Meet the Harlem Native Who Is on a Mission to End Poverty in America

“Government is not ‘a system’,” says Elisabeth Mason, co-founder of Single Stop, USA. “It’s lots of systems. And what we care about are the people.”
The East Harlem headquarters of Single Stop, the nonprofit that Mason helped establish seven years ago, invites at-risk Americans from all walks of life to pay a visit. There, representatives demystify the labyrinthine process of accessing aid — quickly determining which public benefits and safety-net programs (from local to federal) their low-income clients may qualify for. And depending upon eligibility and needs, they may be connected to private charitable organizations, too. Through coordination of disparate programs, the organization aims to stabilize individuals and families, eventually lifting them out of poverty and into the middle class.
Mason has spent practically her entire life in East Harlem. Her father, a teacher and playwright and her mother, a social worker, were theater lovers of limited means and wanted to find an affordable way to live in Manhattan. Shortly after the 1968 riots, when Mason was a baby, the family moved into a dilapidated row house that they purchased for $6,000.
Mason’s parents were educated, giving her opportunities unavailable to most of her neighbors. Winning a scholarship to a top-notch Manhattan prep school, Mason’s childhood was divided between playing with her Harlem friends and attending school with, as she puts it, “millionaires’ and billionaires’ children.”
“This is a great blessing,” says Mason, speaking of her divergent childhood experiences, “when you want to do something around economic inequality because it means that you can understand all sides of the puzzle and you know how to talk to different people about that puzzle. But as a child, certainly, you feel at one time like you fit in everywhere and you fit in nowhere.”
While finding her way in the world after high school, Mason continued to rub shoulders with the elite and underprivileged alike, studying at Columbia and Harvard and working for six years in Central America, assisting street children. Her deep connection to East Harlem remained, however, and she returned, settling with a family of her own in a house two doors down from her childhood home.
Co-founding Single Stop is her way of addressing poverty in America — something she has witnessed her entire life. Annually, the U.S. allocates about $750 billion on a variety of safety-net programs, but many low–income Americans are unaware of what they are eligible for or don’t have the time or resources to jump through the hoops to apply for different programs.
Single Stop has expanded rapidly, existing at more than 113 locations (many at community colleges, since they already serve large low-income populations) in eight states. According to its website, Single Stop’s efforts have helped 1 million households access about $3 billion worth of existing benefits.
But Mason wants to do more, faster. Single Stop is currently developing software that will allow clients to screen themselves for benefits they might qualify for. This won’t eliminate the need for the human interaction that will still be available at every Single Stop location, but it should vastly expand the service’s reach.
“We never solve anything in society by talking about how hard it is to do or that it’s impossible,” says Mason. “Do I think alone we can end poverty in America?” she continues. “Probably not. Do I think with what we are doing we could actually significantly reduce it? Yeah.”
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This Nonprofit Is Creating a One-Stop Shop for Social Services

Too many of America’s underserved are missing out on social programs thanks to long lines, exhaustive processes to register and the time and effort it takes before actual benefits ever kick in.
But like many other sectors, technology is increasingly playing a bigger role in turning a daunting procedure into a more accessible one. Nonprofit Single Stop USA is playing its part by launching a platform that enables clients to do online self-screenings to determine federal aid and resources, whether that’s food stamps or Medicaid, and transforming it into a one-stop shop.
Single Stop USA, which first launched in 2007 after spinning off from the New York-based nonprofit Robin Hood Foundation, is an anti-poverty national organization that coordinates social service resources for families and students.
There are many resources are out there, but one of the biggest problems is a lack of coordination, information, and access,” said Elisabeth Mason, chief executive of Single Stop. 
Staffers typically meet with clients in-person, but the nonprofit is aiming to make the process as seamless as an online consultation followed by a virtual check-out with a shopping cart. Mason likens the forthcoming platform to Amazon, which will ask clients a series of questions—including what type of benefits they may be interested in—and then give an estimate of which services a client is eligible for and how much they would receive each year.
Once a client is ready to move forward with the services they’d like to pursue, they can check out using a virtual shopping cart and receive contact information for local recommended providers. The site will also enable users to contact those providers directly through the site.
Akin to Amazon, Mason said, the platform will offer recommendations for other services which similar clients were interested in and will also use digital advertising strategies to determine what people will want when they visit the site.

Single Stop, which operates locations in eight states, will continue to offer in-person visits, much like “the doctor versus the WebMD,” says Mason.

The pilot project will target those in need of college aid along with other social services, but the New York branch may focus on other demographics such as veterans or those looking for early childhood benefits.

The nonprofit is also planning to add video chats for clients who may need assistance to walk through the online process as well as providing analytics for case managers.

While the platform is not expected to launch until later this year, Single Stop is already entertaining the idea of partnering with federal agencies and other organizations to use the platform.

Disrupting social services may be Single Stop’s first step, but it’s a critical one in supporting America’s underserved.

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