Millions of workers - that our society and economy rely on - are excluded from the social safety net.

They are domestic workers who care for our children, clean our homes, and work with our elderly and disabled loved ones so they can live independently and age in their homes. They are independent contractors who are cobbling together an income from multiple clients or employer and don’t work within the typical 9-5 employee structure. They are undocumented workers who don’t have access to the traditional safety net. While we rely on their work - often as essential workers - they don’t have a safety net to rely on if they need to stay home when they are sick or have a sick family member, when they are let go without severance, and especially when they are struggling to survive in a pandemic.

Alia Benefits: A portable benefits platform that makes it easy for employers and clients to contribute to the benefits for the domestic worker who works in their home.

WIRED, How an App Could Give Some Gig Workers a Safety Net

“Workers using Alia describe the relief of having some sort of safety net, if small. Instead of continuing to work when they're sick or delaying medical care, even workers without savings can take time off and see a doctor. “I wanted to have a backup plan, if something ever happened to me,” says Olivia Mejia, who has worked as a cleaner for 10 years and supports three children. With Alia in place, Mejia says, she was able to attend her daughter’s high school graduation this spring, which conflicted with her work schedule. In the past, she would have had to weigh the costs of missing a milestone event or missing a day’s pay.”

Alia Cares: Emergency cash relief for essential workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, but often excluded from economic relief.

BIllyPenn, Philly’s new $1.7 million fund helps cash economy workers left out of COVID stimulus

“The coronavirus has dealt a crushing blow to the tens of thousands of people who work in the region’s cash economy and were consequently unable to qualify for state and federal stimulus programs. Rodriguez’s family faced an additional blow due to federal immigration laws: despite her husband and son being U.S. citizens, they could not qualify for a federal stimulus check because of Rodriguez’s status as a Mexican citizen.”