The Financial Resiliency Task Force (FRTF) is focused on closing the racial wealth gap in Greater Charlottesville by eliminating barriers to financial stability for historically marginalized and economically underrepresented families. 9 core nonprofit partners identify systems-level issues that affect an individual or family’s ability to thrive economically, coordinate services to maximize impact, consolidate overlaps for efficient use of community resources, and share data to improve service delivery and reduce friction for client recipients.
By Summer 2027, the FRTF aims to collaborate with 650 families of color in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County (or, 130 families per year) to help them improve their financial standing, as measured by a Financial Resiliency Matrix developed by the partners.
- A family living in Charlottesville or Albemarle County.
- A family or individual in a household that struggles financially, working and earning less than 300% of the Federal Poverty level, adjusted by household size. Examples: children eligible for free and reduced lunch, a family of 4 earning less than $93,600/year, a family of 3 earning less than $77,460/ year, a family of 2 earning less than $61,320/ year, an individual earning less than $45,180/ year.
- May be eligible for SNAP benefits but earns enough to no longer be eligible for the safety net of social service benefits.
- In the age range of 18-64, without health conditions that could prevent them from improving financially.
- Likely employed in service-related industries like childcare, grocers, cashiers, cleaning/landscaping or home health care, and jobs at our community’s largest employers- food service, housekeeping, or maintenance.
- Earns hourly wages and may not have access to benefits such as retirement and health insurance.
- Has a credit score of less than 700 or no credit score.
- May have a debt ratio greater than 40% due to the lack of access to affordable loans.
What will I be required to do?
If approved for participation in the FRTF referral network, individuals will sign an agreement that includes sharing household income, credit score, and other demographic information for a period of three years that will include an annual survey to assess progress in the FRTF referral network. Tracking this data over 3 years will allow the FRTF to demonstrate that this work is providing real solutions to individuals and families in achieving financial stability. Tracking this data will allow the FRTF to identify gaps in services exposed using this collaborative approach.
How is this different from other programs?
The FRTF is a one-of-a-kind collaborative effort tailored to meet families wherever they are and build a customized pathway to achieve financial stability. The network referral program designed for this taskforce approach will ensure individuals are central in receiving program support. By serving black families exclusively, long-standing disparities will be addressed using a data-driven approach that will expose the economic barriers that ultimately will lead to a targeted approach to reducing generational poverty. We look forward to sharing our success over the next 5 years to demonstrate there is a way to collaborate and make a difference for individuals and families most impacted by poverty in our community.
FRTF Partners
- City of Promise
- Community Investment Collaborative
- Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville
- Monticello Area Community Action Agency
- Network2Work@PVCC
- New Hill Development Corporation
- Piedmont Housing Alliance
- Uhuru Foundation
- United Way of Greater Charlottesville