Building the Economic Security of Working Families: A 10-Year Look Back

CFED releases the Assets & Opportunities Profile for Dallas. It reveals that 39 percent of Dallas’ households are living in or at risk of asset poverty. The study also finds that 68 percent of Dallas residents have subprime credit scores and more than half of low-income residents do not have health insurance, placing them at financial risk in the event of a medical crisis.

More than 300 nonprofits, funders, and members of the media respond to a press release about the Assets & Opportunities Profile for Dallas, resulting in multiple stories and editorials, including articles in The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Business Journal, and the Dallas Observer, and on the local NBC affiliate. The report is also presented to a group of 30 legislators from city, county, state, and federal offices.

Based on the interest around the study, CFT convenes more than 200 nonprofits to give them the opportunity to dive deeper into its data.

CFT launches the Data Driven Decision-Making Institute (D3), an initiative that provides training and capacity-building support to 46 local nonprofit agencies that serve low-income working people and their families. During the immersive nine-month D3 program, CFT trains agencies to use data to enhance their programming and service to create deeper, sustainable impact for their clients.

CFT and other foundations launch a regional chapter of the Asset Funders Network, called the North Texas Funder’s Forum. Members include private, public, corporate, and community foundations, public-sector funders, and financial institutions who want to help North Texans reach sustainable economic stability. Together, the organizations share programs and strategies, gather knowledge for more effective grantmaking efforts, and work to increase investments in asset building.

The North Texas Funder’s Forum launches a series of four learning events to be held in 2012 and 2013 and focus on increasing the knowledge of both funders and program executors. More than 40 grant makers and 175 nonprofit practitioners attend the events that target information about economic mobility, what it takes to survive and thrive financially in Texas, financial capability, and financial coaching.

D3 concludes, and the nonprofits who participated in the program call it a game changer. “It made a change in my life and it made me more valuable as a team member,” said Jane Waters, director of operations for Healing Hands, a community-based medical and dental clinic that participated in D3. As a result of participating in D3, several agencies invested in hiring new staff or provided professional development for current staff members with a primary focus on data and evaluation. Agencies also invested in systems for reporting and measuring outcomes of their work, and implemented evaluation tools to provide a better understanding of their clients’ perspectives of their programs.

CFT gives seven agencies participating in the WFS program that are ready to implement an integrated service model for their clients $75,000 for technical assistance toward implementation. CFT also gives six agencies one-year grants ranging from $11,000 to $25,000 to support them in building capacity to expand the financial services programs they offer.

Prosperity Now (formerly CFED) produces the 2018 Assets & Opportunity Profile, an updated financial snapshot of the city of Dallas, Dallas County, and North Texas, and an examination of trends in the financial security of residents since 2012, when CFT first began to address the issue. The 2018 report, published by CFT, JP Morgan Chase, and Prosperity Now, showed a community marked by widespread financial insecurity, high levels of asset poverty and subprime credit, and huge disparities in the economic conditions among Dallas households of color.

The DFW Workforce Collaborative adds one year of targeted technical assistance to interested organizations to target specific data collection and performance challenges, such as employer engagement and participant follow-up and retention. The agencies participate in quarterly peer learning forums.

CFT and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas launch Dollars for College in partnership with the Lancaster Independent School District. The program is designed to provide low-income families with a safe, easy-to-access, trusted, and low-cost opportunity to build savings for their child’s future post-secondary education. As part of the launch, Dollars for College accounts were opened for every participating kindergarten student in the Lancaster school district. The accounts were seeded with $50, and linked to a student’s individual 529 account, set up by the parents.

CFT, JPMorgan Chase, and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas announce the inaugural class of a new program designed to improve local economic opportunity and mobility efforts and create innovative solutions to the challenges faced by workers and businesses called the Dallas Economic Opportunity Leadership Academy. It is a 12-month fellowship developed through a partnership with the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program and Corporation for a Skilled Workforce and is designed to strengthen the local network of non-profit, government, academic and business leaders through a series of retreats and workshops that will introduce the participating Fellows to new tools and strategies.

CFT invites recognized leaders from high-performing agencies to officially form the WFS Advisory Council. In exchange for their two-year commitment, CFT provides honorariums to Catholic Charities Dallas, City Square, Metrocrest, and Women’s Center of Tarrant County.

CFT partners with United Way of Metropolitan Dallas to launch the Collin County Nonprofit Leadership Institute with an initial cohort of 12 nonprofit organizations based in Collin County. The goal of the effort is to help nonprofits address pressing needs for Collin County residents. Each of the 12 nonprofits receives capacity-building grants of $5,000 and attend monthly sessions focused on program leadership, staff training, and board engagement.