MyFriendBen - Free Benefits Tool Launched

May 5, 2026

Center for Transforming Lives Launches Free Benefits-Screening Tool to Help North Texas Families Find Support Faster

Fort Worth, Texas — For families living close to the financial edge, knowing what help is available can mean the difference between stability and crisis. That’s why Center for Transforming Lives is now among the first in Texas to launch MyFriendBen, a free online tool that helps users quickly find out what public benefits, tax credits and nonprofit programs they may qualify for.

In about six minutes, the platform can provide a personalized report that shows eligibility and guidance on where to apply for help with rent, food, utilities and more. The tool is anonymous to use and is designed to make a complicated process easier, faster and more dignified.

Center for Transforming Lives' decision to partner with MyFriendBen is deeply rooted in its mission and data. Since 1907, the Fort Worth-based nonprofit has focused on lifting families out of poverty. Today, the nonprofit serves more than 3,000 individuals each year, 77% of whom were living below the federal poverty level last year. Additionally, 64% spend more than 40% of their income on rent, and 55% have no savings at all. For these families, easier access to benefits can help prevent small financial setbacks from becoming full-blown crises.

"Very often, poverty isn't a personal failure; it's the result of a cycle that's very good at repeating itself,” said Carol Klocek, CEO of Center for Transforming Lives. “What we've learned in over a century of this work is that the families who come to us are working hard and showing up for their children. Our job is to make sure they are connected to the systems that help to disrupt the cycle."

At Center for Transforming Lives, MyFriendBen complements the organization’s two-generation model, which supports mothers and their children through housing, early childhood education, economic mobility services and counseling. MyFriendBen is especially valuable for people who may be eligible for support but feel uncertain about where to begin. Instead of forcing families to search program by program, the tool gives them one place to start and shows the likely value of available support before they apply

To learn more or start a screening, visit myfriendben.org/texas.

About Center for Transforming Lives

Center for Transforming Lives partners with single mothers and their children so they can thrive. Founded in 1907, Center for Transforming Lives is one of Tarrant County’s biggest family safety nets, working to disrupt cycles of poverty and homelessness among the most vulnerable in our community. The nonprofit meets the needs of more than 3,000 women and children annually, through a comprehensive and evidence-based, two-generation and trauma-informed model. Thanks to housing support, early childhood education, economic mobility services and counseling services that work across generations, parents and children establish security and well-being as a family. Led by CEO Carol Klocek since 2009, the $24 million nonprofit opened its new Riverside Campus headquarters in 2025.

About MyFriendBen

MyFriendBen is a nonprofit technology organization working to make public benefits access faster, simpler and more dignified for families across the U.S. To date, MyFriendBen has connected more than 120,000 households to public benefits, with an estimated $85 million in impact. Its screening platform allows residents to anonymously check eligibility for more than 30 public benefits and tax credits — and connect with local community resources — in under six minutes.

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