Author: Ricky Dunn

Findhelp Awarded ‘Best in KLAS’ for SDoH Networks for 2nd Consecutive Year

KLAS Research is a healthcare IT evaluator who provides ‘accurate, honest and impartial’ analysis based on extensive reviews with healthcare users. They recently awarded Findhelp the #1 Best in KLAS distinction for social determinants of health (SDoH) networks. KLAS has awarded Findhelp the ‘Best in KLAS’ for SDoH networks every year since they launched the category two years ago. This year, KLAS designated findhelp’s score as 91.7 out of 100, surpassing all other SDoH vendors nationwide. 

In the 2023 KLAS report, Findhelp received top marks in in loyalty, relationship, and value, and rated highly for culture, operations, and product. 100% of findhelp customers surveyed by KLAS Research agreed:

  • They would purchase findhelp again.
  • Findhelp is part of their organization’s long-term plans.
  • Findhelp “avoids charging for every little thing.”

How does our score compare?

What are our customers saying?

These comments are some of the direct, anonymous feedback that was shared with KLAS Research. The the decision to award Findhelp the ‘Best in KLAS’ designation was based on direct customer input.

“We have had an excellent experience with Findhelp. They have been very oriented toward customer service. They have been thoughtful in their approach. Findhelp puts the person who needs access to social resources first… Findhelp is very collaborative in terms of trying to find solutions. Their leadership team has always demonstrated open communication and integrity.” 

VP/Other Executive, January 2023 (KLAS website)

“Findhelp is building a vision for where the product needs to go, and I appreciate that. The vendor is very open about their road map. I also appreciate that Findhelp asks users what we need. They bring key partners together to be a part of their advisory group, and that is helpful because the health systems and bigger systems that use the product can learn from each other.”

VP/Other Executive, January 2023 (KLAS website)

“We have an account person, and I know who to call if I have a question. I can call an executive or anyone that I want. The highest-level senior leadership reaches out on a regular basis. Findhelp also has executive leadership briefings and sends reports. I know ahead of time how we are performing. Findhelp works with us on organization-specific things, such as building custom reports. Findhelp is very open to our evaluation model.”

VP/Other Executive, January 2023 (KLAS website)

“I like Findhelp because it is geared toward health systems and providers within a PHI and a HIPAA environment. For example, other tools might have a philosophy of an opt-out model, but health systems want an opt-in model because of compliance and protected patient information; we don’t want someone’s information shared blanketly [sic] without them giving consent. Findhelp tends to be used more by health systems. I think it is the best tool for health systems out of what is out there right now. I would have said in the past that another product was the exception to that rule, but now that a bigger company has bought that other system, things are changing.”

VP/Other Executive, January 2023 (KLAS website)

What is Findhelp?

Findhelp is the company modernizing America’s social safety net for anyone who needs help or helps others. With the largest network of community-based organizations and proprietary technology that intelligently matches people with the resources they need, Findhelp is the fastest and most reliable way to get help with privacy and dignity. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Findhelp has been enabling healthcare, government, education and other organizations to connect people with the social care resources that serve them since 2010. Findhelp is a Public Benefit Corporation and is HITRUST CSF Certified.

Join us!

Since every organization’s needs are different, we work closely with our partners to find the right solution for their goals. Schedule time with an expert team member to explore how Findhelp can help you further your mission.

Collaborate with Findhelp

Connect Crittenden Launches: Blazing the Trail for a New Approach to Community Resources in the County

Kendra Phillips grew up in West Memphis, Arkansas, and after attending college out of state, she quickly returned to the hometown she loves. West Memphis, whose motto is “beautiful from every direction,” is located in Crittenden County, bordered to the east by the Mississippi River. The county is home to 47,500 people, many of whom have dedicated their lives to service with community organizations. 

Yet Kendra, who works in healthcare, also sees the unmet needs of her community. “We see people who can’t afford their co-pay, and who don’t have money to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables,” she says. “We see it firsthand every single day, how many people are struggling.”

Challenges Facing Crittenden County

State and local leaders also recognize the region’s needs. Crittenden County has the highest rate of food insecurity within the state, with 1 in 3 children living below the poverty line. At 22.9%, the county’s poverty rate is twice the national average, leading many families to struggle with basic needs like food and healthcare, and contributing toward its ranking as fifth in the state for poor health outcomes. Local nonprofits provide vital services, but the lack of an up-to-date resource directory and collaboration between organizations has made it difficult for people seeking help to connect with resources.

West Memphis Arkansas Bridge

Big River Crossing, West Mempis, AR

A Turning Point: The Arkansas Department of Health and Crittenden County’s SDoH Accelerator Plan, Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

In early 2021, a group of Crittenden County community leaders, along with representatives from the Arkansas Legislature, the Arkansas Department of Health, and findhelp assembled a small leadership team committed to closing the gap on barriers to achieving health equity in the County. As a result of this effort, the Arkansas Department of Health and Crittenden County officials applied for the CDC’s Closing the Gap with Social Determinants of Health Accelerator Plans grant to address Crittenden County’s SDoH challenges, and many local leaders voiced their support of the application.

