04/29/03c-team solutions1 a hand for the homeless an it solution for those in need courtney hughes,...
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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
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Background
Homelessness is a global issue that will forever plague society.
In recent years, overall poverty has decreased, but extreme poverty has increased.
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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)
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Continuance of Poverty
Major Factors of Homelessness
Diminishing opportunities for employment.
Unavailability of public assistance.
Lack of affordable health care and mental illness.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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Installations
Computers installed into each location on our system
Connections made
Training
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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
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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.)
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Components (continued)
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
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Components (continued)
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
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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.)
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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
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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
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Technical Description (con’d)
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
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Technical Description (con’d)
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
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Implementation Plan
Initial Phase (9 months) Research & Development
Part 1 Interviews Information gathering
Part 2 Application development System implementation Training
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Implementation Plan (con’d)
Pilot Phase (2 years) Beta test Feedback Maintenance Update Improvement Self-sufficient
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Implementation Plan
Exit Strategy Ensure funding
will last Updated
technology Slow backout
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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
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Stakeholder Analysis (con’d)
Homeless
Corporations/local businesses
Construction companies, Habitat for Humanity
Local government, state government
Counseling services, job training services
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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
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Field Research (interviews)
Wendy Ulmer Claudia Chase Marge Sorenson Sandy Sommers Joanne Yorro Bethany Nichols Nicholas Mulcahy Peg Drisko-Johnson Various Homeless
Persons