Opinion: “SingleStop” Shopping for Antipoverty Benefits

The nonprofit organization SingleStop USA helps needy people obtain government benefits, and its success is underscored by its ability to raise $35-million in less than nine months, writes Georgia Levenson Keohane, a philanthropy consultant, in an opinion piece in Slate.

Pointing to a record 28 million Americans on food stamps, Ms. Keohane asserts that SingleStop’s services are particularly needed in today’s “uncertain economic climate.” The start-up organization, she writes, uses “Turbo-tax like software” and counseling to help people tap into government benefits for which they are eligible but not using.

The Robin Hood Foundation started a pilot version of the program in New York in 2001, which has helped 70,000 New Yorkers gain access to benefits.