A calmer way to meet a hard new requirement
Federal changes have expanded the work rules that apply to many adults who receive SNAP (EBT), and states are beginning to enforce them. colift helps people meet those hours through real volunteer work, and helps the nonprofits already doing that work bring more people in.
Why we built it
When these requirements landed, the people most affected were also the ones with the least margin to navigate another bureaucratic hurdle. The official path, find an approved activity, log the hours, get a work-hours certification signed, upload it to your benefits portal, is doable, but easy to get lost in. We wanted something that felt less like a compliance task and more like doing something useful.
So we started with the work. Counting trees, translating notices, mapping hazards, documenting the places people gather. This is work nonprofits genuinely need, and it is work anyone can be proud of. SNAP certification rides along for the people who need it, but the door is open to volunteers and neighbors of every kind. That is deliberate: a platform centered on civic work reaches a wider audience and carries far less stigma than one labeled by who qualifies for which benefit.
How it's being built
colift is shaped alongside the nonprofits and public agencies that use the results. The tasks come from organizations that will actually use them. The review and the hours certification are done by those same organizations. We are not standing between recipients and the state, we generate a pre-filled work-hours certification and hand it back to the recipient to upload themselves.
How we work
Work first, paperwork second
colift is built around real volunteer work for nonprofits and public agencies. SNAP certification is one supported path through it, not the headline. That framing widens who feels welcome and takes the stigma out of showing up.
Built with, not for
We design this alongside the nonprofits and public agencies that use the results. Their tasks, their review, their certification.
Honest about what's real
We're upfront about how the program works and what counts. Hours reflect the time you actually put in, never inflated, and we don't overpromise what certification can do.