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A female presenting individual seated looking to be helped by some sort of customer service agent of the Free Tax Help program.

A Tax Refund Changed Stephanie’s Future. Your Donation Can make a difference.

When you give to United Way Bay Area, you help fund our programs like Free Tax Help, so families can keep more of what they earn and build financial stability.

Donate to United Way Bay Area Today!

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About United Way Bay Area: Fighting Poverty & Building Equitable Pathways

At United Way Bay Area (UWBA), we believe the Bay Area is at its best when everyone has equal opportunities and resources to thrive. Every day, local families face impossible choices: rent or groceries, medicine or childcare, gas or the power bill. We help make those choices possible. UWBA connects people to short term needs like food, housing, and job support, while also fighting for long-term systems changes so fewer people end up in crisis in the first place. We’re neighbors helping neighbors, mobilizing the Bay Area to dismantle the root causes of poverty and build equitable pathways to prosperity.

Welcome!

What Does Poverty in the Bay Area Look Like?

Try Our “Real Life, Real Choices, Real Impact” Digital Experience

Step into the daily decisions thousands of Bay Area families face. This interactive experience shows how housing, food, childcare, and transportation choices add up—and why so many neighbors fall short even while working hard. Explore the real tradeoffs behind poverty and discover how community support can create lasting stability.

You’ll have to make tough choices. Can you make it through?

A mother holding their child into the air.

The Scenario

You are a family of four: yourself, your partner, and your two children, ages 3 and 10. You live in San Francisco.

You and your partner both earn San Francisco’s minimum wage of $19.18/hour

Your family’s combined annual income is $75,000

You will make the best decision you can with the information you have. Study your choices and invest your credits depending on what is most important to your family.

The Rules

You will have a Credit Bank that represents your monthly budget.

Each month you will need to:

Decide how to spend it and what your priorities are.
Make a choice in each category, spending the desired number of credits indicating your spending choices.

After you submit, you cannot go back and change your choices.

Reflection

What values do you see reflected in your choices?

Where did you allocate three credits?

What was the hardest category to budget?

Recap

These are the choices you made:

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

Take a moment to reflect. You may move on shortly.

Reflection

What category did you choose to make sacrifices in your budget?

Do you know where you can go for short-term assistance?

What other impacts may need to be considered due to this challenge?

Recap

These are your choices up to this point:

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

Take a moment to reflect. You may move on shortly.

Reflection

Where did you remove 2 credits from your budget?

Did your priorities change in what you valued?

If you had the chance to change your original choice, would you?

Recap

These are your choices up to this point:

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

Take a moment to reflect. You may move on shortly.

Reflection

Where did you remove 2 credits from your budget?

Did your priorities change in what you valued?

If you had the chance to change your original choice, would you?

Recap

These are your choices up to this point:

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

Take a moment to reflect. You may move on shortly.

This is Who We Help

Throughout this experience, you’ve had to make difficult decisions that no one should have to face. You held onto your {basic needs category} standard of living for {number of rounds} before you budged. Longer than the other categories. You started with {comfortable choice 1} but had to settle for {limited choice 1}. You also went from {comfortable choice 2} to {limited choice 2}.

For many of our neighbors, these tradeoffs aren’t just hypothetical—they are daily realities. Families are forced to decide between groceries or rent, child care or transportation, healthcare or keeping the lights on. The stress of these decisions can be overwhelming and, too often, the options never feel like enough. This is the reality United Way Bay Area works to change. Through our programs like SparkPoint™, 211, Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP), and Housing Justice, we help families move from surviving to thriving—so they no longer have to choose between their basic needs.

No one should have to live this way

Convenient

Limited

Difficult

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

But There is Hope

You visited a SparkPoint Center and applied for CalFresh. You can add $250 to your monthly income to cover food. You also received $500 in rent relief.

From Difficult to Possible

Convenient

Limited

Difficult

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

Be Part of the Solution

People experience situations like these are who we, at United Way Bay Area, strive to help!

You’ve just seen how hard it can be for Bay Area families to get by. United Way Bay Area is fighting to change that—every day, with your support.

Go 100% of the way, sign up for our updates to learn more, share your story, or get involved in our movement to fight poverty.

Financial Choices Were Made…

You have already made budgetary decisions. The money was spent.

As happens in life, past financial decisions often cannot be undone. Instead, we must make do with those decisions and adapt accordingly. It’s part of the challenge of living in the Bay Area.

Completing the experience will allow you to remake previous choices.

Recap

This is where you left off:

Housing

Food

Healthcare

Childcare

Transportation

Technology

Where Will You Spend Your Budget?

Remember, once you allocate your budget and move on, there is no turning back.

Your Credit Bank

You have 15 credits left.

Your Credit Bank

You have 2 credits left.

Understanding Poverty: A Five-Part Series on Reality, Impact & Action

overty isn’t simply a lack of income—it’s a barrier to opportunity, stability and dignity in the Bay Area and beyond. In this five-blog series from United Way Bay Area, we break down what poverty really is (and isn’t), how it’s defined in our region, where it shows up in everyday life, who is affected and why it matters, and finally—what it will take to end it. Explore the full story to deepen your understanding, build empathy, and become part of the solution.

