04/29/03C-Team Solutions1 A Hand for the Homeless An IT Solution for Those in Need Courtney Hughes,...

04/29/03 C-Team Solutions 1

A Hand for the HomelessAn IT Solution for Those in Need

Courtney Hughes, CEO

Timothy BankerElizabeth Mattaroccia

Frederick Smith


Background

Homelessness is a global issue that will forever plague society.

In recent years, overall poverty has decreased, but extreme poverty has increased.


Facts about Homelessness

11.7% Americans live in poverty. 16.5% of these people live in urban

areas. 37% of all emergency shelter

requests were unmet. Approximately, 3.5 million

Americans are homeless. 1.35 million children are impoverished

(Statistics as of 2001)


Continuance of Poverty

Major Factors of Homelessness

Diminishing opportunities for employment.

Unavailability of public assistance.

Lack of affordable health care and mental illness.


Job Market Concerns

Job market does not look promising in the future.

1998 study: 46% of jobs between 1994 and 2005 would pay less than $16,000/year.


Lack of affordable health care and mental illness

38.7 million Americans had no health insurance in 2000.

One third of these impoverished individuals had no health care of any kind.

In 2001, 22% of the single, homeless population experienced mental illness. Had trouble accessing housing services.


Unavailability of Public Assistance

37% of impoverished families had their welfare benefits reduced in the last year.

Reduction of public assistance to poor, single individuals.

Some states eliminated General Assistant officers for impoverished, single people


Problem Definition

There is an abundance of food pantries and shelters in the Boston, MA area

Unfortunately, these organizations are not operated in the most effective manner


Poverty in Boston, MA

10.7% of Boston’s population was living below the poverty line in 1990

By 1998: 1,940 shelter beds 11,000 family shelter beds 67 transitional units 530 family transitional units


Homeless Individuals in Boston

6,000 homeless people Approximately 270 individuals

sleeping outdoors On a typical summer night, there

are as many as 600 people sleeping on the streets of Boston

*all statistics taken in annual poll, December, 2001


Housing

A national HUD study reported that Massachusetts had the highest increase in home costs, 45 %, over the past five years

One-half of the homeless work full-time jobs yet are still unable to obtain reasonably priced housing

The Department of Transitional Assistance denies or turns away over sixty-five percent of the families applying for shelter

Over 1300 families (including nearly 3000 children) are now being sheltered each night through the Commonwealth's Emergency Assistance Family Shelter (EA) program


Current Efforts On the National Honor Society’s website, there is

a list of activities one can get involved in and it promotes the younger generation to get involved with helping out their own neighborhoods.

The Haley House is a Catholic organization in Boston that works to “minister the needs of society’s forgotten people.”

One can get involved in such things as working at a soup kitchen to help the poor, and prepare foods for the unfortunate, elderly people.


Current Efforts (con’d)

Homes and Communities, division of HUD, lists a number of shelters in Boston along with the details of community rooms, total capacity, types of services, restrictions, and what referrals are needed. Hotlines are provided for housing, food, health, and job opportunities.

The Boston.com Yellow Pages gives people information about the locations of shelters and where to call for further information.


C-Team Solution’s Goal

We want to implement a more efficient information system to make it easier for the impoverished in Boston to get off the streets and into emergency and residential housing

With the implementation of an information system, efforts coordinating volunteer efforts, accommodations availability, overcrowding and inventory will be integrated into a single database, providing a more usable, accessible, and efficient tool to aid the homeless of the Boston area.


Proposed Solution

Web Interfaced Database and System

Database privately implemented from public area

Site interface has full public access

User-Centered Design of each component-simplistic; excess software removed-personalized


Installations

Computers installed into each location on our system

Connections made

Training


System Components

1) Accommodations Availability-Organization of vacancies

-Daily updates

-Transportation

2) Inventory Tracking-Information on supply quantities

(food, clothing, medicine)-Updated no fewer than once a week-Transportation-Possible direct link from system to

distributors


Components (continued)

3) Transportation Services

-Information on routes and times for various public transportation services

4) Hospital & Healthcare Service

-Listings and schedules of healthcare institutions

-Possible partnership-Additional specific services (substance

abuse, etc.)



5) Education & related services-Information on:

-Basic education-ESL-Workplace etiquette-Social skills-etc.

6) Employment-Directory of job training & counseling

services-Index of employment opportunities



7) Transition Assistance-Information-Peer counseling

8) (Re) connection Service-Use of ‘people searching’ sites and other

sources-(Re) association with family, friends, and

other relations


External Components

9) Volunteer & Donation Accessibility-Web-based timetable for standard

volunteering-Donation information, access-Contact for other types of

volunteering

10) Advertisements-Limited to public area-Restrictions on size, influence-Collateral for advertising (money,

volunteering, etc.)


Technical Description

Web-based system Each organization has its own section

Each section customized Pick from list of “components”

Php-based inventory control system Accounts for each organization

Private data can only be changed when logged in

Database to control all aspects of system


Technical Description (con’d)

Two separate interfaces One for site administrators

People within an organization to update content

One for the general public Access to:

Lists of volunteer organizations Volunteer schedules Resource request pages



Inventory control page Updated at the discretion of the site admin Page can be made public to solicit donations

To “promote” the need for specific goods to the public

Homeless shelter bed management page Private interface available only to members of

regional shelter Updated continuously to provide accurate data Transportation system used to ferry people

from shelter to shelter



Extra space used for job listings and workshops

Design would be simple and efficient Sites can be created dynamically

needing only 1 or 2 people for back-end administration

Computers placed in organizations give staff access to all these key features


Implementation Plan

Initial Phase (9 months) Research & Development

Part 1 Interviews Information gathering

Part 2 Application development System implementation Training


Implementation Plan (con’d)

Pilot Phase (2 years) Beta test Feedback Maintenance Update Improvement Self-sufficient


Implementation Plan

Exit Strategy Ensure funding

will last Updated

technology Slow backout


Stakeholder Analysis

Food Pantries, Soup Kitchens, Homeless shelters

Hygiene product manufactures, other distributors

Volunteer groups, charities School groups, churches/religious

organizations Cleaning services, food service industry Red Cross, Salvation Army, hospitals


Stakeholder Analysis (con’d)

Homeless

Corporations/local businesses

Construction companies, Habitat for Humanity

Local government, state government

Counseling services, job training services


Resource Request0-9 Months 10-12 Months Year 2 Year 3

Computer Workstations

(60)$480,000

Software/Application Development

$20,000

Transportation Vehicles(2 Ford Club Vans)

$40,000

Training Materials $20,000

Transportation Services(maintenance and drivers)

$30,000 $120,000 $120,000

System consulting and maintenance

$8,000 $30,000 $30,000

Promotional costs $10,000 $10,000

New Shelter (if project goes well)

$300,000(optional)

Totals $560,000.00 $38,000.00 $160,000.00 $460,000.00

$1,118,000


Field Research (interviews)

Wendy Ulmer Claudia Chase Marge Sorenson Sandy Sommers Joanne Yorro Bethany Nichols Nicholas Mulcahy Peg Drisko-Johnson Various Homeless

Persons

04/29/03C-Team Solutions1 A Hand for the Homeless An IT Solution for Those in Need Courtney Hughes,...

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