The Real Cost Measure
Date & Time: Wednesday, November 15th | 2:00-4:00 PM
Venue: Watsonville Civic Plaza Community Room - 275 Main Street, Floor 6, Watsonville
In June 2023, United Ways of California released How Much it Costs to Struggle: The Real Cost Measure in California 2023, a new study that reveals the “real cost” of living in California. Unlike the official poverty measure, the Real Cost Measure factors the costs of housing, food, health care, child care and other basic needs for a much more accurate measure of what it takes to make ends meet in California.
At this event, co-hosted by United Way of Santa Cruz County, DataShare Santa Cruz County, and City of Watsonville, We will discuss what the Real Cost Measure looks like throughout Santa Cruz County, and address the challenges lower-wage households face every day to make ends meet. Through the lens of race, gender and geography, we find single mothers, households of color, households with young children and seniors particularly struggle.
We hope you can join us in this discussion about the collective and individual assets we can harness to empower and support under-served families within our community.
Target Audience
This program is designed for a diverse range of participants, including DataShare members, elected officials, housing nonprofits and developers, childcare providers, and community nonprofit leaders and philanthropists.
Panelists
Keisha Browder | CEO, United Way of Santa Cruz County
Maria Cadenas | Executive Director, Santa Cruz Community Ventures
MariaElena de la Garza | Executive Director, Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County
Henry Gascon | Director of Policy and Program Development, United Ways of California
Stephen Gray | CEO, Watsonville Community Hospital
Elaine Johnson | Executive Director, Housing Santa Cruz County
Diane Munoz | Community Organizer, Childhood Advisory Council - Santa Cruz County Office of Education
Erica Padilla-Chavez | CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County
