Philadelphia Weekly

REAL ESTATE

'Aunt Bertha' aims to be online social worker

Website helps locate housing, other services for needy

By Inman News Feed

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Jul. 6, 2012

"Everyone has a family member that they trust, who they went to if they got in trouble and maybe going to your parents wasn't such a good idea," he says. "So, I was looking for a maternal name from the 1950s and came up with Bertha. The site became Aunt Bertha."

The website was launched in June 2011 to serve the Austin area. It has since been rolled out across Texas. Currently, it's collecting data from localities in Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arkansas. The intent is to roll Aunt Bertha out state-by-state.

Steve Bergsman is a freelance writer in Arizona and author of several books. His latest book, "Growing Up Levittown: In a Time of Conformity, Controversy and Cultural Crisis," is now available for sale on Amazon.com.