Financial Stability

Envision's Financial Stability Focus

Envision Goal #1: Help lift 1,800 families—including at least 630 Black families—out of poverty in Thomas Jefferson Planning District (TJPD) by 2027.

Though ENVISION is an initiative of UWGC, at its essence is the awareness that our community’s most pressing challenges can only be resolved through a unified response across our social impact sector. In 2019, UWGC convened Charlottesville’s Financial Resiliency Task Force (FRTF) to make a significant impact on poverty through collaboration and coordination of partner services. Working together, FRTF partners provide a network of niche services—financial coaching, job training, childcare, early education opportunities, and access to capital to finance stable housing and reliable transportation—to remove barriers impacting the financial stability of individuals and families.

UWGC will accomplish Goal 1 in partnership with members of Charlottesville’s Financial Resiliency Task Force (FRTF), a collaboration of nine core organizations serving the Greater Charlottesville community. FRTF members share a commitment to providing coordinated services and eliminating barriers to enable economically-disadvantaged individuals and families to achieve financial stability— with a focus on Black families, given the disproportionate impact of poverty on the Black community. UWGC serves as the centralized organizer of responsibilities for the work of FRTF. This includes procuring technology and staff infrastructure to manage the initiative; tracking and evaluating progress metrics; ensuring accountability for continued delivery of services; implementing course corrections with client financial resiliency plans; and achievement of key milestones program-wide.

The FRTF Approach

Shared Data Collection and Tracking, Measurement, and Evaluation

A robust data management system has been designed to capture, track, and share metrics between partner organizations. The system builds on a framework established by PVCC Network2Work to connect jobseekers to employment opportunities. UWGC modified capabilities to expand the detail collected and increase the number of participating organizations that contribute and access data, enabling partners to accurately monitor shared clients, and adjust services.

Client 3-Year Commitment

All participants in FRTF programs commit to a minimum three years and must be willing to provide personal data transparency around financial metrics during this timeframe.

Personal Support for Families

Assigned FRTF partners take the lead in working with each client family to map out and refine service delivery needs, providing individualized guidance and support throughout. This holistic coordination of services places families at the center: clients select their path to success; partners share data to provide
a more targeted and scalable approach for client services.

Targeted Client Populations to Ensure Success

A focus serving families who earn less than a “survival income” of $45,000, will empower candidates most likely to achieve financial independence. The survival income is based on a household with one parent and two children (including one toddler). Annual expenses include food ($6,345), clothing ($1,090), shelter ($15,192), utilities ($2,659) and unplanned expenses ($5,057), totaling $30,342. Additionally, childcare ($13,520), and transportation ($2,588) bring baseline income needs to $46,450.

Prevent Overlapping Services

Improved communication between FRTF partners prevents duplication of overlapping services, while identifying gaps in services provided.