At United Way of Southeast Mississippi, we want everyone in our communities to have an opportunity to grow their livelihoods so that they can thrive.
52% of the households in Forrest, Lamar, Marion and Perry counties live below the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) threshold, creating barriers to economic opportunity and growth for over 30,000 households. To help families succeed we focus on:
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Life- and Job-Skill Preparation | We support programs placing people on a path to self-sustainment.
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Asset Building | We provide pathways to affordable housing and advocate for policy change benefiting low-income households.
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Access to Financial Products | We educate about risks for predatory lending and provide resources for low-to-no fee banking.
Our Economic Mobility initiatives:
Economic Mobility partners:
Christian Services provides financial training and assistance for individuals who have a desire to empower themselves to transition out of poverty.
Habitat for Humanity of the Pine Belt
Habitat for Humanity addresses the need for adequate housing in our area by offering people the life-changing opportunity of homeownership.
Additional Economic Mobility Partners
The United Way Economic Mobility Council is comprised of advocates from the nonprofit, government, banking, and community college sectors and works together to create solutions to complex problems our neighbors face.
Who is ALICE?
An acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, is a new way of defining and understanding the struggles of households that earn above the Federal Poverty Level, but not enough to afford a bare-bones household budget.
For far too many families, the cost of living is more than what they earn. These households struggle to manage even their most basic needs--housing, food, transportation, child care, health care and necessary technology.
When funds run short, cash-strapped households are forced to make impossible choices, such as deciding between quality child care or paying the rent, filling a prescription or fixing the car. These short-term decisions have long-term consequences not only for ALICE families, but for all of us.
"I am so happy there is now a program that recognizes people like me. Because people like us are forgotten about. Me, myself, I'm not asking to be rich, I'm just asking for a little help....There are a lot of us people who get up and go to work who still need help."
- Stacey Bradley, Hattiesburg ALICE
To learn more about ALICE in Mississippi, visit ms.unitedway.org/alice.