Since our five-year report was published last July, new initiatives have taken root and grown. Working with our donors, volunteers and community partners, we continue to see how developing 21st-century success – for our community and our children – means all of us sharing our resources toward a common goal. No single solution answers every challenge, but everyone working together brings us closer to long-term solutions.

CHULA VISTA PROMISE NEIGHBORHOODS

Over the next year, South Bay Community Services and other partner organizations – including United Way, Manpower, and the Parker Foundation – will help revitalize the Castle Park neighborhood, reporting some of the city’s lowest test scores and house-hold incomes 30% below the median. Funding from United Way and other partners and businesses contributed to SBCS securing a $27.8 million, 5-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The community-led plan will develop programs to support healthy child development, academic excellence and college-bound aspira-tions for the neighborhood’s students. Learn more.

What if you had the will but not the way? These stories illustrate how an education, enough income and good health are integral to life success. Alicia and Fred needed education to help stabilize their income; without it, their livelihoods were at risk, along with their health and their children’s well-being. Thanks to hard work, persistence, and the opportu-nity to help themselves, Fred and Alicia are inspirations to the rest of the community.

THESE ARE THE SUCCESS STORIES YOU HELPED WRITE.

FORMER VET GETS A LIFTFROM HOMELESS TO HOMEOWNER

EDUCATION + INCOME + HEALTH = A GOOD LIFE

In every story we report, those who succeed or those still struggling, we can see the interconnection between the building blocks that support any future stability: educa-tion, financial self-sufficiency and health. For a vet like Fred, homelessness and addiction were combated by education, but he couldn’t get to school or work without transportation. With your support, that changed. As a single mom fleeing an abusive husband, Alicia had no tools to earn money, save for the future, or protect her children. With your support, that changed.

What do their stories have in common?

IN

COME

HEALTH

WITH HELP FROM UNITED WAY

LIVES CHANGED

Fred Martinez spent months commuting by bus to the Veterans Administration in La Jolla, where he works as a recreational therapist aide, making minimum wage. The ride took over an hour, making it tough to get back downtown to City College, where he takes electronic classes. A Vietnam vet, Martinez had been homeless for five years and couldn’t secure a loan for a new car. Today, through Ways to Work, he’s driving a used Mazda-6, which he bought with an 8% loan (on his own, his rate would have tripled). Now, he can get to and from work and school, visit his daughter in Encini-tas or his son in Riverside. “The car makes a big differ-ence in allowing me to accomplish the goals that I want to accomplish,” said Martinez, who hopes to reopen a wheelchair-repair business he owned in the ‘90s. Ways to Work participants must be employed or in school and complete financial education courses to improve and sustain good credit. “This program has been a blessing for me,” said Martinez, one of the first to be approved in San Diego. “It brought me together with my kids.”

A dozen years ago, Alicia Ortiz escaped an abusive husband and lived in a shelter with her four kids for four months. While there, she took every financial literacy class she could, learned to drive, filed for divorce, got her immigration papers and eventually proved she could support herself without public assistance. First, she worked the graveyard shift, stocking grocery store shelves in the middle of the night. At her 7 a.m. break, she had just enough time to bus home, get her kids ready for school, and take the bus back to work. She learned to save money: cutting her kids hair, cook-ing at home, scouring the sales. Alicia put away $100 a month until she saved enough for a downpayment (matched by Community Housing Works) on a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo. Now she works in a paint store, and though she lives just above the poverty line, she is proud to own her own home. Little by little, she reached her goal of financial independence. “Being a single mom and making so little money, I thought it was not a possibility for me,” she says. “But I just had to push through.”

WAYS TO WORK

An innovative economic empowerment program that provides financial education and short-term, affordable loans to working families with challenging credit histories. By purchasing a reliable pre-owned vehicle, participants remain employed or in school and improve their lives. Developing money-management skills helps increase credit scores and support future stability. We’ve partnered with the Leichtag Founda-tion to fund Jewish Family Service and Community Resource Center, who are imple-menting the program.

COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS

Over the past year we’ve hosted 20 community conversations around the topic of health with hundreds of county residents and conducted over 30 expert interviews with professionals in the field. We talked with a diverse group of community members and learned about their concerns. Recurrent themes include limited access to healthy food and affordable, quality care and difficulty navigating a complicated system, especially for specialty or mental health care. Sign up for our e-news or subscribe to our blog to stay updated on our work in Health.

CONVOYS TO COMPUTERS

An internship program training returning combat veterans and wounded warriors to transition into mid-level IT positions, providing pathways for advance-ment. Skills development includes resume-writing, customer service and job placement. Subscribe to our blog to learn more.

COMMUNITY IMPACT PROGRESS REPORT | JANUARY 2013

HERE’S WHAT’S NEW

CITY HEIGHTS PARTNERSHIP FOR CHILDREN

A collaboration of residents, non-profits, philanthropies, businesses, and government organizations aligned on a common goal: to provide a network of supports for City Heights youth from cradle to college and career. This holistic approach, known as “collective impact,” is led by Price Charities, United Way, The California Endowment, and the San Diego Unified School District, with support from other involved partners. Learn more.

SAN DIEGO MILITARY FAMILY COLLABORATIVE

This group of agencies came together to support military families. It started with 4 agencies and has blossomed into a robust network of 200 nonprofits that meet to address military culture, needs and trends.