Supporters included the Mayors of the City of West Memphis, Marion and Earle, key local, state and county officials,  including the Superintendent of Schools, the West Memphis Chamber of Commerce, the head of the Mid-South Community College, members of the Arkansas legislature, the Arkansas Department of Human Services, the East Arkansas Family Health Center, and a number of community based organizations.

Together, they emphasized the goal to build a foundation for addressing social determinants of health care gaps in Crittenden County to reduce disparities in health outcomes. 

Ever since the Arkansas Department of Health was awarded funding for the Crittenden County catchment area in Fall 2021, a diverse group of dedicated government and community leaders have worked tirelessly to create an infrastructure plan that bridges the gap between organizations providing services and people seeking help. In order to achieve their goals, leaders knew they needed a way to connect people with resources in their community. Through the leadership team’s work, an idea began to take shape: Connect Crittenden, a website that will help connect people to food, housing, transportation, healthcare, and many other local resources. 

The Connect Crittenden Launch

After several months of planning, Connect Crittenden, powered by findhelp, launched this June. The website will play a key role in the strategic plan to facilitate collaboration between community organizations and healthcare systems and allow people to easily search for help from the privacy of their own computer or mobile phone.

“I want to thank everyone who has made Connect Crittenden possible. The launch marks a key milestone in our work to increase cohesion between nonprofits and healthcare providers in Crittenden County. It means greater access for people seeking help, and greater awareness of resources available just a few miles from their home. This platform will strengthen the ties between organizations who are committed to health equity and the public good.” 

— Deborah Ferguson, Arkansas State Representative

Looking Toward the Future

As Crittenden County looks ahead, Kendra, the initiative’s project manager, is hopeful the website will pave the way for change. “A lot of our organizations have resources, but they’re on a piece of paper, and they can’t afford marketing to promote what they do,” she explains. “Now anyone can go in and type in the zip code and pull open what they need, so anyone can use it! This is hopefully going to be meaningful for a lot of people going forward.”

Local government officials share Kendra’s optimism about the platform, including the City of West Memphis’ Director of Community Outreach, who looks forward to community members being able to access resources through the website.

“I’m super excited about this project. Before, West Memphis didn’t have a resource hub, where people could learn about resources available to them. Connect Crittenden will help bridge the gap between citizens, city officials and departments, allowing our citizens to know that local resources exist. If you need help, this is where you can go to find it.” 

— Tawana Bailey, Director Of Community Outreach, City of West Memphis

In August, Kendra will lead a community stakeholders meeting, gathering government officials, pastors, and community organization leaders to discuss the direction they’re headed together. She’s also looking forward to the back-to-school community resource fair on August 6th from 11am-1pm in the West Memphis Old Courthouse parking lot, where residents can learn more about resources available to them.

Kendra is excited to see how the platform will help the community identify care gaps, such as transportation to clinics and food pantries, and create innovative solutions to challenges in the community, like collaborations between local nonprofits and higher education institutions to help people struggling with unemployment. 

Kendra loves her hometown and believes the next generation of Crittenden County residents can be healthier and more connected than her own. “This is going to connect us all and help us make a collaborative effort for people who need it most. This is the direction we’re going for the next generation. Everyone is hurting and everyone needs something. That’s why we need to connect and share.”

Findhelp Surpasses 10 Million Users

Findhelp (formerly Aunt Bertha) was incorporated in 2010 to make it simpler for people to connect to help, with dignity and ease. 12 years later, more than 10 million people have searched for help on our platform. Our Founder and CEO, Erine Gray, reflects on this important milestone:

Founder and CEO, Erine Gray, talks about what this milestone means to him.

Gray will never forget the sound of call center phones ringing off the hook in 2008 as Texas state employees fielded thousands of calls from people requesting SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) assistance. That year, the housing market had collapsed, sending the economy into a downward spiral and millions of families into food insecurity. State agencies quickly discovered that they were not equipped to process the astronomical uptick in SNAP applications, leaving eligible candidates with weeks-long wait times. It was the Great Recession— and it was when the idea for findhelp was born. 

As Gray looks back on his role in helping the state of Texas respond to this economic crisis, he says:


The recession laid bare the vital need for a stronger American safety net, and Gray became committed to creating an alternative. In 2010, he incorporated Aunt Bertha (now findhelp) with the dream to strengthen the safety net by leveraging technology to create a network of resources. Throughout the next ten years, findhelp became the nation’s largest social care network, connecting users with services ranging from childcare, to housing, to addiction recovery and more, in a matter of seconds. 

