United Way Of Allen County Priorities
During its 2021 strategic planning process, United Way of Allen County identified four priority areas to address the community’s most pressing needs: Educational Opportunities, Food Security, Housing Stability, and Mental Health Access. The data below supports this strategic focus and further information provides current insights into ALICE households—the primary beneficiaries of these initiatives.
United Way is currently developing its 2025–2028 Strategic Plan, with details set to be shared in Fall 2025.
The Data
United Way of Allen County Priorities Summary Report
Purdue Fort Wayne Community Research Institute Census Data Full Report
This report includes the following information:
Community Conversation Themes: Child Care, Community Activities, Connection to Others, Education, Employment, Environment, Housing, Internet Access, Mental Health, Public Health, and Transportation.
Census Topics: Population, Age, Sex, Race/Ethnicity, Household Income, Educational attainment, Household/Family Structure, Housing, Workforce/Wage data, Disability, Vehicle availability, Internet access, Poverty, Crime, Foreign-born and language spoke at home, Living wages, Health measures, School data, and Voter Participation.
Purdue Fort Wayne Community Research Institute Community Insights Full Data Report
Community Insights Topics: Jobs and employment, Monthly costs, Student loans, Transportation, Mental Health, Economic disparities, Strong Neighborhoods, Diversity and inclusion, Civic and volunteer engagement, and Philanthropic engagement.
ALICE Data
Who is ALICE?
ALICE is an acronym that stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. It refers to households that earn above the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) but cannot afford the basic cost of living in their county. Despite struggling to make ends meet, ALICE households often do not qualify for public assistance.
ALICE in the Crosscurrents: An Update on Financial Hardship in Indiana is brought to you by Indiana United Ways and United Way of Central Indiana in partnership with United for ALICE, a driver of innovative research and action around financial hardship for ALICE households.
To create the ALICE report, a team of researchers worked with a research advisory committee composed of experts from the Family and Social Services Administration (Indiana 211), CSP4Impact, Purpose of Life Ministries, the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Public Policy Institute at Indiana University Bloomington, Black Onyx Management, the Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute, and a consultant specializing in services for health and human services agencies.
The ALICE Household Survival Budget is the foundation of the ALICE research. This budget calculates the bare minimum cost of the household basics needed to live and work in the modern economy by household composition, in every county.
Local Data Highlights:
- 39% of Allen County Households are ALICE.
- A single adult must earn $14.00/hour just to survive.
- True financial stability requires $23.84/hour—almost $10/hour more than the survival budget.
- Nearly half of our workforce are hourly workers with unpredictable incomes.
- 79% of single female-headed households and 48% of seniors (65+) in our area are ALICE.
Click the buttons below to read the current reports on ALICE in Indiana and Allen County.