SOCAHOC Housing Community Forum
Creating Healthy and Sustainable Communities
ORANGE COUNTY UNITED WAY
Established in 1924 as Santa Ana Community Chest
1960s: Seventeen independent United Ways and
United Funds in Orange County begin to merge
1984: All local United Ways merged into one entity:
Orange County United Way
Mission: To improve lives by mobilizing the caring
power of Orange County to strengthen OUR
community
UNITED WAY’S EVOLUTION…
FROM
Supporting a Family of Agencies
TO
Supporting Needed Programs Based on
Community Assessment and Program Outcomes
TO
Mobilizing to Change Community Conditions
BACKGROUND
 With our Board’s endorsement, United Way engaged
in a strategic planning process beginning in May 2012
 Four Board-level Committees were established
focused on: Education, Income, Health and Housing
 A 6-month Committee and community stakeholder
engagement process was held
 Look at other successful national models developed
by United Way organizations
UNIQUE AND EXPANDED ROLES
FUND innovative and effective programs
ADVOCATE for program and policy improvement
COLLABORATE to create Collective Impact
EDUCATE the broader Orange County community
FACE 2024 GUIDING PRINCIPLES
1. Education, Income, Health & Housing are all
Inextricably Intertwined
2. Focus on Children and Families
3. Improve Family Self-Sufficiency
4. Emphasize Prevention and Early Intervention
5. Build Public Awareness
6. Long-Term Commitment
EDUCATION
INCOME
HEALTH
HOUSING
Our Aspiration:
Ensure that every
Orange County
youth receives a
high quality and
relevant education
Our Aspiration:
Ensure local
families have the
capability to
become
financially stable
Our Aspiration:
Ensure the next
generation in
Orange County
is the healthiest
in the nation
Our Aspiration:
Eliminate
homelessness for
children and their
families
10-Year Goal:
Cut the high school
dropout rate in half
(from 9.5% to 5%)
10-Year Goal:
Cut the % of
financially
unstable families
by 25%
10-Year Goal:
Increase by 1/3
the # of healthy
youth in Orange
County
10-Year Goal:
Cut the % of
homeless and
housing insecure
children in half
POVERTY IN ORANGE COUNTY
Official Poverty Measure
California Poverty Measure
12.8%
24.3%*
As calculated for Orange County by Stanford and Public Policy Institute of California
EDUCATION
Over 4,000 students drop out of
high school each year
By 2018, 60% of jobs will require
post secondary education
ECONOMIC IMPACT
Compared to a high school dropout, a single high
school graduate yields a public benefit of over
$200,000 in lower government spending and higher
tax revenues
Over 4,000 Orange County high school students will
drop out this year
Fiscal impact: $800 Million!
INCOME
More than 300,000 or 11.7%
below the “Official” Poverty Level
Largest employment growth in the
lower wage industries (e.g. hotel,
restaurant and healthcare
clusters)
HEALTH
226,000 residents are “food
insecure”
More than 1/3 of our youth
are overweight or obese
1 of every 6 Orange County
residents is uninsured (as of 11/13)
HOUSING
More than 12,700 face homelessness annually,
and on any given night, almost 4,300 people are
homeless
Over 1,300 children live in motels
Over 30,542 students are considered homeless
or housing insecure
Affording a one bedroom apartment on
minimum wage would require 124 hours of
work per week
HOUSING- LOCAL 211 CALLERS WITHIN 1 YEAR
Nearly 400 Veterans seeking housing
5,211 people seeking transitional housing shelters
Nearly 5,000 requests for rental payment assistance
1,800+ requests for motel vouchers
1600+ seeking cold weather shelters
4,000+ in need of utilities payment assistance
WHO NEEDS AFFORDABLE HOUSING?
Recent College Graduates
Teachers
Construction workers
Police and Firefighters
Nurses and Medical and Dental Assistants
Receptionists
Food Service Personnel
Small Business Owners
IMPACT OF HOMELESS & HOUSING INSECURITY
Home ownership is unattainable for nearly 1/2 of
Orange County households
High housing costs mean fewer resources are
available for things like food, medical care,
education or childcare
Being forced into double and triple occupancies,
leads to high-stress living situations, affecting
health, safety and children’s school work
HOUSING SOLUTIONS
“Rapid re-housing” strategy moves people into
permanent housing as quickly as possible and
improves access to affordable, permanent housing,
lessens the burden on shelters and helps residents
retain their dignity
Affordable apartment housing, defined as spending
30% or less of total income on rent
FUNDING GOALS & STRATEGIES
 Act as an Independent Backbone
Organization
 Coordinated Assessment & Centralized
Intake System
 Hire a Housing Resource Specialist
 Support Rapid Re-Housing Programs
 Support Homelessness Prevention
ADVOCACY GOALS & STRATEGIES
 Support housing policies to end homelessness and
increase affordable housing
 Develop affordable housing advocacy plan with local
advocacy groups
 Establishing partnerships with local public housing
authorities to allocate housing choice vouchers
 Work with apartment associations and communities
to endorse Rapid-Re-housing
COLLABORATION GOALS & STRATEGIES
 Work with partners to problem solve on
affordability and availability of housing inventory
 Convene a coalition of stakeholders to support 10year housing goal
 Evaluate homeless data to ensure efficient and
effective service delivery and development of a
Coordinated Assessment & Centralized Intake
EDUCATION GOALS & STRATEGIES
 Commission a cost study/countywide report on the
cost of homelessness
 Develop volunteer engagement opportunities to
educate corporate partners
 Provide technical assistance for retooling/
repurposing transitional housing stock to
permanent supportive housing or Rapid
Re-Housing
CREATE HEALTHY, SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
United Way’s focus is to provide
leadership and funding to drive
collective impact on family
homelessness and affordable
housing solutions in Orange County
COLLECTIVE IMPACT:
UNITING AROUND A COMMON GOAL
 Communities working together to solve problems
 Structured form of collaboration
 Coordinate efforts to work toward a defined goal
 Cross-sector coalition are required to make
meaningful changes
5 CONDITIONS OF COLLECTIVE IMPACT
COLLECTIVE IMPACT IS WORKING
Shape Up Somerville, MA significantly reduced
childhood obesity within 3 years
 So. Urban Seattle is on track to double the number
of students on track to graduate with a
postsecondary degree or credential by 2020
Franklin County, MA reduced substance abuse
alcohol (37%) Marijuana (31%) for teens in 30 towns
United Ways across the country are using the model
THANK YOU!