Gray didn’t believe the nation would again undergo a crisis as extreme as the 2008 recession. “But it happened again,” he recalls “in 2020.” Ten years after its founding, amidst the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the findhelp team quickly recognized the critical need to add COVID-19 response programs to our  network, including free internet programs for when schools switched to remote learning, drive-up food pantries, utility assistance programs, and more. 

The network we had been building for ten years made it possible for us to respond quickly to the crisis. We were prepared to help people find help through one of the greatest challenges our country has faced. 

Today, more than 10 million people have used the findhelp platform to connect to help. “This is a sign of the times,” Gray explains. “This milestone demonstrates just how much need is out there in the United States. We see people looking for homeless shelters, for utility assistance programs, food, counseling. And it’s growing. There are gaps in the American safety net, and people need help.” 

As findhelp looks toward the future, Gray is dedicated to closing gaps in the safety net through interoperability and collaboration, allowing policymakers and funders to make efficient, data-informed funding decisions to support people in crisis and help people overcome poverty.

Findhelp’s search and referral data helps organizations and government agencies gain Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) insights to connect the dots between social factors and long-term community health outcomes. User privacy is our priority, and we’re committed to protecting user data while creating an interoperable network that helps policymakers, healthcare organizations, foundations, community organizations, and the private sector work together to prepare for the challenges not only of today, but also of the future.

As we mark our 10-millionth-user milestone, we’re grateful to all who have helped shape the future of American social care. Together, we can do so much more.

About findhelp

Findhelp is the nation’s leading social care network, making it easy for customers in a wide range of industries to integrate social care into the work they already do—from education and government to housing, healthcare and more. Through customer platforms alone, the findhelp network reaches millions of users across the country, making it easy to connect people seeking help and the verified social care providers that serve them, with dignity and ease.

Celebrating 211 & United Way Partners on 211 Day

“The true heroes… will be servant leaders, quietly working out of the spotlight to transform our world.”― Ann McGee-Cooper

This year on 211 Day, we shined the spotlight on our 211 partners who are committed to transforming their communities by guiding people to the right resources— 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In 2021 alone, 211 call specialists responded to over 20 million calls to assist people in need of resources including food, housing, and more. Because of their commitment, callers who felt despair can begin to heal, and callers who felt stuck can begin to thrive.

We’re honored to celebrate you: our communities’ resource specialists, database curators, call center managers, directors, and outreach specialists. In case you missed it, please enjoy a special 211 Day video message, from us to you!

We’re grateful for 211/United Way team members’ devotion to helping their communities through pandemic challenges while navigating a social care landscape that is vast and ever changing. We know that it takes a community to help people in need find and apply for services. When findhelp and United Way work together, people in need are one step closer to getting help.

We’re proud of our partnerships with United Way and 211s, and welcome the opportunity to connect with local and state 211s to see how we can work together! To learn more about partnership, please visit our United Way and 211 partnership page.

Findhelp Awarded Inaugural ‘Best in KLAS’ for SDoH Networks

KLAS Research, a healthcare IT evaluator who provides ‘accurate, honest and impartial’ analysis based on extensive reviews with healthcare users, has awarded Findhelp the inaugural #1 Best in KLAS distinction for social determinants of health (SDoH) networks. KLAS designated Findhelp’s score as 89.4 out of 100, surpassing all other SDoH vendors nationwide. Read on to learn more about why Findhelp earned this distinction.



SDoH network report highlights

In the 2022 KLAS report, Findhelp received top marks in value, loyalty, operations, and relationship, and rated highly for culture and product. 100% of Findhelp customers surveyed by KLAS Research agreed:


How does our score compare?


Findhelp score chart from 'Best in KLAS' 2022 report
2022 Best in KLAS report


What are our customers saying?


“We have had an excellent experience with Findhelp. They have been very oriented toward customer service. They have been thoughtful in their approach. Findhelp puts the person who needs access to social resources first… Findhelp is very collaborative in terms of trying to find solutions. Their leadership team has always demonstrated open communication and integrity.”

Director, November 2021 (KLAS website)

“… a community-facing representative helps us onboard community organizations to utilize the platform and communicate the importance of checking for referrals and closing the loop… We work in tandem with that representative to identify the partners we want to include in our webinars or educational sessions. That has been a real gift for our team.”

Director, November 2021 (KLAS website)

“Findhelp has a robust analytics suite that helped us understand the needs of different members of our community… that is a growth opportunity, and Findhelp has many different ways we can evaluate platform utilization that is tremendously helpful. The visualizations in the reports are excellent. Findhelp is always open to customizing reports for outcomes, and that is awesome.”

Director, November 2021 (KLAS website)

“The platform is well designed in terms of ease of use for case managers but also for community members. It is really easy to share information and to customize and personalize folders and things like that. The accessibility is great, and there is an easy-access public website that can be used by community members from the organization… All of that works really well.”

Vice President, September 2021 (KLAS website)



Partner with us

Findhelp is the nation’s leading social care network, making it easy for customers in a wide range of industries to integrate social care into the work they already do. We currently partner with over 275 healthcare and payer organizations in addition to our customers in education, government, housing, and more.

Through customer platforms and our public site, findhelp.org, the Findhelp network reaches more than 9 million users across the country, making it easy to connect people seeking help and the verified social care providers that serve them, with dignity and ease. Findhelp is a Public Benefit Corporation and is HITRUST CSF Certified.

Since every organization’s needs are a little different, we work closely with each of our partners to find a solution that’s right for their goals. Schedule time with a team member to explore how Findhelp can help you further your mission.

Impact in Action Video: DePaul’s 70% Closed-Loop Referral Rate

In April 2018, with funding from the UnitedHealthcare Foundation, the DePaul Community Health Centers (DCHC) partnered with Findhelp to begin its Care Fellowship initiative to address social determinants of health (SDoH). Findhelp supported DCHC in creating a coordinated approach that proactively identifies and fulfills the needs of its patients. Through this partnership, DCHC’s closed-loop referral rate has grown to 70% in the three years since its staff first adopted its branded version of Findhelp’s search platform.

How Findhelp Meets DePaul Community Health Centers’ Needs:

  • Findhelp’s assessment feature allows DCHC’s patients to easily connect with the social services they need
  • Findhelp’s easy-to-use case management software keeps DCHC’s staff organized and informed of all patient activity
  • Findhelp’s comprehensive database of social care programs has made it simple for DCHC’s staff to find relevant resources for their patients and close the loop on referrals

About DePaul Community Health Centers

DePaul Community Health Centers (DCHC), a member of Ascension, one of the leading non-profit and Catholic health systems in the U.S., is a non-profit healthcare organization offering primary and preventive health services to all members of the Greater New Orleans community, regardless of their ability to pay. DCHC has provided access to high-quality, compassionate health care since 1834.

1

Challenges

DCHC launched a community health worker program in 2011 to address its patients’ SDoH needs. The health care agency needed a way to manage all of its patient information, but did not have a reliable case management system or know of any software that would be useful. DCHC’s community health navigators resorted to using Excel spreadsheets to keep its patient and client needs organized, but this was tedious to maintain, especially while trying to build trust with patients.

Bryan Refsland, a community health navigator with DePaul Community Health Centers, delivers a box of food to one of his clients in New Orleans, LA. Refsland works primarily with a population of formerly homeless individuals, helping them navigate the social services they need to maintain healthier lives.

DCHC’s navigators stretch the boundaries of patient care. Their one-on-one support ranges from scheduling appointments and helping enroll individuals in health insurance, to home visits and more. While DCHC’s navigators are able to address some of these needs in real time, others are more difficult. They turned to Google to find local resources for patients, and although Google was helpful, their searches were extensive, time-consuming, and often not productive. Furthermore, it was difficult to close the loop and confirm if help was provided. DCHC wanted an easy way to identify the needs of its clients and address their concerns while also staying organized internally so they could continue to complete their essential work.

How DePaul Community Health Centers Increased its Closed-Loop Referral Rate 

In 2018, DCHC found and connected with Findhelp at a Medicaid conference. When the health care agency initially decided to partner with Findhelp, DCHC only wanted to use their custom platform to house patient information and did not consider the other case management tools Findhelp offered. Once DCHC saw the value of Findhelp’s comprehensive database of social services, however, its staff realized just how much their patients (and navigators) could benefit from the additional tools.

Shortly after the conference, DCHC launched its branded version of Findhelp’s search platform to support its Care Fellowship initiative. The goal was to connect patients and clients with organizations that address Social Determinants of Health, and effectively organize patient data, resources, and referrals. Utilizing Findhelp at the beginning stages of the initiative proved to be instrumental for DCHC and helped grow their closed-loop referral rate to 70%.

“We use Findhelp as a case management tool. It helps us keep our patients and clients very organized to remember what resources we sent them,” says Zwena Moore-Randolph, Director of Business Development and Community Engagement, “So then we can see if one particular resource is in progress, if one is completed…it just helps keep us organized.”

DePaul Community Health Centers’ team of community health navigators has grown to include 12 navigators, some of whom are pictured here in their office in New Orleans, LA. The navigators spend a lot of time away from their desks, helping community members access the social services they need to improve their health.

The community health navigators at DCHC have created dedicated workflows to monitor referral outcomes after referring their patients to a local community-based organization (CBO). Immediately after making a referral, the case manager updates the status to ‘pending’, to normalize the referral update process. Two days after the initial referral is sent, DCHC’s navigators follow-up with their patients to ensure they received help. If the patient has not yet received services, the navigators will reach out again two weeks later for another update. In addition to specific follow-up timeframes, the navigators have also built personal relationships with many staff members at CBOs and encourage them to update the statuses of DCHC’s patient referrals. These workflows and relationships help navigators keep track of who is getting help and whose needs are still unmet to effectively manage the Care Fellowship initiative on their Findhelp platform, and close the loop on referrals.

