For most people, navigating the system to get help is often difficult, time consuming, and frustrating. Findhelp is a social care network that connects people and programs — making it easy to find local, county, state and national services and programs that are available in the biggest cities and the smallest towns.
Findhelp.org is a free, online search and referral platform that lists hundreds of thousands of free and reduced-cost services in every zip code across the United States. This platform is easy to use and serves both people in need and the organizations that serve them. Any program can be listed on findhelp.org as long as they offer free or reduced-cost services.
Enter your zip code and findhelp connects users to a list of programs broken into categories; food, housing, health care, treatment services and transit. Over 2,000+ programs are listed in both North Dakota and South Dakota. Not seeing the program you’re looking for? You can visit the Suggest a Program feature on the site to request a program or service addition.
Roger Stremming is the Community Engagement Manager at findhelp and shares a little more about his role with the organization and the value brought to individuals and community partners.
My role is to be a bridge builder. My main goals are to increase the visibility of the findhelp network and train our customers and community organizations on how findhelp can improve their unique workflows.
I work with our customers, which include healthcare providers, local governments, community action partnerships and more. I help them find and connect with community organizations, such as food pantries, housing agencies, addiction recovery services, etc. For example, if an individual is at a doctor’s appointment and identified as being in need of housing, food or mental health services, the care providers have the ability to refer that individual to a community resource directly and discreetly.
I’ve worked in libraries for over 14 years of all different sizes and I received my Master of Library Science degree in 2017. My most recent role was as a Youth Services Librarian and was where I was introduced to findhelp. I was immediately hooked by its ease of use and the value it added to the services we offered at the library. This work and company align with my personal values; information quality, privacy and equity. Being able to not only help healthcare providers connect with community organizations easily, but also help strengthen communities as a whole by reinforcing the social safety net is amazing.
When I was working as a librarian, I met a family who was new to town. The mother shared she had utilized the library kiosk with the local findhelp site pulled up earlier that day. Her family was essentially homeless for a brief time as they were transitioning into their new apartment. Similarly, they were awaiting their first paychecks. They were in a new location and were feeling anxious and in limbo. While using the findhelp service at our library that day, the mother created a list of local food banks and identified a national cancer survivor’s network she was going to contact for support. Stories like this is why I chose to join findhelp.
I love helping connect people with services and organizations that are available. Seeing the amount of work that people put into their communities drives me to better myself and better findhelp so we can assist those offering services to those in need. Through findhelp, I believe we are bettering communities and improving the lives of people.
Contact Roger, via email, @ rstremming@findhelp.com
We are looking for stories of individuals and/or organizations that have used the findhelp platform to access or identify services. Do you have a story? If you are willing to share, we would love to have a conversation with you. Tell Us Your Story.
Findhelp (formerly Aunt Bertha) was built in 2010 to offer an easier way to find social services and to connect to them directly and electronically. 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.