Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1542829
POVERTY ENDS WITH SUSTAINABLE WAGES U nited Way works collaboratively on workforce development and financial stability initiatives so everyone has equal opportunities to succeed: • Together with strategic community partners across sectors, United Way leads a workgroup that both explores disparities in wages in our region and identifies collective action to address immediate and long-term systemic solutions • United Way supports regional sector partnerships of employers by supporting their needs of finding and retaining talent, while creating opportunities for job seekers to enter rewarding and meaningful employment and accomplish their goals The 2025 Connecticut United Ways ALICE* Report, a study of financial hardship, reveals the cost- of-living crisis in Connecticut. Though wages have increased in recent years, the cost of living has skyrocketed, rendering nearly 40 percent of households in the 860 region to live in working or extreme poverty. United Way's Onward860 strategic vision addresses closing gaps in wages as a key strategy to help people lift themselves out of the cycle of poverty. • Through our advocacy efforts, United Way secured $230,000 of state funding to maintain its Hartford Working Cities initiative, which is focused on increasing employment rates of young adults, particularly opportunity youth (those who are not currently in school nor the workforce), in targeted neighborhoods in Hartford Last year, thanks to the generous support from our donors, volunteers and advocates, United Way: • Helped nearly 450 people earn job-relevant licenses, certificates, and/or credentials • Assisted more than 600 adults gain employment after completing their United Way-supported initiative • Worked with nearly 16,000 tax filers to prepare and file their income tax returns at no cost, resulting in $18 million in refunds and credits returned to local taxpayers thanks to more than 225 Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) volunteers *ALICE is a United Way-coined acronym that stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed In October, Leah Fuhs of United Way presented at the 2025 Capital Area Health Care Partnership Unconference 2.0 on the topic: "Designing Good Jobs: How Human-Centered Leadership and Culture Shape Care Quality." UNITED WAY OF CENTRAL AND NORTHEASTERN CONNECTICUT | 2025 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT | 13 CLICK HERE to see the ALICE Report