Ready, Set, Greenlight

Each year, more than 3,000 New York City families spend time in the domestic violence shelter system.

Often, while in abusive relationships, domestic violence survivors have little-to-no control over their own finances.  Consequently, many lack basic skills needed for financial management, like balancing a check book.  This makes starting a new life after spending time in a shelter very difficult. 

United Way partnered with the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) to determine how to best integrate financial management services into the domestic violence shelter stay.  Ready, Set, Greenlight equips case managers and frontline staff in New York City’s domestic violence shelter system with tools and resources to incorporate financial coaching into their current work with domestic violence survivors. 

Each year, Ready, Set, Greenlight is rigorously evaluated to determine which practices are most effective.  We examine a variety of the program's outcomes including:

  • Percentage of clients who complete a household budget
  • Percentage of clients who secure or acquire safe and reliable bank accounts
  • Percentage of clients who update their credit file
  • Percentage of clients who organize outstanding debts
  • Percentage of clients who are referred to a free tax preparation site to access the Earned Income Tax Credit 

Our Funding Partners: