Bowman Systems Collaborates with the United Way to Create a New Software Module
Services were available but people in need had no way to find them. Bowman Systems and the United Way worked together to solve the problem.
 

Community Services Buried in Obscurity
In 2001, the United Way of Central Louisiana could no longer avoid a persistent set of problems: There was no computerized directory of available community care providers, no guide to finding them, and no method for determining who was eligible. At the time Central Louisiana had only a list of 300 agency names. “It wasn’t helpful unless you already knew which service you needed, much like the phone book,” recalls David Britt, president of the Central Louisiana chapter of the United Way. That meant lots of phone calls and trial-and-error.

Britt’s first thought was to create a three-ring binder around a Decision Tree model; a “guide to the selection of human services” on paper. Armed with a two-year grant, Britt and a new employee, Jennifer Charbonnet, set to work, but immediately hit a brick wall. “We realized we wouldn’t be able to fit everything on the page, and it would be phenomenally repetitive,” said Britt.

Innovation on the Internet
The solution, Charbonnet perceived, lay in the combination of a service database with the rapid navigation, search-and-sort ability, and ubiquity of the internet. Over the next twenty-four months Charbonnet and Britt met with community leaders in each of Central Louisiana’s eleven parishes to detail what agencies were available and what kind of work they were doing. That information was then incorporated into existing databases and the beginnings of a Decision Tree took root. But it was evident that their first efforts lacked the technological complexity necessary to fully realize the project’s potential.

Undaunted, Britt contacted Robert Bowman, president of Bowman Systems, who took immediate interest in Britt’s concept. Bowman had already launched the successful ServicePoint software package for client tracking and knew that an easy-to-use online database of community services would be revolutionary.

“Robert was smart enough to realize that Jenny had created something very special, and he worked with us to set up the guide site properly,” said Britt. “Jenny gave conceptual guidance and Bowman Systems provided the programming to make it happen.”

The eventual result of this collaboration was Bowman Systems’ CommunityPoint, a ground-breaking method for posting and sharing community resources, which quickly gained attention around the country for its ease of use and rapid, reliable results.

CommunityPoint Makes All the Difference
Before its collaboration with Bowman Systems, the United Way of Central Louisiana was limited in its ability to effectively refer clients and to get the word out about available agencies. “When I say that we weren’t able to make good referrals before, I mean that we had no database to speak of,” said Britt. “We were relying on hunches and word from the street, and we knew we weren’t helping people as much as we wanted to.”

After implementing CommunityPoint, however, the United Way has integrated with the community as never before. The software enables organizations to provide instant access to vital program and provider information, to promote local and national services, to collate data on funding priorities and unresolved needs, and to immediately and accurately determine client eligibility. CommunityPoint also makes available the long-sought-after Decision Tree, which enables users to find resources by answering a progressive set of questions.

“CommunityPoint is like having an expert at one’s fingertips,” said Britt. “It makes the difference whether a person in need actually receives help or gets sent along with a mumble and an excuse.”
 
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