Untangling the Social Safety Net: Ep. 1 of the ‘No Wrong Door’ Podcast
No Wrong Door is a podcast from Findhelp that explores how social care delivery is evolving to better support whole person care. Hosted by Findhelp VP of Marketing Amy Gordona, the series features conversations with social care experts, healthcare and government innovators, and Findhelp leaders who are shaping the future of access, coordination, and connected care.
Each episode offers an inside look at the systems, decisions, and ideas driving change—and what it takes to build a social safety net that works at scale.
The social safety net touches nearly every aspect of daily life—from healthcare and food assistance to housing, income-based benefits, and community services. Yet for many people, accessing that support feels fragmented, confusing, and frustrating.
We often talk about the social safety net as if it’s a single system. In reality, it’s a complex web of programs, policies, funding streams, and organizations designed to support people at different moments in their lives.
In the first episode of No Wrong Door, Amy Gordona sits down with Carla Nelson, Senior Director of Healthcare and Public Policy at Findhelp, to take a step back and look at the safety net as a whole.
In this episode, we explore:
How the system is structured today
Where friction shows up for people trying to access help
Why benefits enrollment plays such a critical role in connecting individuals to support
Watch episode 1: “Untangling the Social Safety Net”
Key themes from the conversation
Carla and Amy move beyond surface-level challenges and into the realities behind them—from administrative complexity and eligibility rules to the downstream effects of delays, procedural churn, and disconnected systems. Here are the key themes from their insightful conversation.
The safety net is interconnected—but not always connected
Carla describes the safety net as a collection of many different organizations serving basic needs like food, shelter, healthcare, transportation, and human connection.
While these programs often overlap in the lives of individuals, they are rarely designed to work seamlessly together.
That disconnect shows up most clearly for people who need help navigating multiple programs at once, each with its own applications, documentation requirements, and timelines.
“Understanding what’s available—and actually accessing it—are two totally different things, and it can be far more difficult than it should be.”
Amy Gordona
VP of Marketing at Findhelp and Host of ‘No Wrong Door‘
Access and enrollment are where friction becomes real
Eligibility rules, complex applications, and documentation requirements can turn moments of crisis into prolonged periods of uncertainty.
As Amy and Carla discuss, delays in enrollment don’t just slow things down—they can prevent people from receiving benefits at all.
This friction impacts individuals and families, but it also creates inefficiencies and higher costs for the systems and organizations meant to support them.
“You don’t access these programs without going through eligibility and enrollment—and that can mean different applications, very long applications, and having to include a lot of documentation.”
Carla Nelson
Senior Director of Healthcare and Public Policy at Findhelp
Modernization offers real opportunity
Despite the complexity, the conversation ends on a note of optimism.
Policy changes, technology modernization, and better data-sharing practices are creating opportunities to streamline access, reduce administrative burden, and improve coordination across sectors.
At the heart of it all is a shared goal: helping people get the support they need, when they need it, with less friction along the way.
“We can make it easier for people to access programs. Despite the complexity, there are ways to simplify access, connect systems, and move things forward when you start from a place of alignment.”
Carla Nelson
Senior Director of Healthcare and Public Policy at Findhelp
What’s next for No Wrong Door?
Episode 1 sets the foundation by unpacking the complexity of the social safety net and the systems behind it. In future episodes, we’ll continue exploring how access, coordination, and connected care are evolving—and what it takes to build solutions that work across sectors.
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