Beyond referrals, DCHC’s staff partnered with Findhelp to embed an SDoH assessment into its Findhelp platform. Findhelp’s assessment feature allows DCHC to collect and validate patient social care needs to improve navigation of their branded platform and provide guidance for their navigators. After completing the assessment, patients automatically receive program recommendations based on their answers. They also have the option of getting their program recommendations sent to them via email, text, or print for ease of use. The assessment feature makes searching for social services easier for DCHC’s patients while also giving insight to DCHC’s navigators on how to better serve their clients.

Results of Working with Findhelp

“What I find very helpful about Findhelp…this technology is geared toward what the patient needs,” says Shelia Alexander, Community Health Navigator, “Findhelp gives you the resource, the contact information, the people who the agency serves, how to get in touch with the agency, and all of the information that the client needs to navigate that resource.”

The Findhelp case management software offers DCHC’s community health navigators an easy way to find and save resources for their clients, assess their patients for social determinants of health, and stay organized and informed of all patient activity. Through its Findhelp platform, strategic workflows, and the dedication of their community health navigators, DCHC closes the loop on referrals and gets individuals the help they need, sooner rather than later.

Want to learn more?

Read about how your organization can benefit from the Findhelp network and check out our Impact in Action video on DePaul Community Health Center.

Aunt Bertha Employee Volunteer Days Are Rooted In Our Culture of Caring

In the final week of April, more than 60 Aunt Bertha employees set aside their laptops and set to work helping nonprofits in a new way — by plucking weeds at a local farm, or packing food boxes for community distribution, or filling backpacks for children entering foster care.

It was part of Aunt Bertha’s first company-wide volunteer effort: Aunt Bertha Gives Back (ABGB). Created and coordinated by a group of employees, the initiative offers everyone at the company eight hours of paid time twice a year to volunteer with a nonprofit organization in their local area. Aunt Bertha’s mission to help connect people to social services draws a staff of people highly committed to their communities and dedicated to service.

Kim Flores, director of People Operations at Aunt Bertha, says the effort “signals to employees that we don’t only care about the immediate work we’re doing, but we care about the community at large. And it signals to the communities we’re in that we care about you, we want to contribute.”

Kim Flores works in the field at FarmShare Austin with other Aunt Bertha volunteers. [Photo by Jim Tuttle]

For a business committed to helping people find help with dignity and ease, volunteering for direct-service nonprofits offers Aunt Bertha employees new opportunities to understand the needs of a community and the work organizations undertake to meet those needs. 

“We talk about connecting people to help and engaging with the community,” says Mike Aaron, executive assistant at Aunt Bertha. “There’s no better way to connect people to help and engage with the community than experiencing it firsthand, and to support the work of these nonprofits.”

With the majority of Aunt Bertha’s employees based in Austin, much of this first ABGB effort centered there, focusing on groups like Central Texas Food Bank, Community First! Village, Urban Roots, Carrying Hope, and Farmshare Austin. 

Mike Aaron pulls weeds at Community First! Village with other volunteers from Aunt Bertha. [Photo by Jim Tuttle]

But employees nationwide also formed smaller groups in their cities to find ways to give back. Aunt Bertha staff in Denver volunteered at Food Bank of the Rockies; employees in Seattle gave their time to Wellspring Family Services; and a group in Madison, Wisconsin, supported the Madison Community Foundation. 

In all, employees donated nearly 350 volunteer hours to 10 organizations across four states. Organizers for this effort hope the contributions increase as the initiative continues into the fall, and beyond.

Employees who coordinated the effort made sure to include COVID-safe options — opportunities outdoors or in large, open indoor spaces. But the group also included volunteer-from-home or solo opportunities, like making therapy dolls and delivering early Mother’s Day gifts to older women from South Asia who benefit from an organization called SAIVA. 

“We really tried to find things that would meet people where they are in today’s climate, hoping that in the fall, we can have more opportunities to be together,” said Flores.

Jess Johnson delivered 100 books to Little Free Libraries across Dane County, Wisconsin as part of a volunteer effort with the Madison reading Project. [Photo by Jess Johnson]
Aunt Bertha staffers completed nearly 100 therapy dolls for the nonprofit organization SAIVA. [Photo by Priti Motwani]

For employees who did volunteer in person in groups, ABGB was a welcome chance to see one another in the flesh — though still behind masks — after more than a year working from home in relative isolation. 

“It provided really nice bonding experiences,” Flores said. “We’ve grown a lot in the past year and added a lot of new staff, so many people have never met in person. The volunteer outings allowed us to interact with coworkers and see them in a different environment and learn about each other.”

