United Way of Greater Knoxville Launches Program Dedicated to Helping Low-Income Families Grow Beyond Vulnerabilities and Achieve Self-Sufficiency

January 31, 2023 – Knoxville, Tenn. – The United Way of Greater Knoxville announced today the launch of its innovative $25 million, three-year care coordination program for East Tennessee families. The program, called the East Tennessee Collaborative (ETC), is now accepting referrals and eligible families can apply to be part of the program at http://www.etncollaborative.org. The ETC program is designed to increase economic opportunity pathways, enhance social supports, and help families navigate the pitfalls of the “benefits cliff.”

“Families experience the benefits cliff when circumstances such as a career advancement or a raise at work puts a family above the income eligibility threshold for public assistance programs,” said Kaki Reynolds, Director of the East Tennessee Collaborative. “Due to the loss of these benefits, a family may end up financially worse off than they were before their income increase. This risk deters individuals from career advancement opportunities, as a loss of benefits could be detrimental to their families. This is something we’re actively trying to address in our work over the next three years.”

Using the Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath) model, the ETC will have fifteen “Mobility Mentors” placed in local organizations to walk with families on their journey to self-sufficiency and assist in accessing services and resources. Approximately $15 million of the funds will go to helping families via vouchers and other financial assistance, as well as to nonprofits to help build capacity through new services or to strengthen existing services so that they are able to serve more people. In its first year, the ETC will focus on serving families in Knox County. Years two and three will have a more regional focus.

The ETC’s partner organizations include:
• Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley
• YMCA of East Tennessee
• YWCA Knoxville and the Tennessee Valley
• Knox Area Urban League
• Centro Hispano de East Tennessee

In April 2022, United Way of Greater Knoxville (UWGK) was one of seven public-private groups selected by the TN Families First Community Advisory Board to receive a $25 million Tennessee Opportunity Pilot Initiative (TOPI) grant. UWGK serves as the backbone organization for the ETC and brings experience in administering large state grants and working collaboratively across all community sectors.

“According to ALICE, a statewide data project which provides a comprehensive measure of financial hardship across our state, nearly half of all families in Knox County are at or below the poverty line,” said Matt Ryerson, President and CEO of United Way of Greater Knoxville. “The East Tennessee Collaborative is designed to be a hand up to those families who are ready to stand on their own, yet don’t know how to take that next step or what services are available to them. We believe this program will be the bridge to independence these families truly need.”

About Families First and TANF

Families First is Tennessee’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. TANF is a federally funded program that emphasizes work, family strengthening, and personal responsibility to empower families for long-term success. The program helps participants reach this goal by providing temporary cash assistance, transportation, childcare assistance, educational support, job training, and other support services.

Tennessee Opportunity Pilot Initiative (TOPI)

The Tennessee Opportunity Pilot Initiative (TOPI) was brought forth by the TANF Opportunity Act. This initiative helps individuals, families, and the State of Tennessee by creating a new vision for Tennessee’s social safety net and is dedicated to helping low-income families grow beyond their vulnerabilities. TOPI empowers all Tennesseans by partnering with local organizations to reach deep into their communities and work shoulder to shoulder with individuals and families, growing their capacity to take on life’s challenges and reducing their dependency on the social safety net.

About the East Tennessee Collaborative (ETC)

The East Tennessee Collaborative (ETC) is a local, cross-agency collaborative between the United Way of Greater Knoxville as the backbone organization and local partner organizations. As a grantee of TOPI, the ETC aims to reduce poverty, increase economic opportunity pathways, and enhance social supports in a relational and comprehensive, evidence-based approach using the Economic Opportunity Pathways (EMPath) model.

About United Way of Greater Knoxville (UWGK)

United Way of Greater Knoxville (UWGK) is part of United Way Worldwide, the largest charitable organization in the world. Through more than 112 programs in nearly 48 agencies, UWGK is an innovative problem-solver and facilitator of social change dedicated to creating a more equitable Greater Knoxville region with stable housing, financial security, quality early care and education, access to food, and more. For more information, visit www.uwgk.org.

Media Contacts:

Kaki Reynolds, Director of the East Tennessee Collaborative
(865) 521-0861
[email protected]

Tiffani Mensch, Chief Philanthropy & Marketing Officer, United Way of Greater Knoxville
(865) 582-4086
[email protected]