The Town of Palm Beach United Way

Help Families become financially stable and independent

Key Facts

• 3.5 million full-time workers earned less than poverty level wages.
• 1 in 3 households use credit cards to cover basic living expenses - including rent, mortgage payments, groceries, utilities and insurance.
• The personal savings rate in 2006 (as a percentage of disposable income) was a negative 1%, the lowest in 73 years.
• 10-23% of lower-income households do not have a bank account and are without access to mainstream financial institutions and services.
• 1/3 of households have zero or negative net financial assets, and half of households have less than $1,000 in net financial 
  assets.
• 1 in 3 households with income less than $35,000 run out of food before they have money to buy more.
• On any given day, there are 800,000 Americans, including 200,000 children, who are homeless.

• Financial literacy programs that teach families how to budget, build savings and manage money.
• Training to help people find and keep jobs that pay a living wage.
• Increasing affordable housing for seniors and families.
• Increase food distribution to families living at or below the federal poverty level.
• Help families in breaking the cycle of homelessness by addressing the causes of the problem.

Improve people's mental and physical health

key facts

• Today, more than 33% of children and adolescents are overweight or obese.
• The number of Americans without health insurance has increased steadily since the beginning of the century, now totaling about 47 million. Nearly 9 million of these are children, and more than 8 out of 10 are from working families.
• 13% of persons over the age of 65 and almost 50% of persons over the age of 85 have Alzheimer's disease.
• More than 8 in 10 of the nonelderly uninsured live in families where the head of the familiy works.

your investment provides opportunities such as:

• Health education and prevention services to ensure that children and adults stay healthy.
• Programs that provide advocacy, education, research and program support for mental health issues.
• Senior day programs that create environments for social interactions, medical monitoring, and therapeutic activities.
• Reducing substance abuse by offering after school based and community preventative programs.

Help children, youth and adults achieve thier full potential

key facts

• 46% of kindergarteners start school behind.
• Some 7 of 10 fourth graders can't read at grade level.
• Nearly 1 in 3 students in high school today won't graduate.
• 80 to 90 million adults, about half of the workforce, do not have the basic education and communication skills to advance in jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage.

your investment provides opportunities such as:

• Early childhood education programs that prepare children for school.
• After-school and mentoring programs that encourage youth to advance in school.
• Community programs that promote leadership skills for children of all ages.
• Long-term mentoring, case management and academic workshops that offer full-time college scholarships to high school seniors.
• Adult education and parenting classes that strengthen families.