Eagle County’s Economic Services Department adds a new online tool: My Friend Ben

There’s a lot of need in Eagle County, and only 24 people in the county’s Economic Services Department. That department is now using some electronic help.

During a Monday presentation to the Eagle County Board of Commissioners, Melissa Moore, the department’s organizational effectiveness manager, talked about the department’s use of a new software program, My Friend Ben.

That program is a creation of Gary Community Ventures, an effort named for Colorado philanthropists Sam and Nancy Gary.

---

---

Moore said Eagle County is among the first three Colorado counties — and the first on the Western Slope — to begin using the program. The system will help screen applicants for eligibility for more than 50 public assistance programs and tax credits.

Department deputy director Michelle Dibos said the system is easy to use and can estimate in as little as six minutes the level of benefits an applicant is eligible for.

---

---

Programs include the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program, Universal Preschool Colorado, the Child Health Plan Plus and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The My Friend Ben website estimates a 91% accuracy rate for the screening process.

Moore said the program is in its second phase and can help people access local programs. Those local programs can be essential to getting help to people in need.

Dibos said people in the department want to “lean into” partnerships that can help people who may not qualify for county programs.

“I’m amazed at the number of organizations that have stepped in,” Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney said, citing churches, service clubs, the local Salvation Army and others. “It’s a deep need” in the county, she added.

“It’s a huge operation, and there is no end,” Moore said. “Every number is a kid, or an elderly person, or is someone who needs to keep their house warm.”