‘Level Up’ program seeing fast growth in northwest Indiana
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A program from United Way of Northwest Indiana to help residents achieve financial stability is seeing big growth after only two years. Level Up was created with the goal of providing targeted interventions, such as professional skills development, financial literacy workshops and personalized mentoring to help participants reach self-sufficiency.
“It targets individuals and families that are living paycheck to paycheck,” said Rich Shields, chief marketing and development officer for United Way of Northwest Indiana. “Here in northwest Indiana, we’re at about a 41% mark of people being on the verge of poverty. So we provide them with resources to help them.”
Shields told Inside INdiana Business the Level Up program has seen more applications for Level Up in the last three months than the first two years combined.
“It’s growing immensely,” he said. “We have developed a different strategy as far as the marketing plan and really that awareness piece…that people know that we’re here to help them. I think it’s kind of an untouched, or maybe an untapped, demographic right now that people aren’t noticing with the advent of skyrocketing prices.”
The resources provided by Level Up come in many forms, according to Shields. They could be monetary resources to help participants improve their employment status through education.
“This isn’t like a four year degree or anything like that, but it’s supplemental,” he said. “So if, for instance, they’re in a nursing program, and they have so many credit hours to go, we will assist them.”
But the assistance could come in the form of assistance to overcome barriers to that professional growth, such as access to child care or transportation.
But the financial stability piece is key to Level Up, and Shields said the goal is to ensure the participants understand what financial wellness means.
“We have navigators that are out there–they’re almost like social workers–and they do a fantastic job, because they hand hold until [participants] are ready to go throughout the process, and really help them go to the finish line,” he said. “And the big thing is it’s really helping the economy as well. It’s having a huge impact on the economy that will sustain for years on as well as the next generation coming through.”
The Level Up program originally launched in 2021 in Lake, Porter and Starke counties. The United Way received a $375,000 grant in December 2022 to expand the program to Jasper and Newton counties.
Earlier this month, the Merrillville-based NiSource Charitable Foundation and Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) awarded a $100,000 impact investment in the organization’s Mobile Services Unit to support Level Up participants across the five-county region.
Shields said the mobile unit will allow the organization to get out on the street, serving both urban and rural areas, and connect to more people in need.
“We have this mobile device that we can take on the streets, and help them learn more about the program and do different things in different situations where we can provide Internet access in the rural areas,” he said. “And then in our city, again, it’s just to get that visibility out there saying, ‘Look, this is a program that affects a lot of people.'”
The United Way, Shields said, is on pace to surpass its goal of having 1,000 graduates by 2025. He noted the organization is already in talks for further expansion of the program.
“This is really a very untapped demographic that is not seeing much traction right now,” he said. “But as we progress, we see it be more and more prevalent and assisting communities, especially with the current economic conditions that we have, and not knowing where we’re going to land here in the next four years or so.”
You can learn more about Level Up by clicking here.