choices. Can you make it through?

A mother holding their child into the air.

The Scenario

You are a family of four: yourself, your partner, and your two children, ages 3 and 10. You live in San Francisco.

You and your partner both earn San Francisco’s minimum wage of $19.18/hour

Your family’s combined annual income is $75,000

You will make the best decision you can with the information you have. Study your choices and invest your credits depending on what is most important to your family.

The Rules

You will have a Credit Bank that represents your monthly budget.

Each month you will need to:

Decide how to spend it and what your priorities are.
Make a choice in each category, spending the desired number of credits indicating your spending choices.

After you submit, you cannot go back and change your choices.

Reflection

What values do you see reflected in your choices?

Where did you allocate three credits?

What was the hardest category to budget?

Recap

These are the choices you made:

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

Take a moment to reflect. You may move on shortly.

Reflection

What category did you choose to make sacrifices in your budget?

Do you know where you can go for short-term assistance?

What other impacts may need to be considered due to this challenge?

Recap

These are your choices up to this point:

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

Take a moment to reflect. You may move on shortly.

Reflection

Where did you remove 2 credits from your budget?

Did your priorities change in what you valued?

If you had the chance to change your original choice, would you?

Recap

These are your choices up to this point:

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

Take a moment to reflect. You may move on shortly.

Reflection

Where did you remove 2 credits from your budget?

Did your priorities change in what you valued?

If you had the chance to change your original choice, would you?

Recap

These are your choices up to this point:

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

Take a moment to reflect. You may move on shortly.

This is Who We Help

Throughout this experience, you’ve had to make difficult decisions that no one should have to face. You held onto your {basic needs category} standard of living for {number of rounds} before you budged. Longer than the other categories. You started with {comfortable choice 1} but had to settle for {limited choice 1}. You also went from {comfortable choice 2} to {limited choice 2}.

For many of our neighbors, these tradeoffs aren’t just hypothetical—they are daily realities. Families are forced to decide between groceries or rent, child care or transportation, healthcare or keeping the lights on. The stress of these decisions can be overwhelming and, too often, the options never feel like enough. This is the reality United Way Bay Area works to change. Through our programs like SparkPoint™, 211, Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), and Housing Justice, we help families move from surviving to thriving—so they no longer have to choose between their basic needs.

No one should have to live this way

Convenient

Limited

Difficult

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

But There is Hope

You visited a SparkPoint Center and applied for CalFresh. You can add $250 to your monthly income to cover food. You also received $500 in rent relief.

From Difficult to Possible

Convenient

Limited

Difficult

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

Be Part of the Solution

People experience situations like these are who we, at United Way Bay Area, strive to help!

You’ve just seen how hard it can be for Bay Area families to get by. United Way Bay Area is fighting to change that—every day, with your support.

Go 100% of the way, sign up for our updates to learn more, share your story, or get involved in our movement to fight poverty.

Financial Choices Were Made…

You have already made budgetary decisions. The money was spent.

As happens in life, past financial decisions often cannot be undone. Instead, we must make do with those decisions and adapt accordingly. It’s part of the challenge of living in the Bay Area.

Completing the experience will allow you to remake previous choices.

Recap

This is where you left off:

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

Where Will You Spend Your Budget?

Remember, once you allocate your budget and move on, there is no turning back.

Your Credit Bank

You have 15 credits left.

Your Credit Bank

You have 2 credits left.

Connect & Engage with Us on Your Favorite Social Channel

Our Impact

52000000

$52M+ million in tax refunds returned to the community through Free Tax Help

51574

calls and texts answered by our 211 helpline

2521

clients received long-term financial or career coaching through SparkPoint®

Impact Areas: Our Major Areas of Focus in the Fight Against Poverty

Meeting basic needs

Our Basic Needs programs, partnerships, and policy work, support people in our community to meet their basic needs.

Learn more about meeting basic needs

Employment and career opportunities

We believe that access to education and employment opportunities is necessary to ensure that individuals are successful in school and in their careers.

Learn moreabout employment and career opportunities

Financial stability

Our programs address various aspects of financial stability to make sure individuals and families can thrive in their daily lives, reach their goals, and recover from a crisis quickly

Learn More about financial stability

Housing justice

UWBA is deepening our focus on improving access to stable, affordable housing and homelessness prevention resources.

Learn More about housing justice

Meeting basic needs

Our Basic Needs programs, partnerships, and policy work, support people in our community to meet their basic needs.

Learn more about meeting basic needs

Employment and career opportunities

We believe that access to education and employment opportunities is necessary to ensure that individuals are successful in school and in their careers.

Learn moreabout employment and career opportunities

Financial stability

Our programs address various aspects of financial stability to make sure individuals and families can thrive in their daily lives, reach their goals, and recover from a crisis quickly

Learn More about financial stability

Housing justice

UWBA is deepening our focus on improving access to stable, affordable housing and homelessness prevention resources.

Learn More about housing justice

Stay informed. Stay involved.

Get United Way Bay Area updates and find out how to take action.

A Story of Support, Relief, and Opportunity

Chau is a single mom in the Bay Area working hard to support her son’s dream of becoming a nurse. With help from Free Tax Help Bay Area, she received a tax refund that helped cover essentials like rent, food, and school expenses. Hear how free, volunteer tax preparation provided real financial relief and hope for her family’s future.