Giving people a step up

Financial empowerment and workforce development programs

Overview

In Marin County, even in families with one or more working adults, 37% of households do not earn enough to make ends meet — well over one-third of our population can’t get by without public or private assistance. For people of color, that figure is almost double, with 55% unable to cover their basic expenses. In fact, 9.6% of households in Marin earn less than $25,000 a year. That’s $5000 less than the national poverty level for a family of four of $30,000.

At Community Action Marin, we promote prosperity and hope through a powerful set of financial empowerment and workforce development programs. No matter what your financial situation, we can provide the coaching to help.  Come make a step-by-step plan to create a household budget, rebuild your credit score, manage debt, or get trained for a new career.  

Living our values guides all that we do. With trust as our foundation, we pursue healing-centered engagement to bring about transformational change. We also recognize the importance of doing the work in our own house to create meaningful steps toward equity and well-being in order to do the hard work to accomplish our goals of racial and economic justice in our Marin community. Take a look at how we build a thriving workplace and the tools we use to do the work of racial and economic justice. Download both tools in English or our roadmap in Spanish by clicking the buttons below.

Impact

The Numbers

307

The number of Sparkpoint participants. With over 190 whose savings, credit, or debt improved by at least 30%

$203.1k

The amount returned to 160 Marin families in our Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program during tax season this past year

92%

The number of participants in the food services apprenticeship program who obtained an industry recognized certificate, with 67% expanding their small business

Programs

Our Economic Justice programs cover a broad spectrum designed to give you the tools and guidance you need to improve your financial future. The agency’s Whole Family Approach works to ensure that needs are met and outcomes at the individual, agency, and community levels are achieved to strengthen well-being. 

Financial & Credit Coaching

Our financial assistance helps people transform and manage their overall finances, so they can rise beyond subsistence-living and thrive, working towards a goal of financial prosperity. We accomplish our work through one-on-one coaching and give people an opportunity to take advantage of our expert staff, abundant tools, and strong network of partners.   

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Workforce Development

Careers & Workforce Training

Our program provides avenues for career exploration and strengthens participation in job training, encourages the creation of options for job seekers, including high-demand professions, and builds stronger readiness pathways for people who need assistance to become eligible for career training.  Explore the road to a new career in all of our service areas, and more. 

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Tax Assistance Community Action Marin

Tax Help

Maximizing a tax refund can put vital money back in peoples’ pockets.  We offer free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) tax preparation services where caring, trained volunteers guide Marin residents through matters such as reporting on public benefits and claiming the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), so they can claim tax benefits for which they’re eligible and understand their choices for the next year. 

Dates: February 2 – April 12
Hours: Fridays, 9am – 3pm

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Please complete our client satisfaction survey by clicking the button below. We appreciate your input and the results of the survey will help us in improving our financial empowerment program.

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Have questions?

Click on the email button below and we’d be happy to answer any questions you have. You can also go straight to our orientation page to watch a video in English or Spanish.