Candace Stohs-Krause, senior customer success manager at Aunt Bertha, volunteered at FarmShare Austin, pulling weeds from a carrot patch. “Despite the rain, it was a wonderful morning,” Stohs-Krause said. 

“Not just being outside in the fresh air and supporting a great organization,” she added, “but also being in the same space as Berthlings I haven’t seen in more than a year, or have never actually met. Some people were a lot taller than I expected! I’m so glad we’re going to continue doing this regularly.”

Aunt Bertha staffers from Colorado volunteered at a mobile food bank in Denver. [Photo contributed by staff]

FarmShare Austin executive director Andrea Abel, says volunteer groups at the farm go a long way to help staff get their work done. 

“Volunteers are so vital because it means we have to expend fewer of our resources,” Abel said. “We really do rely on volunteer groups like Aunt Bertha’s coming out here. It energizes all of us to see the difference a couple hours can make with so many hands in the field. It’s significant because we just don’t always have the time to put into some of these projects.”

Abel added that staff have been spread thin over the past year, trying to get more work done amongst themselves, since volunteer programs were halted to protect against the spread of COVID-19.

Anthonee Esparza, business intelligence analyst for Aunt Bertha and a member of the volunteer working group, said his time spent volunteering at the Central Texas Food Bank was eye-opening. “It is tragic that this level of food insecurity exists, but it’s heartening to help support an organization fighting to do something about it.” 

“I’m so thrilled to see the launch and success of the ABGB volunteer program,” he added. “It makes me proud to work for a company whose core value is to help people. We all usually contribute to this mission by doing our respective jobs in front of a computer monitor, so it was a pleasure to see folks roll up their sleeves and be on the front lines.”

Anthonee Esparza wraps a pallet of food boxes packed by other volunteers at Capital of Texas Food Bank. [Photo by Kelly West]

Interested in joining our team?

Check out our careers page.

By the way, who’s Aunt Bertha?

Aunt Bertha is the leading referral platform for social services in America, serving the biggest cities and smallest towns. We connect people seeking help and the verified social care providers that serve them, with dignity and ease. We make it easy for people to find social services in their communities, for nonprofits to coordinate their efforts, and for organizations to integrate social care into the work they already do. We serve millions of users and our platform is used in a wide range of industries including education, government, housing, and healthcare.

Stanford Immigration Policy Lab Collaborates with Findhelp to Study Service Gaps

The Immigration Policy Lab (IPL) at Stanford University recently completed a nationwide study examining the distribution of immigration legal services providers (ISPs). Their work analyzes where low-income immigrant populations live in relation to ISPs, which provide critical services for immigrants, like helping them with complicated legal processes related to living and working in the U.S. Understanding the great need to help this population, Stanford Immigration Policy Lab chose to partner with Findhelp for this research and shared their comprehensive database of over 2,000 ISPs to be listed on Findhelp’s  free online resource, findhelp.org.

How Findhelp meets Stanford Immigration Policy Lab’s needs:

  • Our extensive database lists thousands of immigrant services, ranging from translation services to legal assistance and much more
  • We provide a quick and easy search for anyone to find help for free. Our platform also provides tools for sharing programs with friends and family and connecting directly with programs
  • Our Network Curation team reviews and maintains resources to ensure people looking for help have the right information

About the Immigration Policy Lab

With branches at Stanford University and ETH Zurich, Stanford’s Immigration Policy Lab uses large datasets, creative research designs, and cutting-edge analytical tools to bring new evidence to bear on the urgent problems practitioners face. By guiding the people who set public policy, as well as those who directly serve low-income immigrant communities, their research inspires solutions that improve immigrants’ lives and strengthen the communities receiving them.

Findhelp’s Impact on the Network of ISPs

The goal of IPL’s project was to create a comprehensive list of organizations in the U.S. that provide free or reduced-cost assistance with official immigration-related documents or forms (e.g., naturalization or DACA applications) and legal representation in immigration proceedings. This data would effectively reveal where low-income immigrant communities do not have reasonable access to critical services.

 In their working paper, IPL researchers write, 

“Immigrants often navigate legal challenges most citizens never encounter, such as renewing visas, petitioning for family reunification, pursuing naturalization, or defending themselves against deportation in immigration courts.”

The IPL study underscores the importance of these programs to this population and the importance of having a resource like findhelp.org to find these programs.   

The ISP network and the low-income immigrant population size across the U.S.

IPL reached out to Findhelp about a research partnership after exploring findhelp.org and finding a number of ISPs already listed. Understanding the great value of the research, we shared data on these existing immigrant service organizations to help the IPL team map where low-income immigrant legal services were located in relation to need. The IPL team added these organizations to a larger list compiled from multiple sources in an attempt to create a complete listing of ISPs across the country. Findhelp also added to our network every ISP in the comprehensive database constructed by the Stanford team. Through this work, immigrants across the nation can use findhelp.org to connect to an ISP in their community.

