Economic mobility is not a single outcome. It is progress that holds over time.
As United Way of Greater Cleveland prepares to launch the 2026 Community Impact investment cycle, we are building on the insight, momentum, and partnerships of the past two years. We are also sharpening our focus for what comes next.
This is more than a new funding opportunity. It marks a continued shift in how we invest, moving from supporting critical services to advancing lasting economic mobility for ALICE households across Cuyahoga and Geauga counties.
A look back: strong performance in a complex environment
The 2024 to 2025 Community HUB portfolio operated in a challenging economic landscape. Rising rents, high child care costs, workforce instability, and sustained demand for crisis services placed pressure on households and providers alike.
Even in this environment, partners delivered strong results.
- Housing programs exceeded projected reach
- Workforce initiatives surpassed enrollment goals and showed retention rates above national benchmarks
- Early childhood partners met projections while deepening two-generation engagement
- Health and stabilization providers responded to increased crisis demand
- Thousands of households avoided eviction, secured employment, stabilized income, accessed child care, resolved legal barriers, and received flexible financial support that prevented deeper hardship.
The portfolio demonstrated strong stabilization outcomes and encouraging workforce retention. Just as important, it strengthened our shared understanding of what it takes to achieve sustained economic mobility.
What we learned and how it shapes our strategy
Our partners’ work reinforced several key insights:
- Stability is the foundation
- Retention signals progress
- Asset building sustains mobility
Across the portfolio, we saw how stable housing supports employment, how reliable child care enables workforce participation, and how flexible funding can prevent long-term disruption. We also saw that wage progression, not just job placement, is what changes a household’s trajectory.
At the same time, we identified a clear opportunity to evolve. As our focus on long-term mobility grows, our approach to measurement and alignment must evolve with it.
We are now taking the next step by aligning around clearer indicators of durability. This allows us to demonstrate not only that families stabilize, but that their progress continues.
The 2026 economic mobility opportunity grant
Our next phase of investment is designed to support and learn from approaches that increase income, build assets, and improve affordability for ALICE (Asset Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed) households.
Why this matters now
ALICE workers are essential to our regional economy. They include caregivers, service workers, health aides, retail employees, and skilled trades professionals. Yet many remain one unexpected expense away from financial instability.
Our strategy focuses on three connected drivers of mobility:
Housing stability and affordability
Helping households avoid eviction, reduce cost burden, and remain stably housed long enough for income growth to take hold
Workforce pathways and income progression
Supporting access to jobs, retention, advancement, and measurable wage growth
Child care access and workforce infrastructure
Ensuring caregivers can maintain employment through reliable, aligned child care solutions
These are not separate areas of work. They function as a connected system.
Economic mobility follows a progression: Crisis → Stability → Pathways → Asset retention → Mobility
Our investments are designed to reflect this progression.
What will be different in 2026
In this next cycle, we are placing greater emphasis on durability.
The 2026 RFI introduces mobility-aligned financial measures, including income stability, emergency savings, credit health, housing cost burden, and benefits retention.
This represents a shift from focusing on outputs and reach to investing in sustained economic progress.
The 2026 RFI: an invitation to build what comes next
The 2026 Request for Information opens the first phase of a two-step grant process.
Our goal is to make focused, high-quality investments that strengthen long-term impact.
- For nonprofit partners, this is an opportunity to help shape the next generation of economic mobility solutions.
- For donors and community stakeholders, it reflects a continued commitment to disciplined, high-impact investment.
The 2026 RFI is now available. Additional details, including full materials and timeline information, will be shared during the Community Investment Information Session on April 1. Click here to register
View the grant metrics by investment area here.
We look forward to continuing this work together.
This article was drafted with the assistance of generative AI and edited and by the author.
