A Game Changer

MAF launches La RED | Matching People to Resources, an online screening and referral system that is revolutionizing the way community based organizations assess and refer clients to services.

Simply put, La RED works by matching a client’s socio-economic profile against eligibility criteria from an array of different community services, government programs, and financial products. La RED then produces a list of matching services, sorted by a 5-star rating system to signal the best matches for that specific client. At which point, clients can ask for referrals to services that they are most interested in or they can even complete applications for a select number of services online. Cool, right?

Take La RED for a spin. Click here to see a short demo.

In the Mission District, we are fortunate to have over 60 nonprofit organizations that provide critical services to low income families. It is a difficult task, however, to learn of all of the services that these organizations provide. It’s even more daunting to learn of the actual eligibility criteria for each of those services. But that is precisely what we – and every service provider has to do in order to assess where to refer clients.

This is not a unique problem for the Mission. San Francisco has 2,229 charitable organizations all doing great work in every neighborhood but with no way to assess and refer clients to one another.

La RED cuts through these barriers by providing a centralized, coherent, and intelligent way of matching people to resources. With La RED, program staff won’t have to send clients on what at times may seem as a wild chases for services. And because partner organizations can now complete referrals, meaning that they can make, track and report on referrals, they won’t have to wonder whatever happened to their clients again. And just as important, La RED provides service providers the opportunity to target their outreach which can significantly save staff time and precious resources in getting the word out on their valuable services.

Specifically, La RED allows clients and program staff to:

• Screen services available for low and moderate income communities
• Print a comprehensive list of services that match clients’ socio-economic profiles and interests
• Refers clients to partner organizations though an online system
• Track and report on the outcome for each client’s referral
• Complete applications for a select number of services

If you are interested to learn more about La RED, please contact Lorena Melgarejo