Oregon Helps |

Industry Awards

Innovations in American Government Award Semi-Finalist 2006
The Ash Institute at Harvard selected Oregon Helps as one of the top 50 programs for their prestigious Innovations in American Government Award. The Innovations in American Government Program is a significant force in recognizing and promoting excellence and creativity in the public sector. Through its annual awards competition, the Program provides concrete evidence that government can work to improve the quality of life for citizens and that it deserves greater public trust. By highlighting exemplary models of governments' innovative performance, the Program serves as a catalyst for continued progress in addressing the nation's most pressing public concerns.

Stockholm Challenge Award 2003-2004
Oregon Helps won the Stockholm Challenge award in the category of e-government. The Stockholm Challenge is a unique awards programme for pioneering IT projects world wide. The Stockholm Challenge is more than a competition, it's a platform for exchange of ideas and experiences in a democratic and open way and a way to showcase best practises within the field of IT. It is a way of building networks between entrepreneurs who will benefit from contacts across borders, cultures and economies. The Stockholm Challenge focuses on the positive effects of today's information society, and the benefit information and communication technology can bring people and society. The technology itself is not the issue.

Gracie 2003
Oregon Helps (www.oregonhelps.org) won a 2003 Government Technology Leadership Award. The award, sponsored by Government Executive Magazine and the Federal Office of Technology recognizes projects making exceptional contributions to public service and e-government.

Pegasus 2003
A public service announcement (PSA) for OregonHelps! was awarded the prestigious Pegasus Award of Excellence. A panel of industry professionals awarded OregonHelps! top honors in this national competition based on its clarity of message and high film production values.

National Association of Counties Achievement Award 2004
The National Association of Counties (NACo) recognized Oregon Helps with its annual Achievement Award. NACo recognizes that County governments across the country, working alone and in cooperation with other governments at the municipal, state and national levels, develop innovative and successful programs in a wide range of service areas, including arts and historic preservation, children and youth, community and economic development, corrections, county administration, emergency management, environmental protection, health, human services, libraries, parks and recreation, transportation, volunteers and much more. Through our Achievement Awards NACo selects county programs which represent innovative and creative solutions to the problems local governments face.

Valued Recognition

Arizona Self Help
Arizona Self Help! at www.arizonaselfhelp.org is an online web tool that helps people in need quickly and easily learn what assistance they may be eligible for and how to get it. The site was developed by the Arizona Community Action Association in close collaboration with Multnomah County, Oregon and the Oregon Helps! Coalition.

New Jersey Helps!
Established in 2004, New Jersey Helps allows the same quick and easy access to information about services currently provided its sister-sites in Oregon and Arizona.

LACountyHelps!
Launched in 2006, LACountyHelps! marked the most ambitious helper program to date, prescreening for 28 programs for the citizens of Los Angeles County.

United Way Helps of Kansas City
Coming in 2008, United Way Helps of Kansas City is a partnership between Oregon Helps, Inc. and United Way. The site will bring quick and easy access to eligibility prescreening for individuals and families in the greater Kansas City area of both Kansas and Missouri.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Among the project's greatest challenges was accurately prescreening for Food Stamp benefit, which has a relatively complicated set of household composition, income calculation, and deduction rules. Through rigorous testing and refinements, Oregon Helps incorporates a calculation engine that has officially received the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) stamp of approval. The USDA's national Food Stamp calculator, released in June 2003, directs users from Oregon to Oregon Helps.

Meyer Memorial Trust
The Portland, Oregon based foundation provided funding to expand the number of programs covered by Oregon Helps from 12 to 27. Key additions included programs that serve senior, disabled, and veteran populations.

©Multnomah County, Oregon

	Innovations in American Government Award Semi-Finalist 2006 The Ash Institute at Harvard selected Oregon Helps as one of the top 50 programs for their prestigious Innovations in American Government Award. The Innovations in American Government Program is a significant force in recognizing and promoting excellence and creativity in the public sector. Through its annual awards competition, the Program provides concrete evidence that government can work to improve the quality of life for citizens and that it deserves greater public trust. By highlighting exemplary models of governments' innovative performance, the Program serves as a catalyst for continued progress in addressing the nation's most pressing public concerns.
	Stockholm Challenge Award 2003-2004 Oregon Helps won the Stockholm Challenge award in the category of e-government. The Stockholm Challenge is a unique awards programme for pioneering IT projects world wide. The Stockholm Challenge is more than a competition, it's a platform for exchange of ideas and experiences in a democratic and open way and a way to showcase best practises within the field of IT. It is a way of building networks between entrepreneurs who will benefit from contacts across borders, cultures and economies. The Stockholm Challenge focuses on the positive effects of today's information society, and the benefit information and communication technology can bring people and society. The technology itself is not the issue.
	Gracie 2003 Oregon Helps (www.oregonhelps.org) won a 2003 Government Technology Leadership Award. The award, sponsored by Government Executive Magazine and the Federal Office of Technology recognizes projects making exceptional contributions to public service and e-government.
	Pegasus 2003 A public service announcement (PSA) for OregonHelps! was awarded the prestigious Pegasus Award of Excellence. A panel of industry professionals awarded OregonHelps! top honors in this national competition based on its clarity of message and high film production values.
	National Association of Counties Achievement Award 2004 The National Association of Counties (NACo) recognized Oregon Helps with its annual Achievement Award. NACo recognizes that County governments across the country, working alone and in cooperation with other governments at the municipal, state and national levels, develop innovative and successful programs in a wide range of service areas, including arts and historic preservation, children and youth, community and economic development, corrections, county administration, emergency management, environmental protection, health, human services, libraries, parks and recreation, transportation, volunteers and much more. Through our Achievement Awards NACo selects county programs which represent innovative and creative solutions to the problems local governments face.
Valued Recognition
	Arizona Self Help Arizona Self Help! at www.arizonaselfhelp.org is an online web tool that helps people in need quickly and easily learn what assistance they may be eligible for and how to get it. The site was developed by the Arizona Community Action Association in close collaboration with Multnomah County, Oregon and the Oregon Helps! Coalition.
	New Jersey Helps! Established in 2004, New Jersey Helps allows the same quick and easy access to information about services currently provided its sister-sites in Oregon and Arizona.
	LACountyHelps! Launched in 2006, LACountyHelps! marked the most ambitious helper program to date, prescreening for 28 programs for the citizens of Los Angeles County.
	United Way Helps of Kansas City Coming in 2008, United Way Helps of Kansas City is a partnership between Oregon Helps, Inc. and United Way. The site will bring quick and easy access to eligibility prescreening for individuals and families in the greater Kansas City area of both Kansas and Missouri.
	United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Among the project's greatest challenges was accurately prescreening for Food Stamp benefit, which has a relatively complicated set of household composition, income calculation, and deduction rules. Through rigorous testing and refinements, Oregon Helps incorporates a calculation engine that has officially received the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) stamp of approval. The USDA's national Food Stamp calculator, released in June 2003, directs users from Oregon to Oregon Helps.
	Meyer Memorial Trust The Portland, Oregon based foundation provided funding to expand the number of programs covered by Oregon Helps from 12 to 27. Key additions included programs that serve senior, disabled, and veteran populations.