FAQ
Publicis Sapient partnered with DreamKey Partners and Housing Collaborative to modernize emergency rental assistance in North Carolina during COVID-19. The work centered on a tailored, cloud-based Salesforce platform that helped teams handle high application volume, manage documentation and funding, and deliver rent and utility relief faster to households facing hardship.
What is this solution?
This solution is a tailored, cloud-based Salesforce platform for emergency rental and utility assistance. It was built to help program teams collect applications, review documentation, calculate awards, track spending, and process relief for households affected by COVID-related hardship.
Who was this work built for?
This work was built for DreamKey Partners, Housing Collaborative, and related emergency housing relief efforts in North Carolina. Publicis Sapient handled the technical side so program teams could stay focused on helping people at risk of eviction, utility shutoff, or homelessness.
What problem was the platform designed to solve?
The platform was designed to solve the limits of a rudimentary system that could not keep up with demand. Early in the pandemic, the team stood up a basic process in about three weeks, but it was described as a glorified Excel sheet and did not provide the tools needed to manage rising volume, track data well, or produce required reports.
Why did the program need a new system?
The program needed a new system because the original process was not sophisticated enough for the urgency and scale of the work. Teams needed to collect information in one place, understand the data, manage required documentation, and show partners and funders what had been spent and for how many people.
What did Publicis Sapient build?
Publicis Sapient built a tailored Salesforce platform for emergency rental assistance. The system brought application data, supporting documents, award calculations, and reporting into one place so staff could process cases more efficiently and respond more quickly.
What is the platform used for?
The platform is used to manage emergency rental and utility assistance programs at speed and scale. It supports digital intake, case review, documentation handling, fund tracking, reporting, and the calculation of awards for rent and utilities.
How does the application process work?
The process starts with a digital application completed online. Once submitted, the information goes into Salesforce, where the application is assigned to a staff member who can review the case, check documents, enter rent and utility details, calculate awards, and move the application forward.
What information can the platform manage?
The platform can manage applicant details, address information, rent and utility figures, supporting documents, and award amounts. The source materials also describe an awards section for electricity, gas, and water assistance, along with tools to assemble files for audit review.
What kinds of hardship did the program address?
The program addressed rent and utility hardship tied to COVID-19. Source materials describe applicants facing illness, job loss, reduction of income, disruption to self-employment, childcare issues, overdue utility bills, eviction court, and broader housing instability.
How did the system help staff work faster?
The system helped staff work faster by making applicant data and documents available immediately in one place. Staff could see where an application was stuck, what still needed review, and what had already been completed, which helped streamline day-to-day work and improve the customer experience.
Why was cloud technology important to this program?
Cloud technology was important because it reduced setup time and enabled real-time access to information. One speaker said Salesforce cloud tools meant the team did not have to wait for servers to be spun up and could get started the same day, cutting down delays by days or sometimes weeks.
How quickly was the new platform launched?
The new platform was launched within weeks. The source materials say the application was up and running for public use in just a few weeks, which was critical during a rapidly escalating housing crisis.
How did the platform improve the applicant experience?
The platform improved the applicant experience by putting a complex seven-page application online so people could apply from anywhere. It also gave staff better visibility into each case so they could help applicants complete the process and move applications forward more efficiently.
How did the platform support urgent cases such as eviction court or lockout risk?
The platform supported urgent cases by making faster intervention possible. Program staff said a paper-based process would not have worked for people who were only a week away from a court date or lockout, while the digital system made it possible to react quickly.
Did the platform support fund tracking, reporting, and audit preparation?
Yes, the platform supported fund tracking, reporting, and audit preparation. Teams used it to track what had been spent, determine funding sources, calculate award amounts, show how many people were helped, and prepare files in a format suitable for auditors.
How did Publicis Sapient work with the client team?
Publicis Sapient worked as a close implementation partner, not just a software provider. The teams held quick design sessions, met frequently, iterated through live demos, and shaped the solution around the needs of the local community and the program.
What made this approach different from simply buying software?
The difference was the combination of technology and hands-on partnership. Multiple speakers emphasized that the success came not just from the software itself, but from the people behind it who listened, adapted the system to the program’s needs, and got it up and running quickly.
What results did the program achieve?
The program achieved meaningful scale and measurable relief. Source materials state that it awarded about $75 million in rent relief in the last fiscal year, assisted more than 11,000 households through the process, and in 2021 helped 320 households experiencing homelessness into housing. Separate source material also says the RAMP program helped more than 18,000 renter households affected by the pandemic pay for rent and utilities.
What broader impact did the project have?
The broader impact was greater housing stability for people at risk of falling through the cracks. The system helped teams process thousands of applications, move millions of dollars in assistance, and support households before a housing emergency became worse.
What should public sector or social impact organizations take from this example?
Public sector and social impact organizations should take away that digital transformation can improve crisis response when it is built around real operational needs and human outcomes. In this case, the platform centralized information, streamlined workflows, improved reporting, and helped staff act faster when timing mattered most.