Family Self-Sufficiency

Imagine being a single parent caring for two children. Imagine working 40 hours a week at a minimum-wage job which results in earning about $14,400 a year. Imagine having to pay for healthcare, food, transportation, and child care, along with renting a one bedroom apartment that costs more than 30% of your monthly income. According to the federal definition of affordable housing, this does not qualify as affordable, but unfortunately it is the most reasonable rent you could find. There is no other choice; the only other option is to move back in with an abusive spouse. Unfortunately, this scenario is oh sotypical! It is possible that all it would take to make this family homeless is missing one month’s rent, due to a missed week of work, or an unforeseen, necessary medical expense, or a car repair. The working poor in Southern California live paycheck to paycheck—they are living on the brink of disaster.  

Since Change a Life Foundation’s inception in 1999, the median cost of a home in California has risen from $270,081 to $643,780. While the rise in housing prices has been astronimical, minimum wage has, in the same amount of time, risen much more slowly from $6.25 to only $7.50. This incongruent relationship between income and cost of living places a burden on many residents of California. In order to afford housing in a one or two bedroom apartment, morethan minimum wage is required. The gap between the rich and poor is astounding, and often ignored. In addition, families who have faced unfortunate catastrophic life events, families with a member who has a disability, or families who are in a real crisis situation, are unable to pay for the essential items they need to take steps toward self sufficiency and to  move forward in life. For low-income families, life is in a downward spiral—often out of control.   

Change a Life Foundation recognizes the hardship these families are facing, and has a genuine desire to assist those who are in need of a safe place to live or the tools and job training they may need to attain self sufficiency. In 2006, the Foundation provided the last dollars needed to complete eleven Habitat for Humanity homes. Funding was provided for 12 service dogs assist individuals with their daily living activities and allowed many to attend college or to work from home. Burn survivors were given the opportunity to attend the World Burn Congress and began to learn how to cope with their scars. Gas cards and bus passes were distributed to 155 families with limited transportation options so that they were able to work and go to school.  Heating/Air Conditioning  and an updated electrical system was provided to a young family with a medically fragile baby so that they were able to care for her at home, Childcare assistance was granted to a working parent who couldn’t afford to pay rent and childcare for the first few months after she started a new job.  Gang tattoos were removed for a young man who had renounced his gang and, because of the tattoos,  wasn’t able to get a decent job to support his wife and child.

These examples reflect only a few of the ways that Foundation was able to assist 66 individuals through $363,020 in grants. All of grant recipients live at or below HUD low income guidelines and face life’s most difficult challenges. The Foundation provides grants to instill hope and to move these families further towards greater self sufficiency in their lives.