Challenge
Trellus manages 70 federal, state, county and city grants across 60 service offerings. It needed a case management platform that could coalesce service offerings and provide an immediate 360-degree view of each family’s needs.
Solution
Provisio Partners, using Salesforce provided Trellus with an expansive vision in three key human services areas: health care, education, and employment.
ROI
Trellus is utilizing data to make quicker, faster, smarter decisions to help immigrants and refugees thrive.
“We could only see individuals in isolation. Now we can see how we are providing comprehensive care. We do more under one roof and can prove it.”
For more than 40 years Trellus (formerly Asian Health Services) has championed immigrants and refugees in Illinois, particularly in the Chicago area. Its personalized support and services to underserved immigrants and refugees help them thrive as “healthy, educated, and employed” members of society.
In 2016, Craig Maki, (former CEO of AHS, and current Chief Strategy Officer at Provisio) recognized that his organization had vast amounts of data on clients. The problem: information was in multiple locations and did not combine the various services that individuals and families were participating in.
Maki realized there had to be data-driven technology so a staff person could quickly and easily view a complete menu of service offerings for each family. He called Salesforce, which put him in touch with Provisio Partners.
Transforming data overload into data insight
Trellus manages 70 grants across 60 service offerings. Here’s a quick look at how Trellus lives its mission:
- More than 26,000 immigrants and refugees are served each year, nearly half of whom are full-service clients.
- Clients come from more than 50 countries across Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Central and South America.
- Combined, staff members speak more than 30 languages.
- 7 out of 10 adult and youth job seekers are placed in jobs.
Given the complexity of information and client records, the organization’s number one priority was to have a holistic view of each family so they could serve them better.
Provisio’s first step was to understand the bigger vision of affecting lives in deeper more meaningful ways. Provisio then helped the organization take a concept-to-design approach to its digital world. Staff now views a complete list of service offerings and tracks the progress of each family or individual in a holistic, easy-to-view format.
From deep learning comes deep data insight. For Provisio, identifying the right and best-fit technology begins with real relationships. Beyond its expertise, Proviso leads with curiosity, gratitude, transparency, and service to others.
“I saw early in the relationship that they took the time to listen,” says Maki. “They didn’t just push a product. They wanted to learn about our nonprofit. They were willing to listen and understand what we do and understand the functionality from the shoes of someone sitting at a table with someone who just lost their mother.”
Knowing the data story eases funding challenges
With Salesforce, Trellus now has a single, customized platform with detailed customer data covering three core service areas. Trellus now classifies services by how they help people improve their lives: health, and employment. Adult education, workforce development, youth programs, and more.
- Health Care – with community health programs and behavioral health counseling.
- Education – through skilled learning programs and a charter school for grades pre-K through 8 that specialize in preparing children to becoming successful in the world.
- Employment – using comprehensive job-related services that place several hundred adult and youth job-seekers into full- and part-time employment each year.
As with many human services organizations, Maki worries about funding and securing contracts. Access to the story behind Trellus’ data helps.
“We could only see individuals in isolation. Now we can see how we are providing comprehensive care. We do more under one roof and can prove it,” says Maki.
With insight comes the ability to apply for more grants and appeal to donors in a way that shows the impact of Trellus’ efforts.
“I tell Travis (Bloomfield) all the time that I looked at Provisio as my partner in this, not just a service provider. I truly felt from the very beginning that they are invested and want to see us be successful.”
Trellus Lives Its Mission
How has technology helped Trellus live its mission? “It has begun to help us break down silos and barriers in getting people to collaborate and see more. Utilizing data to make quicker, faster smarter decisions to help people,” explains Maki. He continues, “We can see lives like we’ve never seen before.”
For human services organizations, fully living one’s mission is an imperative. They exist to serve and to make a difference. For Maki, the solution was a mixture of Provisio’s expert and supportive staff and the technology.
“In the human services world, you still have to have human interaction. Most of what we do is in person so people are wired that way. You have to be willing to work and accept that,” he says.
Erica Cox is the Chief Information Officer and Managing Partner at Provisio. She works with organizations to build a vision of the possible on the Salesforce platform. She has architected solutions for dozens of health and human services organizations across many program areas.