One Degree Comes to Alameda County
One Degree and Highland Hospital Partner to Offer Access to Social Services in Alameda County
Oakland, CA (October 27, 2014) — Access to critical social services, like food banks, employment services, health clinics and more will become more accessible in Oakland and Alameda County thanks to a partnership announced today with One Degree and Highland Hospital Health Advocates. One Degree is a nonprofit connecting low-income families to resources they need to overcome poverty.
“There are thousands of Oakland and Alameda County residents who are waiting for services that One Degree can provide,” said Rey Faustino, CEO and founder of One Degree. “We want to meet people where they’re at, and make finding critical social services through their phones or computers easy and accessible, instead of overwhelming. We want to offer a place to turn to for help.”
One in five people live below the poverty line in Alameda County. Despite this urgent need, many find navigating the thousands of nonprofit and social services in the region difficult and often demoralizing.
Staff and volunteers at Highland Hospital Health Advocates, One Degree’s anchor partner in Alameda County, use the site in their work to refer hundreds of patients every week to nonprofit and social services beyond health care.
“I see One Degree revolutionizing how low-income patients and advocates access services. Instead of using binders full of paper that are often out of date, One Degree provides an online, current, community-informed directory for the community, by the community,” said Dennis Hsieh, resident and physician champion at Highland Hospital Health Advocates.
Dubbed a “Yelp for social services,” One Degree offers thousands of nonprofit and social service listings in Alameda and San Francisco counties for housing, health care, legal services, food, employment services, educational programs, and many more. One Degree’s expansion in the East Bay is its first outside of San Francisco, and the organization plans to continue growing to serve more low-income families throughout the Bay Area.
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About One Degree:
One Degree is revolutionizing the way low-income families connect to poverty-fighting resources. Our web and mobile platform makes it easy for low-income families to find, manage, and review nonprofit and government services. Think Yelp for the social sector: it’s as easy to use and connects people to real resources they need to overcome poverty. Imagine millions of people being able to discover, get information about, and share their experiences with food banks, employment services and health clinics. To learn more about One Degree, visit www.1deg.org.
CONTACT: Rey Faustino, CEO & Founder, One Degree, 888–799–7273 x701, info@1deg.org
