HPP was honored to have Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visit Aug. 10 to announce the expansion of SingleStop USA locations in San Francisco. (If you are interested in watching Speaker Pelosi’s entire speech, please click here.)
SingleStop, one of our major service partners, helps connect the needy with resources such as food stamps, health insurance, childcare subsidies or tax credits in a single, convenient location. A trained counselor works with clients to fill out all necessary paperwork and also to connect them to additional legal or other services for which they are eligible.
Speaker Pelosi pointed out the importance of having SSUSA’s comprehensive array of services located close to the families it serves. “SingleStop – doesn’t that name say it all?” she asked. “We are working very hard in Congress for programs like the Low Income Tax Credit, food stamps, you name it,” the Speaker explained, but added, “if people aren’t taking advantage of it, it doesn’t work.” She also stated that “food stamps and unemployment insurance do more to stimulate the economy than tax cuts.”
“What I saw today is a national model, of national significance, about how we can better invest our resources,” Speaker Pelosi said.
HPP’s Melissa Rosa is the SingleStop coordinator, helping our families through anassessment of the benefits to which they are entitled and aiding with the application process. Melissa had the honor of demonstrating SSUSA’s online benefits assessment tool to Speaker Pelosi. Consuelo Rodriguez, a former HPP client, shared her story of how she came to HPP in June of 2007 seeking housing assistance and entered HPP’s Community Health Worker Training Program. Although now employed, her hours were cut back because of the economy. SSUSA helped her access $6,000 in tax refunds that she used to buy a car.
Shortly after the event, we received a wonderful letter from Speaker Pelosi, in which she said, “Homeless Prenatal is a model for the nation for its work in strengthening families. Thank you for all your great work for homeless women in San Francisco. I look forward to continuing our work to ensure quality and affordable health care for all Americans.”