When people need help paying a bill, finding food, locating housing assistance, or accessing health services, knowing that help exists is only part of the problem. Finding the right program—and determining whether it is available nearby—can be just as difficult. That challenge was at the center of Aunt Bertha, a social-care technology company founded in 2010 that eventually became known publicly as Findhelp.
The name Aunt Bertha is still visible in corporate records, app listings, and references across the social-services sector. But the consumer-facing platform has operated under the Findhelp name since 2021. Its central purpose remains the same: making it easier for people to discover and connect with programs that can address everyday needs.
What Was Aunt Bertha?
Aunt Bertha was founded in 2010 by Erine Gray after she identified a basic problem in the American social-services system: resources existed, but information about them was often fragmented and hard to navigate.
The company began as a relatively small effort to organize information about community programs. According to Gray’s account of the company’s early history, the original public website served the greater Austin area, with program information initially collected and entered manually.
The concept was straightforward but significant. Instead of requiring people to search dozens of government websites, nonprofit pages, and local directories separately, Aunt Bertha sought to create one searchable network where users could find assistance by location and need.
Over time, the platform expanded beyond its original geographic focus.
From Local Directory to Social-Care Network
Aunt Bertha’s development reflected a broader shift in how health and human services organizations viewed social needs.
Food insecurity, housing instability, transportation problems, difficulty paying bills, and limited access to child care can affect a person’s ability to maintain health and stability. Health systems and government agencies increasingly began looking beyond traditional medical services toward what are commonly called social determinants of health.
Aunt Bertha positioned its technology within that changing environment.
The platform let people search for programs while giving organizations tools to make referrals and coordinate support. Its network eventually became relevant to hospitals, health plans, government agencies, educational institutions, and community organizations.
Why the Name Changed to Findhelp
One of the most important developments in the company’s history came in 2021, when Aunt Bertha announced that it was changing its public identity to Findhelp.
The company said the new name better communicated its mission to people seeking assistance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the public-facing service had already begun using findhelp.org, partly because the platform was being adapted to include newly emerging COVID-related resources.
The company subsequently consolidated its public sites under the Findhelp name.
The change did not mean Aunt Bertha disappeared as a legal or corporate entity.
Current organizational documents continue to identify Aunt Bertha, a Public Benefit Corporation, as the entity behind Findhelp. Some current technology and app records likewise identify Aunt Bertha as the developer while presenting the product to users as Findhelp.
That explains why searches for “Aunt Bertha” can still produce current information even though the public platform is now called Findhelp.
How Findhelp Works
The basic consumer experience centers on location.
A person seeking assistance can enter a ZIP code and select the type of support they need. Depending on the location, categories can include:
- Food assistance
- Housing support
- Health care
- Financial assistance
- Transportation
- Child care
- Employment services
- Legal assistance
- Government benefits
- Mental health and community services
In most cases, the purpose is not to provide the service directly. Instead, Findhelp functions as a searchable bridge between people seeking assistance and organizations offering programs.
Community organizations can also use the technology for referrals and service coordination. Findhelp’s organizational terms describe referral functionality that allows users and participating programs to connect people with available services.
That distinction is important. Finding a listing does not automatically mean that a person has received assistance. Eligibility requirements, availability, application procedures, and local capacity can still determine whether someone ultimately receives a service.
The Challenge of Keeping Information Current
A nationwide social-service directory faces a problem that traditional search engines do not necessarily solve: community programs change frequently.
Organizations close, change telephone numbers, alter eligibility requirements, or offer assistance only during particular periods of the year.
Findhelp says it aims to review programs every six months. It also identifies seasonal programs separately so that resources such as cooling centers, warming centers, summer food programs, and tax-preparation services can appear during the periods when they operate.
This maintenance process is crucial because an outdated social-service listing can be more than an inconvenience. Someone looking for emergency food or housing assistance may have limited time and few alternatives.
The company’s approach has therefore emphasized program verification and ongoing updates rather than simply accumulating large numbers of listings.
The Platform’s Role in Health Care
Aunt Bertha’s evolution also reflects a growing connection between medical care and social support.