Stanford’s Research Findings

Once equipped with the combined data from the Department of Justice, the Immigration Advocates Network, and Findhelp, the Stanford research team was interested to find out whether there were communities that were overserved or underserved. Finding areas with gaps in the provision of services to low-income immigrants could help governments, funders, and service providers more effectively invest their resources in the communities that could most benefit from additional support. 

The Stanford research team found that most immigrants whose household income is below 150% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines live close to an ISP but that there are underserved areas in southern cities that have more recently become a popular destination for immigrants. Their analysis suggests that rearranging the distribution of ISPs across the nation would provide access to over one million more low-income immigrants nationwide. 

Moving Forward

Findhelp’s unique network of hundreds of thousands of social service programs and nationwide search data provides an opportunity to obtain important insights regarding individuals seeking help. As part of our public benefit mission, we seek out opportunities to leverage our data with partners like Stanford’s Immigration Policy Lab to enhance our collective understanding of how we best help people seeking services.  

Want to partner on a research project?

Schedule a demo with one of our team members to see how Findhelp can benefit your organization.

Alexandria House: How a Transitional Housing Nonprofit Amplifies Its Impact with Findhelp

Based in Los Angeles, California, Alexandria House provides a two-year transitional housing program and aftercare services to women and women. By using Findhelp’s free online social care referral platform, Alexandria House is able to better serve their residents and community by easily connecting them to local resources.

How Findhelp meets Alexandria House’s Needs:


About Alexandria House

Alexandria House is a transitional residence and house of hospitality. They provide safe and supportive housing for women and children in the process of moving from emergency shelter to economic stability and permanent housing. Located in the densely populated and ethnically diverse Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles, they also serve their broader neighborhood community by providing educational and enrichment opportunities.

 


Challenges

When Alexandria House first opened their doors to help their community in Los Angeles, they quickly noticed that housing wasn’t the only issue these individuals were facing. With the federal definition of homelessness being so narrow, people are left to call any and all programs they find, including Alexandria House. Calls range across all categories of need, addiction recovery, transportation, food, and domestic violence support. While Alexandria House is able to provide transitional housing and client case management, they do not have the physical capacity to help everyone who contacts them. To make matters more difficult, they also experience a high call volume (1,000 a month, on average) from individuals seeking help in the LA area. 

Alexandria House aims to not turn someone away without a next step or lead for other services; going to great lengths to still help people they can’t directly assist. The struggle to find resources for the people that called them for help was insurmountable. To address these challenges, they collected resources as their staff learned and networked, or as people who called gave them new information. They resorted to manually writing this new information down in a shared book, but found it very difficult to keep their information updated, as nonprofit organizations tend to quickly run out of space and resources.

Two of Alexandria House's transitional homes in Los Angeles, California.

“We struggled to find ways to get resources to people who called in or stopped by our organization when we didn’t have resources to give right away,” says Madison Craigo, a case worker at Alexandria House, “there’s so much need in Los Angeles right now and there are a lot of resources that are able to give help, but we found difficulty in connecting the two.”

Alexandria House staff wanted an easy way to get resources to folks who called them seeking shelter. Not all callers are able to write down numbers and names, or even get internet access to look up information on their own. 


 

How Alexandria House Amplified their Impact with Findhelp

“We went to an opening meeting with Findhelp and learned about the site and started putting it to work,” says Madison Craigo, “I shared it with our staff and made a lot of folders for the various people and situations I usually get calls about.”

In early 2020, Alexandria House connected with Findhelp through another member of the nonprofit community. Soon after, their staff participated in a Findhelp community workshop held at the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, where they learned how to navigate for resources and make and track referrals on the Findhelp.org platform. 

Residents and staff of Alexandria House with Justin Bieber during a visit in early 2020.

Alexandria House has specific needs for their current and former clients and their greater community. With a wide variety of needs beyond housing, such as mental health, job readiness, and rental assistance, they found that findhelp.org encompassed exactly what they needed — a strong database of resources that was quick, easy, and reliable. Through Findhelp’s Favorites Folders Tool Alexandria House staff now creates lists of regularly used programs to share, so that they can easily reference them when they’re on calls.

The user-friendly Findhelp platform has empowered Alexandria House to help people they previously could not easily serve. Their staff no longer relies on manually writing down information because they know and trust the resources in Findhelp are robust, up to date, and truly there for their community. Now, they supplement their capacity for those they can’t help directly by navigating findhelp.org to find a resource nearby that can help them. 

“Now, when people call looking for shelter or housing, I’m able to have a conversation and find out their situation and where in LA they are currently at and cater a list of resources for them and their specific needs. Before, I would have a conversation and then have to do a little bit of research to find what places were available and close to them. Now, it’s a lot quicker and I know that the people I’m talking to are getting all of the information up front about the resources I am giving them,” says an Alexandria House staff resident.