Explore more Blogs

A pair of hands on a desk with an open wallet and coins scattered.

What is Poverty? (And What It’s Not)

An individual seated on the floor with papers scattered, a calculator, and an empty open wallet.

How Poverty Is Defined in they Bay Area

A female presenting individual holding a very young child looking out a window with a flower on the window sill

What Poverty Looks Like in Our Communities

A collage of faces of various ethnicities and external gender presentations

Who Is Affected by Poverty and Why That Should Matter to You?

An individual holding up a cardboard sign saying'End Poverty Now'

What Does it Take to End Poverty?

a female and male presenting individual holding each other and what appears to be their child.

See the Impact You Made in 2024

From helping 380,000+ neighbors to advancing long-term solutions to poverty, your support made a real difference. Explore the stories, data, and progress in our 2024 Annual Report. Explore the 2024 Annual Report

Connect & Engage with Us on Your Favorite Social Channel

San Francisco Chronicle Op-Ed

In the CEO’s Words: Defending Our Community Safety Net

United Way Bay Area CEO Keisha Browder recently shared a powerful Op-Ed in the San Francisco Chronicle, underscoring why the 211 helpline is a critical lifeline for millions of Californians—and what’s at stake if support for it is weakened. Her piece calls attention to the real consequences for families seeking food, housing, and health resources across our region.

Read the Op-Ed in the San Francisco Chronicle

Stay informed. Stay involved.

Get United Way Bay Area updates and find out how to take action.

OVER 500,000 BAY AREA HOUSEHOLDS STRUGGLE TO MEET BASIC NEEDS

We’re out to change that by building a more equitable Bay Area.

Join Us

Impact Areas: Our Major Areas of Focus in the Fight Against Poverty

Meeting basic needs

Our Basic Needs programs, partnerships, and policy work, support people in our community to meet their basic needs.

Learn more about meeting basic needs

Employment and career opportunities

We believe that access to education and employment opportunities is necessary to ensure that individuals are successful in school and in their careers.

Learn moreabout employment and career opportunities

Financial stability

Our programs address various aspects of financial stability to make sure individuals and families can thrive in their daily lives, reach their goals, and recover from a crisis quickly

Learn More about financial stability

Housing justice

UWBA is deepening our focus on improving access to stable, affordable housing and homelessness prevention resources.

Learn More about housing justice

Meeting basic needs

Our Basic Needs programs, partnerships, and policy work, support people in our community to meet their basic needs.

Learn more about meeting basic needs

Employment and career opportunities

We believe that access to education and employment opportunities is necessary to ensure that individuals are successful in school and in their careers.

Learn moreabout employment and career opportunities

Financial stability

Our programs address various aspects of financial stability to make sure individuals and families can thrive in their daily lives, reach their goals, and recover from a crisis quickly

Learn More about financial stability

Housing justice

UWBA is deepening our focus on improving access to stable, affordable housing and homelessness prevention resources.

Learn More about housing justice

Our Impact

52000000

$52M+ million in tax refunds returned to the community through Free Tax Help

51574

calls and texts answered by our 211 helpline

2521

clients received long-term financial or career coaching through SparkPoint®

What We're Up To

Read our latest blogs, press releases and news.

Case Study: How BMO x United Way Bay Area Partner to "Grow the Good" Through SparkPoint™

Discover how BMO and SparkPoint empower Bay Area residents through financial coaching, resources, and a shared commitment to lasting change.

Learn more

Bay Area housing crisis intensifies: United Way Bay Area reports 118% surge in housing assistance calls over seven year period

Learn more

Fighting to Save Emergency Aid

United Way leaders across the country urge Congress to restore funding for EFSP—a critical safety net for food, shelter, and emergency services.

Read the Open Letter

Stories of Impact

Learn how your gift supports services and programs that change lives in the Bay Area.

Stephanie’s Story: How Free Tax Help Bay Area Transformed Her Financial Path

See how Free Tax Help Bay Area changed Stephanie’s life by securing a vital refund at age 22, supporting her education and family — a compelling example of how community tax assistance builds long-term financial resilience.

Read Stephanie’s Free Tax Help Bay Area success story

How Free Tax Help Bay Area Helped Chau Increase Her Family’s Tax Refund

Explore how Free Tax Help Bay Area empowered Chau, a hardworking single mom, to claim critical tax credits and use her refund for rent, school, and essential expenses — making a measurable difference for her family’s financial stability.

Read Chau’s Free Tax Help Bay Area impact story

Behind the Scenes: What It Means to Volunteer with Free Tax Help Bay Area

Learn what motivates dedicated volunteers like Kevin to serve in Free Tax Help Bay Area, helping local families navigate tax filing, maximize refunds, and reduce financial stress through community-supported tax assistance.

Discover a Free Tax Help Bay Area volunteer story

Get Involved Today!

Give

Help struggling Bay Area residents break the cycle of poverty.

Support the Cause!

Advocate

Take action to break the cycle of poverty.

Your Voice Matters!

Volunteer

Volunteer to dismantle the root causes of poverty and build equitable pathways to prosperity.

Make a Difference!

Connect

Connect with like-minded individuals that want to make a positive impact in the Bay Area.

Connect Today!