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''I was horribly depressed,'' she said recently at the Little Havana offices of Connect Familias.

Like many women in her situation, Benavides was also isolated. A chance meeting with Velgicka Vega changed that. Vega was just doing what she always does, visiting neighbors, nosing into people's business, figuring out who needs help -- and then making them get it. She reached out to Benavides.

Vega cajoled and coached Benavides to seek counseling and legal services for victims of domestic violence. She hooked up Benavides with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program to enrich the life of the mother's youngest son. And she dragged Benavides to meetings of La Alianza Hispania de la Pequena Habana, a resident-led community association in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood that works to improve family and neighborhood safety.

IMPROVED LIFE

Two years later, Benavides works cleaning houses to send money to a son studying medicine in Honduras, but her real life is caught up in the community. The once-shy woman speaks up at meetings. And she has started to reach out to other women.

Vega is one of the stickiest parts of the big glue ball known as Connect Familias. In operation since 2004, it is a partnership between national and local funding agencies, local service providers and ''natural helpers'' who function as mentors and travel guides through an often frustrating maze of social services.

The partnership is funded through grants provided by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and The Children's Trust and is coordinated in part by the Dade Community Foundation. The mission is to establish a holistic network of services that increases the safety and well-being of children and families.

Betty Alonso, associate director of programs for the Dade Community Foundation, said that by coordinating both formal and informal services, help for a family can be customized into one integrated whole, rather than making them run the gauntlet piecemeal.

''What's different about this is the view from the community building perspective,'' Alonso said. ``We create a system of care for kids the community wants, a neutral space where everyone is equal, and wrap services around a person individualized to their needs.''

This is how it works: A person in need is brought into the network by a service provider, such as a school or a clinic, or they enter through a natural helper or community health worker. Some helpers are volunteers, while others receive a small monthly stipend. Service providers get an equal cut of the funding, thus eliminating the incentive for competition. All of them receive training so they can build relationships with each other.

Vega started out like many, needing help with a problem her son was having in school. The experience was so positive that when Connect Familias asked her to help other women in the community, she gratefully accepted.

''Now I feel I have a purpose and my family feels this,'' she said.

HELPS EVERYWHERE

Now Vega is a master of problem-solving for an ever-growing collection of women from all over Little Havana. She helped Delmi Escalante get the medical treatment she needed for her baby, who had two major surgeries before his second year. It was a matter of knowing how the system worked and whom to call at the right time. Now Vega is helping Escalante look for child care for special needs children and find a place to learn English.

Often though, Vega said that what people need the most is just the human touch: a hug, a kind word, a willing ear.

''She understands what you're feeling,'' Escalante said. ``[It's like] she's in your place.''

Alonso said that besides the individual results experienced by families, Connect Familias is having a larger impact on Little Havana and, hopefully, beyond.

One example is the formation of the La Alianza neighborhood group. Another is a community mapping project just now getting underway. The group is taking its own census of people, places and issues and overlaying that on-the-ground survey with information collected by government agencies. That will help the community pinpoint important issues and identify areas where help is needed.

''It will be fascinating to see what they find,'' Alonso said.