40. Community Need Historical and systemic barriers tied to racial and gender inequity lead to disparate resources within Black families, neighborhoods, and communities. Looking at poverty rates by race, Ohio ranks 10th in the nation with 27.5% of Black individuals living in poverty (compared to 10.5% of whites.) Rates increase significantly within urban areas. Per U.S. Census data (July 2022), Dayton’s poverty rate for Black Americans was 28.6%, which is over double Ohio’s rate (13.4%) and the national rate (11.6%.) Women, particularly women of color, are disproportionately affected as they tend to hold jobs in low-paying sectors and bear greater responsibility for caregiving.

2015-2019 ACS data shows that 50.43% of Black households earn between $0-$24,999, compared to 31.72% for white households, while 10.95% of Black households earn over $75,000, compared to 24.87% for white households. Only 22% of Dayton’s workforce has a bachelor’s degree or higher. This is problematic when most jobs are in the Medical, Federal, and Educational sectors, which require advanced degrees or specialized certifications. This gap will continue to be problematic as Dayton moves forward with efforts to bring higher-wage distribution jobs- also likely requiring specialized skills and training to the area. https://www.daytonohio.gov/DocumentCenter/View/14001/2021-2025-City-of-Dayton-Consolidated-Plan

Our programs primarily service families led by Black women ages 18-34 who are impoverished and at-risk due to concentrated and intergenerational poverty in neighborhoods with failing public schools, food deserts, high levels of crime and violence, and a lack of safe and affordable housing. Consequences include food insecurity, inadequate nutrition, unsafe living conditions, and increased risk of violence, incarceration, and victimization. These conditions profoundly impact a child’s physical, mental, and behavioral health and development and fuel the cycle of a child being born in poverty to raising his or her children in poverty.

MVUL is committed to providing innovative and evidence-based solutions to move the needle on generational poverty with an emphasis on thriving wages, business development, and equity. Our Self-Sufficiency and Economic Empowerment Programming utilizes a holistic life-cycle approach and community engagement strategies to disrupt generational poverty on individual and systemic levels:

1. SOAR (Solid Opportunities for Advancement & Retention),our flagship workforce development program, provides a two-week job readiness training for adults (age 18 and older) that introduces skills that are needed to be successful in today’s workforce through
o Provision of life/job skills coaching to eliminate barriers to sustained and stable employment. The curriculum is eight workshops that include goal setting, financial coaching, resume development, effective communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, mock interviews, job search, and professionalism. We continue to support them to eliminate barriers that prevent sustaining stable employment through job and life skills coaching for a year after they complete our training.
o Partnering with educational institutions and employers to provide pathways to careers that support local labor market employment gaps within industries that provide more than a job; they provide a career with wages that allow households to survive and thrive and continually advance in their careers. Using local labor market statistics, these pathways are stackable so that they are realistic and achievable and offer a route from entry-level employment to a sustainable career.
o MVUL's Career Pathways focus on Ohio Targeted Industries of Healthcare, Advanced Manufacturing, Financial Services, Automotive, and Technology industries. We continually work to create training and pathways with other industries specific to Miami Valley.

2. The EMERGE (Educate, Motivate, Elevate, Relate, Gain, Entertain) Youth Program provides high school-aged youth facing barriers to career opportunities with services that assist the youth with making a successful transition to employment, education, or work training. EMERGE is committed to providing high-quality services to youth within low-income environments with career exploration, comprehensive guidance, and counseling with continued support for educational attainment that will lead to in-demand industries and occupations culminating in long-term careers, self-sufficiency, and sustainable employment.

3. Financial Empowerment Coach provides education and coaching to aid participants as they work to achieve stability through 1:1 coaching, hosting Wealth Building Wednesday virtual workshops on different money topics, facilitating Money Circles, support groups that cover savings, debt management, and home ownership preparation, and partnering with financial institutions to offer financial literacy in the EMERGE program.

4. Business Development & Entrepreneurship (BD&E): As a part of the ecosystem to support and sustain black-owned businesses, the BD&E Business Coach aids local businesses with technical assistance, certifications, microgrants, and training to start and/or scale their businesses. In 2023, the City of Dayton awarded MVUL $1.5 million to establish a racial equity fund, create a micro-grant opportunity fund, and assist Black and Brown businesses in making capital investments, as well as community education and long-term capacity building.

5. In collaboration with the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, MVUL was awarded a 2-year federal FCC grant to expand participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program to pursue innovative outreach strategies to reach historically underserved and unserved communities to ensure households have access to and can afford broadband connectivity needed for work, school, healthcare and more.

Our Self-Sufficiency and Economic Empowerment Programming funding request will directly support our SOAR and EMERGE workforce training and career pathway development for adults and youth, including barrier removal for participants to obtain and maintain employment. A critical component of barrier removal is the provision of stipends, scholarships, payment of registration and course fees for pathway certifications, uniforms, and equipment, as well as transportation and childcare support.

The increased financial and economic success and security of our participants will yield positive impacts across multiple sectors and systems. Participants access services to overcome barriers and develop educational and workforce training to improve economic -sufficiency. Area employers needing skilled and available workforce members will have access to a greater pool of in-demand workers. Industries with low rates of minority populations committed to addressing race and gender disparities will be able to advance stated diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. We all thrive when our economy is more robust and individuals have equitable access to education, health care, employment, housing, and other social determinants of health.