Meet MyFriendBen

Let’s make accessing the safety net as easy as having a trusted friend by your side.

We co-designed MyFriendBen with a group of families who told us it was difficult and time-consuming to know what benefits they were eligible for. Our goal is to increase benefit participation rates by making key information – like dollar value and time to apply – more transparent, accessible and accurate.

MyFriendBen empowers individuals and organizations to quickly and easily understand and access government benefits, tax credits and nonprofit programs. Users answer a set of basic demographic questions about their household and receive a personalized report that shows eligibility, dollar value and time required to apply for federal, state and local programs.

MyFriendBen is an open-source tool incubated at Gary Community Ventures, a philanthropic organization that combines the power of business, policy and philanthropy to increase opportunity for Colorado kids and families. As with other ventures incubated at Gary, MyFriendBen is designed to operate as an independent organization. Read more about the future of MyFriendBen.

Meet The Team

Colorado Impact: Year 1

50%

of users apply – or intend to apply – for a new benefit after using MyFriendBen

$2,500

median monthly value of benefits and tax credits that MyFriendBen users qualify for

$8M

in projected value received by MyFriendBen households

Designed for Scale: MyFriendBen’s rules engine is powered by PolicyEngine, a national, open-source rules as code platform. This backend calculator – plus our open source infrastructure – enables adaptation in other communities nationally.

MyFriendBen is currently live in Colorado and North Carolina, and we are are actively developing other state partnerships to dramatically improve access to public benefits at scale. Let’s transform the safety net together.

Our Open Source Approach