Results of Working with Findhelp

Findhelp’s free online resource, findhelp.org, provides an opportunity for Alexandria House to amplify their impact by providing them with a comprehensive network of hundreds of thousands of vetted social care programs. Alexandria House staff can now easily search and find resources and can connect their clients to nearby programs on findhelp.org. They spend less time trying to navigate the system on their own and more time helping people in their community. 

 

Want to learn more?

Read about how your organization can benefit from the Findhelp network. If you’re a part of a nonprofit in California and want to get more involved, check out our work in the west coast.

NC MedAssist Sees a 2800% Increase in Referrals Within One Year of Joining Findhelp

Since 2017, NC MedAssist has been using the Findhelp network to receive referrals for uninsured and low-income individuals seeking pharmaceutical drugs throughout North Carolina. Fellow Findhelp customers Atrium Health, Novant Health and Benelynk serve as their top providers for referrals. Through these partners and other sources, NC MedAssist has seen a 2800% increase in referrals within one year of joining the Findhelp network. 

How Findhelp meets NC MedAssists’s needs:

 

About NC MedAssist

NC MedAssist is the only statewide nonprofit pharmacy in North Carolina. They provide prescription and over-the-counter medications at no cost to their neighbors in need. They believe that no one should ever have to choose between purchasing food or buying their medicine.


 

Challenges

Before joining the Findhelp network, NC MedAssist faced a lot of difficulty in spreading the word about their organization. In order to get referrals, they would arrange meetings at hospitals and private practices, use billboard ads, and even go door-to-door in their community for people to learn about their services.

These efforts were tedious and took away from the time they could have spent linking individuals to the medications they needed. NC MedAssist was looking for a better way to advertise their services that not only benefited them but also the people they were helping. Without a reliable platform, NC MedAssist could not help as many North Carolinians as they aimed to serve.

 


How Findhelp Helped

In 2017, Atrium Health launched their white-label version of Findhelp’s search platform — The Community Resource Hub — to connect their patients and community members with organizations that provide food, housing, and other forms of assistance to address Social Determinants of Health (SDoH). NC MedAssist uses The Community Resource Hub, provided through their partner Atrium Health, as their main platform for promoting and managing their program. Through staff adoption, they were able to begin using Findhelp’s search platform quickly and easily.

Robbie Jarret, Director of Patient Engagement at NC MedAssist

 

After claiming their programs on Atrium’s branded Findhelp platform, NC MedAssist gained access to the free open toolkit for nonprofits. This toolkit offers a multitude of tools designed to help organizations like NC MedAssist support people seeking services. The free suite includes tools like the customizable screening form and referral tracking — both of which are heavily implemented by NC MedAssist staff.

“I love that people can use the screener on the site to enroll in our program.” says Robbie Jarret, Director of Patient Engagement at NC MedAssist.

The screener helps staff confirm whether or not patients are eligible for services, so that their social care workers spend less time figuring out if someone is qualified and spend more time helping. 

“I like the fact that referrals go through immediately, without any wait time. I think that empowers the patient,” comments a staff member on the referral tracking tool.

Once someone refers an individual to NC MedAssist, their staff updates the status of that referral to track the outcome. This makes it simple for NC MedAssist, the person seeking help, and the social care worker helping the individual in need to determine whether or not they can provide services — all within the Findhelp platform. All referral fields — appointment details, screening results, referral status, and more — are available to view in real time. 

Spreading the word about their services to receive referrals (something that was previously a tedious process for NC MedAssist) became uncomplicated and effortless once they were introduced to the Findhelp platform.


 

Results of MedAssist’s Partnership with Findhelp

Within one year of joining the Findhelp network, NC MedAssist saw a 2800% increase in referrals on the platform. Seeing their services openly listed on Findhelp’s platform made it easier for North Carolinians to find their services. This completely eliminated previous efforts of visiting hospitals and door-to-door marketing to spread awareness.

“We serve the whole state of North Carolina and Findhelp is a great way for people to get connected no matter where they live and what kind of medications they need….I love that it’s free, accessible at any time of the day or night and offers a central place to go to and find services, refer patients, and track the status of [the] referral.”

The free intake tools help NC MedAssist staff close the loop faster and get individuals the help they need, sooner rather than later. Findhelp’s user-friendly interface makes navigating the platform a simple process. As a result, Findhelp is NC MedAssist’s preferred search and referral platform, beating out other leading online resources in North Carolina.

NC MedAssist has been a great supporter of the Findhelp network and looks forward to continuing the partnership in helping individuals access medications they need throughout the state of North Carolina. 

 


Want to learn more?

Read about how your organization can benefit from the Findhelp network. If you’re a part of a nonprofit in North Carolina and want to get more involved, check out our work in the east coast.