Houston's Legendary TV broadcaster Marvin Zindler once said, "It's Hell to be poor"! Zindler's booming words delivered into his microphone became a famous catchphrase in the Bayou City.
And there are many inhabitants fitting the description of living poor. But if United Way has it's way with a new program then maybe a portion of working families called the working poor can get more help and stay on a pathway to financial stability.
The United Way has reported more than a million greater Houston households are one car problem or medical emergency away from serious financial trouble.
Additionally, 13% of these households are living below the federal poverty level, and a much larger percentage, 31%, are experiencing ALICE.
Houston households have high rates of poverty and median incomes that lag behind many major U.S. metros, according to new Census data released last year, according to Houston Chronicle.
Ineligible For Assistance Because They're Working
The ALICE report shines a light on the population that lives on the brink of poverty but is often ineligible for assistance programs that use the federal poverty level as a threshold.
The ALICE report offers a county-by-county look at the real costs of getting by. According to the report, in Harris County, 832,007 households are ALICE or living below the federal poverty level. In Fort Bend County, this number is 104,213 and 90,562 in Montgomery County. In Waller County, 8,166 households are ALICE or experiencing poverty.
Houston Family of Three Need At Least $75,000 Annually
The most recent report, based on data collected in 2022, shows that in the immediate Houston area, a family of three (a single parent with one preschooler and one school-aged child) needs $75,000 annually to cover basic needs, while the federal poverty level for the same family is just over $25,000.
Even as the number of available jobs has increased, wages for those jobs have largely remained flat. That, coupled with inflation and the rising cost of living, has made it nearly impossible for those experiencing ALICE to meaningfully increase their income.
With little to no savings, those experiencing ALICE not only struggle to recover from unplanned expenses like a car repair, but they are also unable to plan for the future, often precluding them from things like homeownership and higher education.
Those who are experiencing ALICE may be hidden in plain sight — the person caring for your children, the cashier at your supermarket, your parent’s home health aide, or a clerk at your office. They are often forced to make tough choices, such as deciding between quality child care and paying the rent.
These tough choices can have long-term consequences for families and for our community. They can result in children not being prepared to start and succeed in school and in parents missing or being unable to work. They also create wider-reaching issues, like a less prepared workforce and increased public health costs.
Ultimately, helping ALICE households become financially stable will strengthen our economy, make our community more vibrant, and improve life not just for those experiencing ALICE, but for us all.
That is why United Way of Greater Houston has focused its work and investments on helping those experiencing ALICE land on their feet — and stay there.
Using the ALICE report and other data sources, United Way identified key regions in our community with high needs and invested in partner organizations to provide targeted services to help families and individuals in those areas create a pathway to financial stability.
While services are focused on financial stability, they also include programs that address some of the key needs that often keep clients from lasting financial stability, like child care, health care, basic needs assistance, and support accessing legal services.
Through its many years of experience leading United Way THRIVE, a community collaborative focused on helping people achieve financial stability, United Way knows that a holistic approach that includes support from a coach is most effective in helping clients achieve and maintain financial stability.
Clients Ready to Work
One of the things that makes United Way’s approach unique is an Integrated Client Journey that matches clients who are ready to work toward long-term goals with Navigators who guide them along their own personalized pathway to achieving those goals.
Services along the pathway are orchestrated to make it easy for clients to get all the help they need to be successful, and a technology tool developed by United Way connects a network of service providers and streamlines access to services.
The Integrated Client Journey technology tool also integrates data from the ALICE report, United Way’s partners, and 211 to identify available resources and to detect where adjustments in services are needed to better address unmet, emerging, or changing needs in the community.
This comprehensive and focused approach to helping those experiencing ALICE, implemented by United Way in 2023, has already begun to make a difference, with more than 1,200 clients currently working with Navigators on their journeys to financial stability and many more in the pipeline.
If you’re ready to start your own journey toward financial stability, call United Way’s 24/7/365 social services helpline by dialing 211.
If you can help United Way connect people to possibility, make a gift now and learn how you or your organization can get involved with United Way’s work.
Reporter C Walker can be reached at CJWalker1930@gmail.com
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