Susan Valot
April 15, 2009
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People who live in Orange County have a new one-stop shop to go to find social services. It's called the WE Connect Neighborhood Center. California First Lady Maria Shriver was on hand for its grand opening today in Santa Ana. KPCC's Susan Valot was there, too.

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Maria Shriver (touring facility): Is she eligible for that?

Susan Valot: California's first lady peered over the shoulder of a volunteer at the new WE Connect Neighborhood Center in Santa Ana. The volunteer had just finished helping a woman input into a computer her income, how many dependent children she has, and other simple information. Up popped a list of services and discounts she may be eligible for. This system has become Maria Shriver's pet project.

Shriver: So many working Californians don't know that they can get food stamps, that they can get the earned-income tax credit, that they're eligible for a child tax credit, that they're eligible for energy assistance and telephone assistance and automobile insurance, that they might be eligible for a safe house. All of these things are out there and people don't know about it.

Susan Valot: Shriver hopes the Internet-based WE Connect system will help connect people to those services. This Santa Ana office, in the Legal Aid Society of Orange County's building, is the first physical location. The Legal Aid Society's Bob Cohen said it's a perfect match with his agency.

Bob Cohen: Our self-help center gets 4,000 calls a month. We have 335 people come into it each month for self-help services. Those folks are motivated to solve their problem. And we want to pair that motivation with an opportunity to really make a difference.

Susan Valot: Diana Ramon of Santa Ana wore a flowered shirt. She sat at one of the computers in the WE Connect office.

Diana Roman: I'm a single working mom. I'm raising my two teenage children. My mom lives with me. She's 78 years old. There are people like me that, we have a full-time position, but we need help. We need help.

Susan Valot: Ramon took a break from one of her two jobs to get help with filing her income taxes at the Legal Aid Society. When she popped in to try the WE Connect system, she was surprised to learn she qualifies for discounts on her electricity and car insurance.

Ramon: It would have taken like hours and hours and hours, going either to social services or the old fashioned way of doing it. You know, going to a place where they really ignore you and they don't really treat you very well. And you know, you don't want to go there, but you need help. But this way, it's online. You just click on there and it tells you everything you need to know.

Susan Valot: Ramon got a printout with phone numbers and addresses of the agencies she'll need to contact for the discounts. Maria Shriver hopes to open similar centers in other parts of the state and the country. You can find out whether you qualify for any of the programs at WEConnect.net.