Gruene Music & Wine Festival Sponsors Needed
Gruene Music and Wine Fest invites you to participate as a sponsor in our annual fundraiser for the United Way of Comal County. This campaign for United Way will take place in Gruene Historic District at New Braunfels. Presenting sponsors include Gruene Hall and 92.1 KNBT Radio New Braunfels. Our current Platinum sponsors for the past few years have been JP Morgan Chase Bank, M&S Companies, Mission Hill Apartment Homes and Moody Bank. Current in‐kind sponsors include the New Braunfels Herald‐Zeitung, Ammo Advertising and Texas Hill Country Wineries. To learn more about the event, click here.
WHAT WE BELIEVE –
- Our mission is to engage the community and focus resources for those in need in Comal County.
- The United Way of Comal County envisions a community where all individual and families thrive.
- The United Way of Comal County embraces the diversity of those it serves and those who serve it, and strives to reflect the unique cultures that make up a growing Comal County. By bringing their diversity together, the United Way of Comal County can more effectively address the issues impacting our community.
- The United Way of Comal County opposes all forms of racism and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability or status asa protected veteran.
Since 2008, the United Way has awards over $6,500,000 to support more than 250 programs that include feeding the hungry, providing safety to those in danger, furnishing educational and fitness programs for our youth and elderly, and keeping the lights on for those in crisis.
DID YOU KNOW – Only a fraction of a percent of what you give to the United Way of Comal County leaves Comal County? 99% of your donation stays here. Your dollars make a tremendous impact specifically to our area. We vet each and every agency that receives funding from UWCC to make sure your donations will help local people in need.
We keep as small an overhead as possible with only two full time positions. The UWCC prides itself in having one of the smallest administrative budgets in the area in order to maximize the donations.
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ALICE REPORT
The number of households in financial hardship in Texas continues to be undercounted in official measures. According to the FPL, 14% of households in Texas (1,460,106) were in poverty in 2021. Yet United For ALICE data shows that another 29% (3,099,184 households) — more than twice as many — were ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). ALICE households earn above the FPL, but not enough to afford the basics in the communities where they live.
The reality is that of the 10.7 million households in Texas, nearly 4.6 million — 43% — had income below the ALICE Threshold of Financial Survival in 2021. This includes both households in poverty and ALICE households. The crux of the problem is a mismatch between earnings and the cost of basics.
For example, 52% of cashiers (one of the most common occupations in Texas) were below the ALICE Threshold in 2021. These workers earned a median hourly wage of $11.06 — not even enough to cover the ALICE Household Survival Budget for one worker employed full time ($12.26 per hour), much less for a family with children, even with two adults working (combined wage of $30.33 per hour). From 2019 to 2021, the cost of basics increased across Texas and remained well above the FPL. For a family of four in 2021, the FPL was $26,500 while the ALICE Household Survival Budget was $60,660. Between 2019 and 2021, the average annual costs (excluding taxes) increased 11% for a single adult, 11% for a single senior, and 10% for a family of four.
