Bridging Gaps: LIFT-Los Angeles and One Degree’s Partnership to Expand Networks and Improve Lives

Access to healthy food

Healthcare access

Self-sufficiency

Resilient communities

Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences

Homelessness

We know that our city is at its best when the families and networks that make up our community are vibrant and resilient – yet far too many of our members struggle just to stay afloat. Low-income parents want what all parents do – to make a better life for themselves and their children – but they face numerous barriers to plugging into the economy and cannot readily access the opportunities they need to excel. Through this grant request, LIFT and One Degree seek to make LA the best place to live by solidifying the ground on which low-income parents stand, thereby creating a fairer society for the next generation of Angelenos.

LIFT has always helped our members navigate complex social service systems in order to be able to connect to housing, employment, education, child care, legal services, and other systems that members bump up against as they endeavor to provide a better life for themselves and their families. It has always been LIFT’s ultimate goal to empower members to access these resources…getting this information directly in their hands instead of being the intermediary. Furthermore, we know that this program model can pose a potential barrier to members in requiring them to come into our offices to be able to engage services and get the information they need.

One Degree, a technology-driven nonprofit, provides LIFT members with a strong community resource platform that is uniquely user-friendly and accessible (available at all times via computer and mobile device). Partnering with One Degree puts LIFT closer to the goal of true empowerment in putting critical information directly into their hands. With this technology, LIFT is able to be more active in the coaching process in communicating with members to follow up on appointments, offer suggestions, send motivating messages- beyond the bounds of an office appointment.

Members at LIFT will utilize One Degree in their resource search to directly access healthy food, housing assistance, and other resources that help parents become more self-sufficient and create happier, healthier homes for their children. To track members’ progress, One Degree uses a referral management system (RMS). RMS will help streamline LIFT’s work by enabling LIFT staff to specifically recommend services and provide a check-list of next steps to members. As part of our shared commitment to elevating members’ voices, LIFT and One Degree infuse accountability into our work by responding directly to members’ feedback and concerns (e.g. via LIFT’s survey system, Constituent Voice and One Degree’s rating system), which in turn helps LIFT build a higher-quality experience for families.

LIFT’s strategic approach to partnership-building and One Degree’s innovative tech solution represent the future of poverty alleviation: together, we create new avenues for greater coordination among diverse stakeholders and empower people to access resources efficiently.

By some measures, low-income families spend as many as twenty hours/week researching, finding, and traveling to multiple agencies to attain the services they need. LIFT and One Degree are working together to connect overstretched parents to the resources their families need to get ahead. Both are data-driven organizations, measurement is built into their systems.

We will define our collective impact along the following measures:

(1)Program uptake: 200 LIFT members will utilize One Degree, as tracked via LIFT’s management system, Link. Changes in access can be measured via One Degree’s 'Get Started' tracking system, which allows users to tell us that they used a service. This puts the power in the hands of those accessing resources - the overworked mom, the school teacher, the care provider - and ultimately builds a community of advocates.

(2)Program retention: 75% of LIFT members who use One Degree will utilize the resource at least once a month. Tracking and measurement capabilities are built directly into One Degree’s system, Mixpanel, and a proprietary dashboard to keep track of metrics.

(3) Increase in linkages and referrals: of LIFT members who utilize One Degree, at least half will have successful completion of a referral towards achieving a goal.

Money

Publicity/awareness

Technical infrastructure (computers

Community outreach