Benetech Secures Funding from David and Lucile Packard Foundation to Strengthen the Bay Area’s Social Safety Net
PALO ALTO, Calif. — May 31, 2018 — Benetech, the leading software for social good nonprofit, today announced funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation in support of Benetech Service Net, an open standards data exchange platform that allows for more accurate, timely, and cost-effective maintenance of social services resource data. The funding builds on existing financial support from Kaiser Permanente and data partnerships with leading social services providers and referral agencies.
“People across the Bay Area struggle on a daily basis to access the services they need to live and prosper,” said Anh Bui, Vice President, Benetech. “Funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation brings Benetech and our growing list of partners one step closer to ensuring all Bay Area social services agencies have the referral information necessary to assist anyone who calls, clicks, or visits.”
Today’s funding will fuel development and implementation of Benetech Service Net’s software solution that improves the flow of data among various social service and referral providers. To date, other such efforts have focused primarily on creating a single, nationwide database that requires social services referral agencies to adapt the database to their needs. Benetech Service Net provides partners a more flexible model in which local communities serve as the foundation.
Benetech Service Net partners represent the largest collaboration of Bay Area social services providers working collectively to drive impact through improved resource data collaboration. Partners include Eden I&R/2-1-1 Alameda County, Health Leads, Healthify, San Mateo County, St. Anthony’s, and United Way Bay Area.
Benetech Service Net is part of Benetech’s continued partnership with the Open Referral Initiative, which is developing data standards that make it easier to share, find, and use information about community resources.
Read more about Benetech’s poverty alleviation efforts.
About Benetech
Benetech is a nonprofit that empowers communities with software for social good. Our work transforms how people with disabilities read and learn, makes it safer for human rights defenders to pursue truth and justice, and connects people to the services they need to live and prosper. We’re constantly pursuing the next big social impact. Visit www.benetech.org.