Approximately 40,000 of the 135,000 Blount County residents are ALICE, including a majority of seniors and young adults. Our local United Way states, “For many families, the cost of living outpaces what they earn. These households struggle to match even their most basic needs – housing, food, transportation, healthcare, and necessary technology.” Recognizing that a family’s long-term stability begins with access to stable housing shows that, without help, an unanticipated financial crisis could lead to family poverty and dependence.

They propose a three-tiered, integrated intervention strategy aligning our current programs and recent EMPath grant experiences:
Tier 1. Emergency Assistance Coaching Professional Development. Enhance coaches’ professional development knowledge and skills as they annually serve 1,000 families. Phase I will assess the coach’s knowledge and skills needs, design a new professional development curriculum, and ultimately train each coach in Phase II.
Tier 2. I’M IN Budgeting for Growth Train-the-Trainer (Curriculum and Instruction)
Develop a train-the-trainer model for family budget facilitators using an external consultant with relevant curriculum and teaching experience.
Tier 3. Intensive Mentoring Facilitation
Reconstitute their mobility mentor program, adding 10 participants annually in Phase II to this 18-month intensive one-on-one mentoring and enhanced financial support toward self-sufficiency. This enables stable housing, higher education, higher monthly income, and/or reduced debt.