DJ Hampton, President and CEO of Trident United Way
June 24, 2026
When I was growing up, summer felt pretty simple. My friends and I would spend most of the day outside riding bikes, exploring the woods behind our neighborhood, and finding ways to entertain ourselves. The rules were straightforward: be home for lunch and be home when the sun went down. My parents worked during the day, and somehow the routine held together. Looking back, I realize how fortunate we were.
Because for many families today, summer is anything but simple. As the father of two daughters, I have learned that summer does not come with one bill. It comes with a calendar full of bills. There are camps, childcare, transportation, lunches, activities, supplies and extended care. Then there are the unexpected expenses that seem to show up at exactly the wrong time: a camp that closes for a week, a child who gets sick, a work schedule that suddenly changes, or a backup plan that ends up costing more than the original plan.
What surprised me most was not any single expense. It was the stack of expenses. Every gap in the calendar seemed to have a cost attached to it. And the cost is not only financial. My wife and I quickly discovered that summer can create stress in ways we had not anticipated. You are trying to meet expectations at work, be present for your children, coordinate schedules and somehow adapt when the plan inevitably changes. Even with resources, flexibility and two working parents, summer can often feel like trying to solve a Rubix’s Cube that is actively fighting back. For families with less margin, I can only imagine how quickly that pressure becomes overwhelming.
At Trident United Way, we hear versions of this story every day. When school is in session, families have a structure they can build around. When school lets out for the summer, that structure disappears. Parents are trying to keep children safe, keep food on the table, stay employed and avoid falling behind, all at the same time. One thing I think people without school-age children sometimes misunderstand is that these are not luxury expenses. For working families, these are essential expenses.
Child care is essential.
Transportation is essential.
Food is essential.
Keeping your job is essential.
An ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) family may be managing during the school year, but when school lets out for the summer, the cost of those basics changes dramatically. More meals at home. More childcare. More transportation. Less predictability. Sometimes that is enough to push a family from stability into crisis.
The newly released 2026 ALICE data for Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties helps explain why so many families feel this pressure. Today, 129,589 households, or 37% of all households across the Tri-County, live below the ALICE Threshold and cannot consistently afford the basics. That number has remained remarkably consistent for more than a decade, despite economic growth throughout our region. More than one in three households continue to face impossible tradeoffs between housing, childcare, food, transportation, healthcare and other necessities. And some families face even greater challenges. Across our region, 75% of single-female-headed households with children live below the ALICE Threshold.
Those are not just statistics. They are parents trying to figure out how to make summer work.
This is where Trident United Way's work becomes practical. Our Family Coaching model is the primary way we are working toward our bold goal of uplifting 15,000 families out of poverty by 2035. Family Coaches work alongside families to understand the full picture of their lives: employment, budgeting, benefits, childcare, transportation, housing stability, debt, credit, savings and long-term goals. This work matters because a missed shift, a car repair, an unpaid bill or a week without childcare can quickly become the event that knocks a family off track.
Through our Thrive@ programs, we are taking that coaching directly to places families already know and trust. Thrive@Work brings support into workplaces. Thrive@Worship works through faith communities. Thrive@Home brings coaching into housing communities. Thrive@Military supports veterans, active-duty service members and their families. Across each program, the goal is the same: meet families where they are, reduce barriers to help and connect them to the resources and coaching they need before a temporary setback becomes a long-term crisis.
But lasting change requires more than programs. It requires understanding. It requires recognizing that financial hardship does not always look the way we expect it to. And it requires acknowledging that even families who appear to be doing everything right can still find themselves struggling under the weight of rising costs.
I still think about those carefree summers when I was growing up. I wish every child could experience that same sense of freedom. And I believe every parent deserves the opportunity to enjoy summer without wondering how they are going to make all the pieces fit together.
Because summer should be a season of memories. Not a season of financial stress.