The key economic factors affecting the ability of the average person to achieve long-term financial stability include the lack of economic mobility, soaring personal debt, and wealth inequality. In Greenville County more than 50,000 people (13 percent) live below the federal poverty level.
More and more, hardworking individuals and families are unable to get ahead financially. Wages have not kept pace with the rising cost of housing, healthcare, and education, and skill levels have not stayed in alignment with changing industry needs.
The road to financial stability is not simple, nor a one-step process. In response, the United Way must focus on a continuum of strategies that will support individuals as they seek to:
This stepped approach is not focused just on helping people meet their basic needs (food and shelter), but on achieving long-term financial success for individuals and families. Success will result in outcomes such as home ownership, personal savings, quality childcare and access to health care.
What United Way Is Doing to Impact Financial Stability
United Way is working on two major initiatives that will ultimately impact the long term goal that Greenville County citizens will spend less than 40 percent of their income on housing. In order for that to happen, individuals will need to increase their income, build up savings, gain and sustain assets, continue or increase education.
Workforce Development Initiative
The Workforce Development Initiative is a community-based collaborative that seeks to strengthen the financial stability of our region by investing in Greenville’s low-skill workforce to address skill shortages in industries critical to South Carolina’s economic health. Currently, more than a third of American workers do not possess the skills necessary to compete in a global economy. At the same time, employers need workers with competitive skills so that local communities may prosper. Such gaps between the skill sets adults have and the skill sets employers require threaten our regional competitiveness and further the disparity between those with and those without education and skills.
To address the skills gap that exists in Greenville today, several organizations came together in 2008 to form a Greenville Collaborative. The participating organizations include the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, Greenville County Workforce Development, Greenville County Workforce Investment Board, Greenville Technical College, Goodwill Industries of Upstate / Midlands of SC, SC Employment Security Commission’s Greenville Workforce Center, SHARE City of Greenville L.A.D.D.E.R. Program, and the United Way of Greenville County. The Greenville Collaborative pooled their expertise with that of economic development organizations, industry associations, employers, and public policy organizations to become well-versed in understanding the needs of Greenville’s employers and low-skill workers.
In response to employers’ and low-skill workers’ needs, the Greenville Collaborative created a workforce development initiative, a skills development initiative to equip low-skill members of our community's workforce with the knowledge and confidence they need for in-demand job enhancement and future, long-term success. Through this initiative , employers receive well trained entry-level workers who possess the critical skills needed for their businesses' success.
The WDI seeks to accomplish the following:
Workers find and retain employment with sustainable salaries, benefits and career ladders
Valued employers in growth industries find and retain skilled workers
Capacity and resources for education and skills training are enhanced
Public policies that improve economic opportunity are promoted and secured.
Prosperity Centers
Prosperity Centers are, essentially, one stop sources of information for low-income families. The vision for Prosperity Centers is to transform and stabilize communities by connecting family economic and educational support with community investment strategies. This vision empowers hard working, low-wealth residents to move toward financial independence through education, economic development and home ownership.
The objectives for the Prosperity Centers are:
To link working, low-wealth households to financial educational programs, economic building services and family support services
To provide working, low-wealth households the skills to manage their money, save for the future and build assets.
To provide access to services that working families otherwise might not know exist, including things like Earned Income Tax Credit, budgeting and educational classes, food stamp applications, Individual Development Accounts for education, housing, and start up businesses.
Challenges/Opportunities
The Prosperity Centers and Workforce Development Initiative
have the capacity to impact the lives of thousands of low-income families in
Greenville County. By increasing awareness and education about economic
building services, building relationships, nurturing education and providing a
path in which to increase income and ultimately wealth, we begin to move
families to the cycle of success or keep families on the cycle of success.
