HelpOpX-Empowered Coalitions

HealthOpX

HelpOpX-Empowered Coalitions

Using tech to strengthen community coalitions and build collaborative services that remove barriers for jobseekers in underserved areas.

Birmingham, AL, USA

United States

For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models

We are working to expand workforce development through skills-based training, employment matching, career mobility programs, and family support services, focused on underserved communities. Our goal is to address the numerous barriers to employment and access to training, job placement, and career advancement programs. While this is a national issue, we are starting in the state of Alabama, with a pilot program in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama. A 2023 AlabamaWorks survey of 401 unemployed and underemployed Alabamians found that over half missed job opportunities due to lack of transportation. Among 220 parent respondents, 64% cited inadequate childcare as a reason for working fewer hours, and 26% delayed school or training. In Woodlawn, 43% of residents live below the poverty line, and 37.6% spend over half their income on rent, highlighting the economic challenges they face. Education and skill gaps further compound the issue. According to the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s K-12 Workforce Development Activities assessment, many students, especially those in BIPOC communities, graduate without essential soft skills. Hiring managers reported deficiencies in critical thinking (44%), problem-solving (36%), and communication (28%). Whether it is unemployment or underemployment, there is a desperate need for a solution that considers these barriers.

HealthOpX has developed HelpOpX, a flexible, in-house nonprofit CRM designed to digitize member data and service processes for community organizations such as food banks, workforce agencies, religious institutions, and childcare providers. This technology specializes in nonprofits that wish to collaborate with one another through a community coalition. A key feature is its custom-built referral plug-in, enabling organizations within a coalition to electronically share survey data, service history, employment barriers, and notes on individual needs. This allows multiple organizations to coordinate services around a single resident, turning each nonprofit into access points that residents can leverage to receive a network of services with the end goal of upskilling or gainful employment. Residents can also access and track services online. To be more proactive, our solution utilizes predictive analytics, pulling historical service data from nonprofit partners (Woodlawn Community Coalition) to create interventions that overcome social barriers for Woodlawn-area residents seeking employment or upskilling opportunities. This is based on needs assessments self-reported by the resident or historical data provided by nonprofit partners within the coalition. HealthOpX has a paid contract in Woodlawn to implement this solution with a local charter school, community college, childcare organization, church organizations, workforce development organizations, and more.

While the employment challenges we aim to address are nationwide, we are starting in Alabama, where many nonprofits face significant technological capacity gaps. Our pilot focuses on the underserved neighborhood of Woodlawn in Birmingham, AL (population 10,000). According to Woodlawn United’s last report in 2020, unemployment was at 16.3%. American Community Survey data states 37.6% of this population spends 50% or more of their income on rent, providing context into the economic and social barriers the population faces when it comes to accessing programs and employment opportunities. Our program targets adults ages 18–54 who are at or near the poverty line. Using the HelpOpX platform, services are simultaneously coordinated across a coalition of nonprofits to address key barriers such as childcare, criminal records, food and utility assistance, and other needs that impact job readiness and stability. While service outcomes are being tracked, we will trace the residents’ journeys through the workforce development programs they are referred to within the coalition via the HelpOpX platform and have organizations intervene as they are flagged through the predictive analytics functionality or flagged manually. Residents will be aided through pitfalls and celebrated in their successes by this measured and accountable approach.