RLCF Company Profile: Aunt Bertha

As technology continues to advance, we are seeing some important new developments being made in the nonprofit and philanthropic space.

Here at the Robert L. Conconi Foundation, we are always looking to support positive ways in which technology can connect people and improve access to services for those in need.

Today, we’re taking a closer look at our latest Social Impact Investment, a company called Aunt Bertha.

Who is Aunt Bertha?

AuntBertha.com is a freely available online social service program search that allows people to find available food, health, housing, education and job training programs. Through the online platform you can not only find services, but you can seamlessly connect and apply to those services.

The company is approaching its sixth year anniversary – and is based in Austin,TX. Our users and clients are in all 50 states – in the biggest cities – and in the smallest towns. And our customers are the most innovative organizations in healthcare and philanthropy.

Where can we find Aunt Bertha?

AuntBertha.com is currently available to people in the United States in all fifty states. In the coming years we will be expanding to other countries.

What does Aunt Bertha do?

Aunt Bertha, a Public Benefit Corporation based in Austin, TX, exists to make human services information accessible to people in need and the programs that serve them.

People in Need

Making human services information accessible to people in need means that anybody, anywhere can find out what services are available, whether or not they qualify and can begin the process for getting enrolled. It also means that people can track the status of their referrals, view their search history and better understand the population of services available in their community through free community-based reporting.

Programs That Serve (People in Need)

Making human services information accessible to programs that serve (people in need) means that any program administrator can view and update their own listings, make and receive referrals and view reports. Human services information is also information about the health of our communities.

We offer an enterprise version of our platform to organizations that employ teams of social workers, care managers, and navigators. The enterprise edition allows these teams to make referrals on behalf of their clients, collaborate with their teammates and advanced reporting capabilities. Our offering allows these organizations to advance their mission by ensuring that their communities understand what services are available so that can find the help they need when they need it. Our healthcare customers are driving down costs and avoiding penalties by instituting best-practice programs that address the social determinants of health.

How can it help the economic environments in which we live?

A new, but fairly obvious, concept in health care is a realization that economic environments affect a person’s health. If someone is worried about their housing situation, they are more likely to get sick. If they are not eating enough because they can’t afford food, they are more likely to catch a virus or a common cold. As a result of the Affordable Care Act in the United States, the Medicaid and Medicare programs are encouraging healthcare providers to put programs in place to address these issues. As the leading provider of social services search and referral software we work with some of the top hospitals and health insurance companies in the United States.

How does it work?

Users find us by going to www.auntbertha.com, through search engines, or through our customer’s private-label search instances. Once they land on our platform, they simply type in their location and what they’re looking for.

Then, once they find a program, they can easily connect to the agency. The agency will then receive an email, a fax or an application to be enrolled in the program.

We work really hard to help build the easiest path possible for people in need to get connected to a service. If someone knows about a service, then it’s more likely that they can get help. We see our job as a connector, so people can at least get a yes or no decision if they qualify.

Who can use it?

Our users consist of Seekers (anybody seeking a service), family members, social service providers making a referral on a seeker’s behalf and also administrators of programs.

An exciting area where we are investing more and more time is in our reporting platform. Because we see real-time inventory of social service programs, we are beginning to see trends about what services are available in a given community. We also aggregate search data to better understand the demand for services within a community. We are beginning to see where supply is not meeting demand. Policy makers, program administrators are using this data to make funding decisions based on real-data of available supply of services.

The team at the Robert L. Conconi Foundation is incredibly proud to be supporting such a game-changing tool that serves those in need. For more information on this innovative social service program, be sure to visit the Aunt Bertha website or follow along on Facebook and LinkedIn.