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DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – The United Way of Greater of Dayton has implemented a new program to help working households in the area living paycheck-to-paycheck. The program is called Prosperi-Key.
Tom Maultsby, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Dayton, said, “Prosperi-Key is a digital platform that provides a marketplace for individuals that are called ALIE — and that’s the asset-limited, income-constrained employed population.”
This population often doesn’t qualify for typical assistance programs because they fall just slightly over the poverty level. But they are still struggling to make ends meet.
“These are people who just need a hand to get through the day, the week or the month,” said Maultsby. “And what Prosperi-key does, is it provides discounts and services that may not necessarily be available to individuals in their situations to help them get from day to day.”
Those services and discounts will come from local organizations like Clothes that Work, The Foodbank and numerous others willing to join the platform and help qualifying community members. And with 40 percent of the United Way of Greater Dayton’s coverage area considered low-income, Maultsby said the program can help change the financial trajectory of some Miami Valley households.
“Often times it’s just one incident that will occur in their lifetime — you know, the car breaks down or something happens to a family member and they have to put out more money for medical expenses or sometimes they’re under insured — you know, one incident can happen that would cause these people to fall into poverty. What we’re trying to do at United Way is to prevent that from happening.”
To qualify, community members must go through an income verification process. The United Way is also still looking for organizations to come on board and help provide discounts and services.
