Single Stop USA is a national not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping financially vulnerable families and students gain economic mobility by connecting them to existing benefits and services intended for them.

Single Stop was launched as a program by the Robin Hood Foundation in New York City, where its offices were set up starting in 2001 within existing, trusted community-based organizations. By 2006, it had grown into a large and successful antipoverty effort that served over 70,000 households. Then, with support from Atlantic Philanthropies, it was rolled out nationally in 2007 and expanded with sites in California, New Jersey, New Mexico and most recently Florida.

When a person or a family visits a Single Stop office, they meet with a trained, experienced counselor. Using a Web-based software program called Benefits Enrollment Network (BEN, for short), a counselor can, in as little as 15 minutes, outline the benefits for which the family is eligible. We own BEN and have customized it to provide exactly the information we need. These benefits include food stamps, health insurance, child-care subsidies, tax credits, energy assistance, public assistance, and housing assistance. Counselors then guide people through the application processes. For those who have legal, financial or credit issues, and/or who need their tax returns done, the counselor arranges an appointment for them to see one of our trained specialists. If someone urgently needs assistance for food or transportation, our staffers know how to speed up the process; sometimes a participant can wind up with a Metrocard and food stamps within just a few days.

Single Stop USA is dedicated to helping low-income individuals and families in America achieve financial stability. To this end, we offer an innovative model that combines two essential components: customizable technology that simplifies screening for, and access to, a wide range of government resources and cost-free legal, financial and tax preparation expertise - all in one location in each of the communities we serve.

At our national headquarters in New York's East Harlem, we have a staff of about 40 people. A much smaller staff works out of our satellite office in San Francisco. At each site, Single Stop helps pay and support a staff of at least two. The community college staffers are funded by us but they are supervised by, and are employees of, the college itself to foster the best integration of Single Stop in the college as a whole.

We have good working relationships with key personnel at the local and national level but we are an independent not-for-profit organization. We do receive funding from established government programs such as the White House Social Innovation Fund.

To begin the process, an administrator can send an email to info@singlestopusa.org, or contact one of the staff members at Single Stop's New York headquarters or California office by phone or email. A staff directory is on our website at http://www.singlestopusa.org/About-Us/Staff.shtml

CEO Elisabeth Mason likes to say that her dream is for Single Stop to put itself out of business. We are piloting a model that ideally could be institutionalized in community colleges and other sites by the government. Realistically, in five years we hope to be in dozens of community colleges nationwide and ultimately take on a role that is more supportive, providing technical assistance and training to organizations that provide these services.

Single Stop served over 120,000 families in 2010 and helped to connect them to over $412 million in resources.

SNAP/food stamps, publicly funded health insurance (Medicaid and SCHIP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), emergency cash assistance, federal housing subsidies and rent supports, child care assistance, help paying electric and gas bills, help paying phone bills, Head Start (for children), transportation cost assistance, and the earned income tax credit.

Free financial counseling, free legal advice on issues such as eviction and immigration, and free tax return preparation.

Low-income individuals, families and students who ask for help at any Single Stop office. In 2010, Single Stop helped over 120,000 households connect to over $412 million.

Visit the closest Single Stop office in your neighborhood, or, if you are a community college student, see the Single Stop administrators at your school.

The idea behind the program was to create a facility where a person could get all the help s/he needed to combat poverty in a single centralized location, rather than be required to visit separate federal, state or municipal sites set up to aid those in need. Today, with the help of Single Stop's proprietary BEN software, an experienced case worker can begin the process of determining a person's eligibility for help in as little as 15 minutes. A client may need to return more than once to consult benefits, financial or legal experts, but the entire suite of services is available in a single location -hence the name Single Stop.

Single Stop helps low-income individuals and families at trusted neighborhood community organizations, food pantries, hospitals and New York's Rikers Island jail. We also help community college students by using various grants, including the pioneering White House Social Innovation Fund, to open offices at leading public community colleges. We already have offices at six community colleges within CUNY (City University of New York) plus branches of City College San Francisco and Miami Dade College, the largest in the United States.

Single Stop is expanding to community colleges in other states. We are also exploring offices to help specific populations including veterans in need and low-income seniors.

Community college students are among those hardest hit by the economic downturn in recent years but are also a group with great potential for economic mobility. Also, as little as $300 can be the boost a student needs to stay in school and get a degree or certificate. Finally, a single office in a single college is an efficient, scalable method for serving thousands of low-income strivers who represent one of the best hopes for climbing the ladder to the middle class in a single generation.

New York, New Jersey, California, New Mexico, and Florida.

Single Stop began under the auspices of Robin Hood in New York City. Central to our choice of other states is the availability of specific grants and interested foundations as well as strong potential community partners. For community colleges, Single Stop has formed a partnership with the Association of Community College Trustees to identify sites with the greatest potential for impact.

Single Stop USA is supported mainly by large grants from foundations, charitable organizations such as Robin Hood, and federal grants. We also have obtained smaller grants from regional and family foundations and corporations, as well as individuals.

If you are Benefits Enrollment Network (BEN) user and need to reach BEN User Support please contact:
Hotline: 877-410-6590
Email: bensupport@singlestopusa.org