Health systems increasingly recognize that a patient’s circumstances outside a clinic can affect health outcomes. A person struggling with housing, food access, or transportation may face barriers that medical treatment alone cannot solve.
Findhelp has since been incorporated into programs run by health plans, hospitals, and public agencies.
Health Net, for example, currently describes Findhelp as a partner for locating free and reduced-cost community services, including food, shelter, job training, and legal assistance.
The platform has also been used in education. North Carolina’s community college system describes Findhelp as a resource for students experiencing problems such as food or housing insecurity, allowing colleges to connect students with community and campus resources.
These examples illustrate how the technology has moved beyond a consumer search site into institutional social-care infrastructure.
A Government and Public-Sector Connection
Findhelp’s role has also expanded into public-sector programs.
One example comes from San Francisco, where a city proposal described a planned 4.5-year agreement with Findhelp for an online resource directory serving older adults and adults with disabilities. The proposed system was intended to organize resources involving areas such as health care, housing, caregiving, public benefits, and social activities. The document listed a contract amount of approximately $1.97 million for the period beginning January 2025 and ending June 2029.
Such arrangements demonstrate why social-service directories have become increasingly important to public agencies. Governments may fund or administer programs, but residents still need accessible ways to find them.
Technology can reduce some of that information gap, although it cannot eliminate shortages in housing, food assistance, health care, or other services.
What Supporters See in the Model
Supporters of centralized social-care directories point to convenience and coordination.
Instead of relying entirely on word of mouth, individuals can search by location and need. Organizations can also make referrals rather than simply handing someone a list of telephone numbers.
The model may be particularly useful for people who do not know which government agency or nonprofit is responsible for a particular problem.
Findhelp’s own materials describe its objective as connecting people with programs “with dignity and ease.” At the same time, external organizations continue to describe the service as a way of locating free or reduced-cost assistance.
Limitations and Practical Concerns
A directory, however, cannot guarantee that every listed program has immediate capacity.
A person may discover a potentially suitable organization and still encounter waiting lists, eligibility restrictions, geographic limitations, or application requirements.
Digital access is also a broader challenge. An online platform is most useful when people have internet access, sufficient digital literacy, and can navigate the application process.
These limitations do not make the directory ineffective, but they highlight an important distinction: information access and service access are not the same.
Findhelp notes that its support systems are designed to help organizations and users navigate the platform. At the same time, community organizations and service providers may still be responsible for direct social-service navigation.
Findhelp in 2026
The former Aunt Bertha platform remains active under the Findhelp identity.
Its mobile application was updated in May 2026 and still describes the service as a way to find food, housing, health care, and other nearby support. Google Play currently identifies the developer as Aunt Bertha, a Public Benefit Corporation, reflecting the distinction between the corporate name and the consumer-facing Findhelp brand.
The app’s continued presence and institutional partnerships suggest the underlying model remains relevant: organize fragmented information and create a clearer path between people who need assistance and organizations that provide it.
What Could Come Next?
The next stage for platforms like Findhelp will likely involve deeper integration with health care, education, and government systems rather than simply expanding the number of listings.
The important questions will concern accuracy, accessibility, privacy, referral completion and whether people can move successfully from discovering a resource to actually receiving help.
For institutions, better data could also make it easier to understand which social needs are most common in particular communities. For individuals, the practical value remains simpler: whether the information leads them to a real service that is available when they need it.
The Broader Significance of Aunt Bertha
Aunt Bertha began with a relatively simple observation: people can struggle to find help even when assistance exists.
More than a decade later, that problem remains relevant. The company has changed its public name to Findhelp, expanded its network, and moved deeper into health care, education, and public-sector systems, while continuing to operate under the Aunt Bertha corporate identity.
The story of Aunt Bertha is therefore less about a name than about a larger change in how communities organize social support. As governments, health providers and nonprofits increasingly connect medical and social needs, searchable referral networks may become an increasingly important part of that infrastructure.
The unresolved question is how far technology can go in closing the gap between knowing where help exists and actually receiving it—a challenge that remains at the center of social care.
