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Safe & Stable Families

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Issues » Safe & Stable Families


How can my giving contribute to the physical and financial security of low-income families and neighborhoods? 

An abiding sense of insecurity, both physical and financial, is perhaps the most devastating feature of poverty. Increasing the physical and financial security of low-income communities, often on a family-by-family basis, is critical to a community’s long-term viability.

Safer families can be the result of community policing efforts, domestic violence programs and increased engagement in community affairs and decision-making. On the financial side, programs that help families establish mainstream banking relationships, avoid predatory lenders and save for the future lead to greater self-sufficiency and self-esteem.

Taken together, this increased security offers the breathing room needed for low-income families to play more active and positive roles in their neighborhoods and communities.

To learn how your giving can support efforts to enhance the physical and financial security of low-income families, read on.

Learn More About Safe & Stable Families


Measure the Results

Making a Difference

To Bill Zimmerman, giving is both professonal and personal priority

To Bill Zimmerman, giving is both professonal and personal priority

Bill Zimmerman's family instilled in him from a young age that giving back to one's community is a critical part of keeping one's self and one's community strong.  Today, as a resident of Peaks Island, Maine, and a principal owner of a successful computer technology business, Zimmerman puts this value into practice.  When a senior housing project came to his attention, Zimmerman relied upon his trust in the project's leaders and responded to his community's resourcefulness and "logic." Read More…

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Facts & Figures

  • More than 11 million parents lack health insurance, most of whom are not eligible for coverage under Medicaid
  • There are approximately 1.4 million nonprofit organizations registered with the IRS, accounting for 5.2% of the gross domestic product and 8.3% of wages and salaries paid in the U.S.
  • Adults in more than 9 million families (with 19 million children) work regularly but do not earn enough to meet the household’s needs.
  • In 2006 Americans contributed over 8.1 billion hours of volunteer service, valuing over $150 billion in service
  • The Center for American Progress takes a look at several claims made recently regarding the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and provides clarification on many misleading issues.


In the News

  • A task force of experts, formed two years ago by Pew Charitable Trust, has formed recommendations on various assessment programs, and what expanded public preschool programs need to do to implement them. Read More...
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  • Poverty is poison -- NY Times column explores long-term effects for children living in poverty. Read More...