Thousands of families are still struggling and do not have the financial reserves to weather the economic impacts of COVID-19. Across our region, families are forced to make difficult choices between paying for rent, healthcare, utilities, and more.

This year, you can make a difference for families on the edge of becoming houseless. 

In Oregon alone, an estimated 89,000 households have fallen behind on rent, with families owing upwards of $378 million in back rent due to COVID-19* 

You can help families make one less difficult choice between paying for rent or healthcare, making their car payment or paying for electricity. Your donation to United Way’s Resilient Families Initiative will provide supportive housing services, prioritizing families of color with the highest risk of being displaced and divert them from becoming houseless. 

Through nonprofit partners across our four counties (Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington Counties, OR and Clark County, WA), UWCW will provide rent and utilities assistance so vulnerable families can remain stably housed. 

Your gift will help families like Lexy, her husband, and their two children, 10-year-old Aiden and three-year-old Peyton. 

As Clark County, WA went into lockdown in March 2020, the family dropped down to one income. Lexy made a decent wage as a manager of a local restaurant, but as the pandemic worsened her hours were cut. When a coworker was exposed to COVID-19, Lexy missed out on an entire paycheck while the restaurant closed for the mandatory waiting period. The loss of that one paycheck forced the family down a path of having to choose which bills to pay and where they would need to default.  

Moms like Lexy are doing everything they can during this pandemic to keep their family above water financially and meet their basic needs. But they can’t do it alone. It starts with YOU.

Make a gift today to build a more inclusive and equitable region where all families have the resources and opportunities to thrive.

Download and share this document for more information on the Resilient Families Initiative

* According to a report by Portland State University’s Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative.