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Single Stop is a nonprofit organization that fosters economic mobility and financial stability in the U.S. by connecting people through a coordinated "one-stop shop" platform that links individuals to a comprehensive array of federal, state, and local benefits and resources.
Founded by Elisabeth Mason as a national nonprofit in 2007, Single Stop grew out of a New York City-based initiative of the Robin Hood Foundation to reduce poverty and build economic security for individuals and families by increasing their access to public benefits and financial, legal, and tax services.
In January 2016, Christy Reeves succeeded Elisabeth Mason as CEO of Single Stop. [1]
In November 2021, Martin Hanna became the president and CEO of Single Stop. [2]
Single Stop provides its services within organizations who serve a population of Americans, such as food pantries, schools, and health centers. Staff is trained to screen individuals for the benefits and services for which they may be eligible as well as provide assistance in accessing those resources.
Single Stop's initiatives focus on creating financial stability for such specific low-income populations as community college students and veterans. On campus, Single Stop assists community colleges in retaining students through completion, thus reducing dropout rates and increasing students’ future income. [3] [4] Single Stop also helps the Office of Veterans Affairs transition veterans back to civilian life and reduce the number of veterans living in poverty.
According to the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Single Stop “has grown fast, and it’s poised to grow still more. Its goal, according to Mason, is to serve more than 1 million households annually by 2018. By expanding its reach into community colleges, veterans’ facilities, and other venues, Single Stop aims to equip more and more clients with the skills, services, and benefits that they need to gain a shot at sustainable economic security.” [5]
Single Stop was cited by Fast Company as one of “The World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in Social Good” for making government benefits less daunting. [6]
Single Stop is an online screening tool that can quickly link students to federal, state, and local aid, with questions about household size, income, and location. [7]
Upon completing the benefit screener, clients are immediately given an estimate of how much aid they’re eligible to receive for programs like the Affordable Connectivity Program. [8] [6]
The platform streamlines the process of connecting clients with services, addressing fundamental needs such as food access, education, healthcare, financial assistance, housing security, and tax preparation. Users can directly contact recommended benefit providers through the application. [6]
Single Stop's services have been shown to positively impact student retention, academic performance, and persistence rates in external studies conducted by Metis Associates and The RAND Corporation. These studies provide evidence that Single Stop helps educational institutions improve student success, particularly among subgroups such as students of color, low-income students, and first-generation college students. [4] [3]
The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 and 1965. The term was first referenced during a 1964 speech by Johnson at Ohio University, then later formally presented at the University of Michigan, and came to represent his domestic agenda. The main goal was the total elimination of poverty and racial injustice.
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings and checking accounts; microinsurance; and payment systems, among other services. Microfinance services are designed to reach excluded customers, usually poorer population segments, possibly socially marginalized, or geographically more isolated, and to help them become self-sufficient. ID Ghana is an example of a microfinance institution.
The Fair Deal was a set of proposals put forward by U.S. President Harry S. Truman to Congress in 1945 and in his January 1949 State of the Union address. More generally, the term characterizes the entire domestic agenda of the Truman administration, from 1945 to 1953. It offered new proposals to continue New Deal liberalism, but with a conservative coalition controlling Congress, only a few of its major initiatives became law and then only if they had considerable GOP support. As Richard Neustadt concludes, the most important proposals were aid to education, national health insurance, the Fair Employment Practices Commission, and repeal of the Taft–Hartley Act. They were all debated at length, then voted down. Nevertheless, enough smaller and less controversial items passed that liberals could claim some success.
A means test is a determination of whether an individual or family is eligible for government assistance or welfare, based upon whether the individual or family possesses the means to do without that help.
David N. Chartrand, is a Métis politician and activist who has served as the democratically elected President of the Manitoba Métis Federation since 1997. He is the longest serving President of the Manitoba Métis Federation's history, currently serving an eighth term following the 2022 unprecedented mass acclamation of all elected officials. He has also served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Métis National Council from 1997 to 2021 and held a variety of portfolios, prior to the withdrawal of the Manitoba Métis Federation from the Métis National Council in 2021, over concerns that the Métis National Council was allowing the distortion of the nationally accepted definition of Métis.[2].
Opportunity International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization chartered in the United States of America. Through a network of 47 program and support partners, Opportunity International provides small business loans, savings, insurance and training to more than 14 million people in the developing world. It has clients in more than 20 countries and works with fundraising partners in the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Opportunity International has 501(c)(3) status as a tax-exempt charitable organization in the United States of America under the US Internal Revenue Code.
The Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) is a provincial program established in 1979 in Alberta, Canada, that provides financial and health related benefits to eligible adult Albertans under the age of 65, who are legally identified as having severe and permanent disabilities that seriously impede the individual's ability to earn a living. The total AISH caseload was 69,785 in 2020, which represents 1.6% of Alberta's population. For those eligible for AISH, benefits include a monthly payment, as well as access to a number of services and/or subsidies, including prescriptions, dental and optical services. In 2020, the primary medical conditions of 44.1% of AISH recipients were related to physical disabilities, 30.4% were related to mental illness disorders, and 25.4% to cognitive disorders, and over 40% of AISH recipients were over fifty years of age. By 2020, the maximum AISH rate for a single person was C$1,685 per month. AISH was indexed to the Consumer Price Index in 2018, de-indexed in 2020, and is being indexed again beginning January 2023. Since 1998, there has been a C$100,000 limit on the amount of liquid assets an AISH recipient can possess. There is also a dollar for dollar claw back on any form of additional income above a set amount that an individual or a family unit receiving AISH, might earn or receive. Such offsets include federal aid, such as Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefits, a spouse's income, disability benefits through a private insurance plan, and/or Worker Compensation Board (WCB) benefits.
Solid Ground is an anti-poverty and social service organization in Seattle, Washington. Originating in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood and now based in the adjacent Wallingford neighborhood, the organization works to solve poverty and serves clients throughout Seattle, King County and statewide.
Scholarship America is a Minnesota-based American philanthropic organization that assists communities, corporations, foundations and individuals with fundraising, managing and awarding scholarships to students. The organization designs, administers and manages corporate and foundation scholarship programs; it also operates Dollars for Scholars, a coalition of local scholarship organizations in communities across the United States.
Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) is a publicly funded and publicly accountable non-profit corporation, responsible for administering the legal aid program in the province of Ontario, Canada. Through a toll-free number and multiple in-person locations such as courthouse offices, duty counsel and community legal clinics, the organization provides more than one million assists to low-income Ontario residents each year.
The United States spends approximately $2.3 trillion dollars on federal and state social programs include cash assistance, health insurance, food assistance, housing subsidies, energy and utilities subsidies, and education and childcare assistance. Similar benefits are sometimes provided by the private sector either through policy mandates or on a voluntary basis. Employer-sponsored health insurance is an example of this.
Legal aid in the United States is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system in the United States. In the US, legal aid provisions are different for criminal law and civil law. Criminal legal aid with legal representation is guaranteed to defendants under criminal prosecution who cannot afford to hire an attorney. Civil legal aid is not guaranteed under federal law, but is provided by a variety of public interest law firms and community legal clinics for free or at reduced cost. Other forms of civil legal aid are available through federally-funded legal services, pro bono lawyers, and private volunteers.
LIFT is a nonprofit dedicated to helping families break the cycle of poverty in the United States. By fostering relationships between low-income parents (members) and dedicated volunteers (advocates), LIFT helps families build the strong personal, social and financial foundations to secure immediate, critical needs and to achieve long-term goals and aspirations.
The Human Resources Administration or Department of Social Services (HRA/DSS) is the department of the government of New York City in charge of the majority of the city's social services programs. HRA helps New Yorkers in need through a variety of services that promote employment and personal responsibility while providing temporary assistance and work supports. Its regulations are compiled in title 68 of the New York City Rules. The current Commissioner of HRA is Molly Wasow Park, who was appointed to the position by Mayor Eric Adams. HRA is the largest city social services agency in the United States. It has a budget of $9.7 billion, employs over 14,000 people, and serves over 3 million New Yorkers.
Daniel R. Porterfield is an American nonprofit executive, academic administrator, and government official serving as the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. Porterfield previously served as the 15th president of Franklin & Marshall College, senior vice president for strategic development and English professor at Georgetown University, and communications director and chief speechwriter for the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary during the Clinton Administration.
ConnectEd is a United States Federal Government Initiative that aims to increase internet connectivity and technology in all public schools to enhance learning. The ConnectEd initiative is funded through Title IV Part A of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which designates specific monies for the effective use of technology in schools. The 2016 National Education Technology Plan aligns with ConnectEd as a published action plan to meet these goals of technology integration and connectivity.
Elisabeth Mason is an American lawyer and venture philanthropist. She serves as the Founding Director of the Stanford Technology, Opportunity and Poverty Lab at Stanford University. She is also the co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Single Stop USA, a nonprofit that promotes economic mobility by connecting people to untapped US Government benefits.
One Million Degrees (OMD) is an American non-profit organization based in Chicago, Illinois. OMD aims to assist Chicago-area students from low-income backgrounds to graduate from community college. OMD also assists students in networking with professionals and mentoring in their career field of interest. One Million Degrees provides financial, educational, and emotional support during the participants' studies.
The Government of Canada introduced multiple temporary social security and financial aid programs in response to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. The initial CA$82-billion aid package was announced on March 18, 2020 by Justin Trudeau.
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a US$1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to speed up the country's recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing recession. First proposed on January 14, 2021, the package builds upon many of the measures in the CARES Act from March 2020 and in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, from December.