At United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona, we work to ensure that every individual in our community can pursue financial wellness.

What is financial wellness? We think of it as five components - asking five questions:

• Can a household cover their basic needs?

• Do they have savings for emergencies, retirement, and education?

• Can they make informed financial decisions for themselves and their families by using financial skills?

• Can they pursue wealth-building opportunities such as homeownership, entrepreneurship, or further education?

• Do they have a voice in civic and community resource decisions, particularly funding and policies?

Our efforts are focused on building up the availability, awareness, accessibility, and quality of financial wellness resources and programs for everyone in our community.

Financial Wellness December Snapshots

December found the Financial Wellness team working on the HUD Choice neighborhoods plan with the City of Tucson, brainstorming public budget education projects after Matthew Desmond's talk, celebrating our partner Tucson IDA's AVANZA Fund, and more!

Your Financial Future Fair - Saturday 1/27

Our Financial Empowerment Collaborative is gearing up for the inaugural “Your Financial Future Fair” – a morning of free workshops, resources, and activities focused on financial empowerment, homeownership, and small business support for local families.

The fair will be Saturday, January 27^th, 9am-1pm at the United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona Resource campus (330 N Commerce Park Loop, #200), using a mixture of our indoor and outdoor space. Attendees will have the chance to sit in on brief workshops in English and Spanish on topics such as budgeting, credit, and cybersecurity, and a number of local organizations will be on-site to offer information and 1:1 sessions related to their financial empowerment programs. We will also have free onsite tax intakes from VITA, EITC info from the IRS, activities for kids (excited to have Ready Set Rec!), free food, and raffle items. See you soon!

RSVP for the fair here: https://unitedwaytucson.org/financial-fair/

Crowd-Sourced Resources

For Individuals/Families:

TUSD HEART: The HEART team works with TUSD families who may be displaced or living in a shelter, motel, campground, car, or doubled-up with others. Support for pre-K children may be available as well.

TUSD Emergency Housing Support: If any TUSD family finds themselves in a position where their house is unavailable, they can now apply for Emergency Housing Support (EHS). The EHS program can be used by TUSD families once per school year and it will provide a four-day/three-night stay at one of the five EHS hotel partners. Families may also receive gas cards and internet connection

Arizona Rental Assistance Program (ARAP): Arizona Rental Assistance alleviates housing instability for eligible low income seniors and families with children. Eligible households may receive a lump-sum assistance payment equal to three (3) times the household’s monthly rent, not to exceed $10,500. Program benefits may be used to cover rental arrears, future rent, and rent late fees and penalties.

For Programs/Nonprofits:

City of Tucson Accepting Applications for Economic & Workforce Development and Special Events Grants: The City of Tucson has issued a Request for Proposals for the fiscal year 2024-25 Economic and Workforce Development and Special Events Grants. Respondents must be Tucson-serving nonprofit organizations intending to fund workforce development programs, or special events, between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025. Contracts awarded by the Mayor & Council for fiscal year 2024 may automatically renew under the same terms for fiscal year 2025. Proposals are due March 8, 2024 at 4:00 p.m.

The Office of Economic Initiatives will be hosting an informational pre-submittal meeting (not mandatory) on January 17, 2024 at City Hall’s first floor conference room.