In this month’s newsletter, catch up on our last Network Meeting, learn about next steps for our focus teams, and review the latest financial wellness resources.

United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona's Financial Wellness Partnership envisions a community where every person and family is financially well - asking five questions:

• Can a household cover their basic needs?

• Do they have savings for emergencies, retirement, and education?

• Can they make informed financial decisions for themselves and their families by using financial skills?

• Can they pursue wealth-building opportunities such as homeownership, entrepreneurship, or further education?

• Do they have a voice in civic and community resource decisions, particularly funding and policies?

At our December meeting, we heard two incredibly informative presentations from Alison Miller (City of Tucson HCD) and Bonnie Bazata (Pima County Community and Workforce Development). Alison presented about the evolution (and data) behind the City of Tucson’s Housing Affordability Strategy for Tucson (HAST) plan, including slides about each priority and key accomplishments to date. With limited time, we dug a little deeper into Housing Development and Source of Income. For our second presentation, Bonnie shared the impetus for the Prosperity Initiative and plan for developing regional policy priorities. Notably, Phase 1 (the current phase) is focused on policy development, and Phase 2 (set to start in August 2023) will focus on programs/action items to support those overarching policies. For the policy aspect, the group will be researching feasible ideas that have worked at a local level in other places and conducting listening sessions, likely in February.

We used a brief in-meeting survey to collect ideas about priorities for the Prosperity Initiative's working group. Attendees were most interested in housing stability and social safety net topics, with Affordable Housing, Aging in Place, and K-12 Education receiving the most votes. For specific populations, the group was most interest in the Prosperity Initiative team exploring the needs of single caretakers with children, BIPOC households, and formerly incarcerated individuals. We look forward to continuing to follow and support this policy development process!

Our Eviction Prevention Case Management group’s January 11th meeting (virtual; 3pm) will include a Q&As with staff from City of Tucson’s Housing and Community Development about the Section 8 waitlist and staff from Pima County about the Emergency Rental Assistance Program and other emergency assistance resources. We also plan to launch/test a BaseCamp to help group members communicate between meetings and share resources. Anyone working closely with participants, particularly on case management or resource referrals, is welcome to attend!

The Financial Empowerment Collaborative is a group of 20 organizations focused on elevating the quality and reach of financial education, coaching, and literacy programs in Southern Arizona. By identifying barriers and disparities, learning together, and sharing tools and resources, the group commits to centering equity and improving financial wellness outcomes for those in programs and across the community. To kick off 2023, the Collaborative has started setting up workshops on topics like financial wellness resource awareness, budgeting, investing, financial goal-setting, and more with local partners, community groups, and employers. If you are interested in learning more about hosting a presentation and connecting your group to financial education resources, feel free to reach out!

Our Public Policy group meets monthly to stay updated about policy happenings related to financial wellness and learn about legislative processes together. In January, we discussed Ward 1’s participatory budgeting opportunity (the first city government in the state of Arizona to launch this process) and reviewed new leadership at Arizona state agencies appointed by Governor Katie Hobbs. New leaders include Angie Rogers – Department of Economic Security (moving from President and CEO of the Arizona Food Bank Network; also former director of the state task force for EITC), Dr. Theresa Cullen – Department of Health Services (moving from Director of Pima County Health Department), Joan Serviss – Department of Housing (moving from Director of Arizona Housing Coalition), and Marisol Flores-Aguirre – Southern Arizona Office Director (University of Arizona and Bitch Media). In the coming year, the group hopes to track, support, and amplify local campaigns and learn more about local policy and budgeting processes. 

The pandemic and recession exacerbated an affordable housing crisis for households throughout Southern Arizona. Community partners continue to see high numbers of requests for emergency assistance, particularly to combat costs of rising rents and grocery bills. United Way currently collaborates with more than 10 local organizations to offer emergency funds in conjunction with case management, financial empowerment, and other supportive services. Last year, our emergency fund support helped more than 1,500 individuals, families, and Veterans stay safe, healthy, and housed while enrolled in other services.

United Way Tucson Financial Wellness Resource List: Find programmatic and 1:1 opportunities for financial coaching/education, tax assistance, workforce development, and more on this list developed by United Way of Tucson and Southern AZ partners. If you are involved with a program, service, or other resource supporting financial wellness in Southern Arizona, we would love to add you to the list. If you are already on our list, we would love for you to review your entry and make sure it is up to date as we enter the new year. Want to add or update your program's entry? Use this form.

Youth on the Rise Re-Engagement App: A new resource guide to help youth 16-24 navigate services, resources, and systems in Pima County.