September 3, 2026
Meet the family that is one bill away from crisis. Both parents work full time. The kids are in school. The rent gets paid, the lights stay on, and from the outside, everything looks fine. Then the car breaks down, or a child gets sick, or the hours at work get cut for a season, and suddenly there is no cushion left to absorb it. This family does not qualify for most traditional assistance programs because their income sits just above the poverty line. They are not falling through the cracks because they made poor choices. They are falling through the cracks because the cost of living has outpaced what a hard day’s work can cover.
In the Lowcountry, families like this one have a name: ALICE, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. It is not a label anyone chooses, and it is far more common than most of us realize. Recently, Emily Van der Mooren, Corporate Advancement Officer at Trident United Way, visited Charleston Business Exchange to share who ALICE families really are, the work being done to support them, and how the Lowcountry business community can help close the gap. Her presentation reminded every person in the room that financial stability is rarely about one big decision. It is built one coach, one connection, and one steady hand at a time.
Trident United Way serves Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties, and its mission centers on three impact areas: education, financial stability, and health. What Emily’s presentation made clear is that Trident United Way is not simply a place families go to ask for help. It is a coalition built to walk alongside families long enough for real change to take hold.
The numbers behind that mission are sobering. Thirty eight percent of Tri-County households work hard every day and still struggle to cover basic needs, often sitting one unexpected expense away from a genuine crisis. Trident United Way has set a community goal of uplifting fifteen thousand families out of poverty by 2035, and the Strong Families Strong Community Initiative is one of the primary ways that goal is being pursued. Through this initiative, families are paired with a dedicated family coach who helps boost income through better paying jobs and career pathways, reduce debt, build credit, create a workable budget, and connect to the local resources that can make the biggest difference.
The scale of that work is already significant. Through the Center for Strong Families, Trident United Way served 5,148 households and 10,393 household members in 2025 alone, including 2,454 new households in that same year. Its 211 helpline, a free and confidential resource that connects Lowcountry residents to help twenty four hours a day, fielded 33,162 total referrals, 26,385 website visits, 17,401 calls, and 2,229 texts in 2025, with rent payment assistance, electric service payment assistance, and affordable housing topping the list of needs. These are not abstract numbers. Every one of them is a parent who found a way to keep the lights on, a family that avoided eviction, or a household that finally built its first real budget.
Trident United Way’s roots trace back to 1922, when the Social Services Exchange formed in Charleston to reduce duplication and help local charities work together rather than compete for the same resources. That effort joined the Community Chest in 1925, and by 1944 the organization we now know had been formally established under that name. As payroll giving through war bonds grew more common in the mid-twentieth century, Community Chests across the country gradually evolved into the United Way model, and Charleston’s organization was no exception. It operated under several names over the decades, including the Community Chest of Charleston County and United Community Services, before officially becoming Trident United Way in the 1970s when it expanded its service area to include Berkeley and Dorchester counties.
More than a century after that first Social Services Exchange brought Charleston’s charitable organizations together, Trident United Way still functions as a collaborative backbone for the Lowcountry, uniting resources and partners so that no single organization has to solve poverty alone.
One of the most striking parts of Emily’s presentation was the sheer number of organizations working together through the Financial Stability Coalition. Sixteen nonprofit partners, including James Island Outreach, Healing Hurts Ministries, Charleston Pro Bono, Palmetto Goodwill, the Lowcountry Food Bank, Our Lady of Mercy, and the Charleston County Housing and Redevelopment Authority, all coordinate under this coalition to make sure families are not bounced from door to door looking for help. Several CBX members will recognize Our Lady of Mercy from a previous spotlight on this blog, which is a good reminder that the Lowcountry’s nonprofit community is far more connected than it might appear from the outside. When these organizations work together instead of in isolation, families get answers faster and support that actually fits their situation.
One of the most encouraging parts of Emily’s visit was hearing just how many ways a business or an individual can plug into this work. You do not need a corporate foundation or a six figure budget to make a real difference.
Financial gifts fund the family coaches, the 211 helpline, and the direct assistance that keeps a family in their home during a hard season. One time gifts and recurring donations both move the mission forward, and every dollar given locally stays in the Tri-County area.
Trident United Way offers giving circles and donor networks, including groups built around young professionals and rising leaders, that let individuals combine their generosity with others who share the same commitment to the Lowcountry.
From helping at community events to supporting Center for Strong Families programming, volunteers play a direct role in the day to day work of helping local families move toward stability.
Workplace giving campaigns, corporate sponsorships, and team volunteer days are some of the most effective ways a Charleston business can support Trident United Way at scale, and Emily’s team is glad to help design a partnership that fits your company’s size and goals.
Trident United Way also hosts community events throughout the year, including Cocktails and Conversations, where CBX Founder Karl Kuester and other members have had the chance to connect directly with Emily and the Trident United Way team outside of a Tuesday meeting. It is a great reminder that the relationships built at CBX often continue well beyond the room.
Hearing about a mission in a meeting is one thing. Standing in the room with the people carrying it out is another. Over the past several months, CBX members have made a point of doing both.
Catherine Taylor of Syncra Digital and one of the company’s co-founders attended Cocktails and Conversations, an evening event supporting Trident United Way. It was a chance to meet the staff, supporters, and partner organizations behind the numbers, and to see firsthand how much of this work runs on relationships rather than paperwork.
Members turned out again for B2B Connect, where Emily shared more about the Trident United Way mission. Tyler Shockley of SERVPRO of South and West Charleston, Catherine, and other CBX members were in the room to hear it. Sitting with the ALICE numbers a second time, surrounded by business owners, made them land differently. These are not distant statistics. They describe customers, employees, and neighbors across the tri-county.
That is the value of showing up. It is easy to read about a need and set it aside. It is much harder to walk out of a room where someone has just put faces to that need and do nothing about it.
At Charleston Business Exchange, we believe that business is ministry. That belief shapes how we show up in our work, how we build relationships, and how we engage with the community around us. It is also why we open our doors every Tuesday to organizations like Trident United Way, so our members can hear firsthand from the people doing the faithful, hands-on work of serving families in need.
Emily’s presentation was one of those moments that reminds you why being part of something bigger than yourself matters. It was not a sales pitch or a fundraising ask. It was a real person sharing a real mission, and you could feel the impact in the room. Members left that meeting thinking about workplace giving campaigns, volunteer days their teams could take on, and neighbors they know who might be closer to ALICE than anyone realizes.
That is what stewardship looks like in action. It is not just about how we manage our businesses or grow our bottom line. It is about recognizing the gifts, resources, and relationships we have been given and using them to serve the people who need it most. When a hardworking family is one bill away from crisis, the Charleston business community has the power to be the steady hand that helps them find their footing again. Being part of that kind of impact is exactly why CBX exists.
If you want to learn more about Trident United Way, explore giving and volunteer opportunities, or find out how your company can get involved, visit tuw.org. You can also follow Trident United Way on social media to stay up to date on upcoming events like Cocktails and Conversations and new ways to support Lowcountry families.
Whether you make a gift, join a donor network, volunteer for a Center for Strong Families event, or simply share this story with someone in your network, every act of generosity helps a hardworking family find stable ground. That is the kind of legacy worth building.
