Making Housing More Accessible

The cost of living is 71% higher in San Francisco than in the rest of the U.S. Rising costs of food, gas, and other essentials make it increasingly difficult to get by. 

United Way of the Bay Area has pioneered innovative solutions: one-stop centers that help struggling families meet their basic needs, increase income and savings, build credit, and reduce debt. At United Way’s SparkPoint Centers, financial coaches work one-on-one with clients to set goals, brainstorm strategies, and map out realistic action plans.

Services are free, including credit and debt counseling/repair, budgeting, financial planning, tax prep, job skills training, job search assistance, career development, education counseling. Centers also have a food pantry, benefits screening, rental assistance, connection to housing resources and homeownership assistance. Each SparkPoint Center is a collaborative of multiple nonprofit and government entities working together in a single location to make it easy for families to access services.

To date, SparkPoint Centers have:

• Served 29,152 low-income families in the Bay Area
• Helped 80 percent of them improve income, credit, savings and reduced debt after enrolling in SparkPoint
• Empowered 62 percent to achieve their own financial goals