Transforming Lives Through Holistic Support with Single Stop
Goddard Riverside is one of New York City’s leading human service organizations, supporting more than 20,000 New Yorkers each year. Their mission is to promote dignity and self-reliance, working every day to create a fair and just society where all individuals can access opportunities that improve their lives and the lives of their families. By integrating Single Stop’s Benefits and Community Resources platform, the Resource Center has significantly enhanced its ability to serve clients. The platform provides easy access to a wide array of federal and state benefits, including food assistance, healthcare, housing, utility support, and veterans' services. Additionally, Single Stop’s Community Resource Map connects clients to local services tailored to their specific needs, ensuring that all available resources are effectively utilized.

With the ability to conduct comprehensive assessments, case managers can now identify multiple benefits that clients may qualify for, going beyond their initial requests. Every interaction is logged into Single Stop’s case management system, ensuring continuity of care—an essential feature for the Resource Center’s growing client base, as it allows case managers to pick up where others have left off, with all relevant data readily available.

The Challenge

‍Serving a diverse and vulnerable community, Goddard Riverside’s Resource Center supports individuals and families from all walks of life, including economically disadvantaged groups, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. Many of these clients require assistance across various areas, including food assistance, housing stability, healthcare, and utility support. The Resource Center supports them throughout the entire process from education and application submission to interviews and ongoing advocacy.

As the community continues to grow and evolve, the Resource Center needed a more efficient, comprehensive system that could streamline the identification of benefits and optimize the entire application and advocacy process. The goal was to serve as many clients as possible, with greater speed and accuracy, ensuring that all individuals received the full range of support they needed.

The Solution
Since 2021, the Resource Center has identified over $66 million in total potential eligible benefits for clients through the utilization of Single Stop services. This significant impact has directly contributed to improving the lives of thousands of families in New York City.

Impact
A recent example highlights the transformative effect of Single Stop’s support. A client, a mother with a severely disabled son, came to the Resource Center in search of comprehensive assistance. She faced multiple barriers, including a language barrier and a lack of knowledge of available services.

Through the support of Single Stop, case managers:

• Applied for seven different benefits to support her family.
• Ensured continuous access to food stamps and Social Security benefits.
• Assisted with affordable housing recertification annually.
• Secured public transit fare assistance.
• Accessed utility support and Medicaid benefits.

By using Single Stop’s case management records and document uploads, along with multiple databases, caseworkers can track applications, documents, and client progress across various programs such as general assistance, mentorship, and housing support. This streamlined approach has led to improved operational efficiency, allowing staff to dedicate more time to educating clients on their rights and responsibilities and enhancing client empowerment and self-sufficiency.

“We’re very passionate about Single Stop. We love it so much!”
– Nathalie-Pierre Louis, Assistant Program Director, Goddard Resource Center

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