Home Makeover

By: Hannah Kim

On Friday July 10, 2009, Jackie and I had the opportunity to present our Homeless Sponsorship idea to the Tri-Cities Homelessness Task Group at the Coquitlam City Hall. As a reminder, the Homeless Sponsorship idea is centred on model of using a giving circle of socially conscious investors to buy a housing unit and then rent it to 2 – 3 homeless clients while providing support services to these clients with the help of outreach workers and volunteers (see previous post, “A Flowchart to Visualize Our Idea”).

After the presentation, feedback on our novel solution included a great suggestion from a prominent local businessman (who is also a board member on the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce): in addition to foreclosures, look for properties that are in need of repair when finding housing! Such properties would be less expensive for the giving circles to purchase. Once the property is purchased, we can look to support from the local business community in the form of services and materials donations for the repair and refurbishing. This process adds value to the property for the giving circle members, which is another incentive for these investors. Further, if we are able to garner support from the same local businesses in refurbishing and repairing housing units on a yearly basis after a given group of homeless clients move out, investors would have even more reason to participate in our Homeless Sponsorship idea.

Why this social innovation makes a difference

By: Jackie Go

This social innovation makes a difference to homelessness because of its ability to organize the resources in the community and involve the entire community. In a community where there is no permanent shelter, and the temporary shelter (the Cold Wet Weather Mat Program) runs only in the winter, there is a surplus of volunteers and concerned citizens who want to help the homeless all year round. By involving community members as volunteers who will provide support services, companionship and mentorship to the client, it helps dispel myths about homelessness and helps the client get re-integrated into a society where they are traditionally marginalized and disenfranchised. People who don’t have time to volunteer are also given the opportunity to give to the program as donors for the modest needs of the sponsored client, such as daily food, clothing, and furniture. Local businesses can also get involved by providing services to maintain the housing unit, such as painting, plumbing, and cleaning, all services which can add value to the housing unit. The large community support component can also be a motivating factor for the client, showing a person which has been largely isolated from society that the community does care for them and their well-being. By involving the entire community in sponsoring a homeless client, this program builds awareness and compassion for the homelessness issue, signaling its importance to politicians while also providing the community with a sense of pride in taking action on homelessness and watching a client go from homeless to self-sufficient in a period of 6-12 months.

The program also has potential to grow – if successful, the number of housing units to be funded by donation or to be bought by the investment giving circle can grow and more and more homeless clients can be helped out of homelessness. The program is also sustainable because it does not rely only on donations, but through the investment giving circle, provides people with the opportunity to make an investment on an appreciating asset while also giving back to their community. If community support can lower the costs of the property through decreased property taxes, utilities costs, lower mortgage rates, and other incentives, the extra cash that can be generated can fund the costs of this idea as it grows. If it grows larger, we may be able to fund, or ask for the city for funding for an extra outreach worker to work with our clients specifically. This idea makes a difference in the perceptions of homelessness in the community and provides people who want to help the homeless with a variety of ways to get involved – by donating, investing, or giving their time through volunteering.

How the Community can get Involved

by: Jackie Go

From the conversations I have had with a wide variety of people from the community, it seems that many members of the community recognize that homelessness is a big problem and that we need to work together in order to solve it. We have talked to some  local business’ and foundations who in our conversations mentioned that they would like to donate a portion of their profits to charity or already have a foundation and are looking for local initiatives or charities to support.  This issue is so close to home and I think that the community support is there, it just needs to be organized so that the community is given the opportunity to help the homeless.

A fundamental part of this idea is community involvement in order to get the homeless person re-integrated into society and help society get to know homeless people as well.  Involving many stakeholders in this program helps dispel the stigmas associated with homelessness and reach our ultimate goal of re-integrating homeless clients into society. This idea involves the local community by involving volunteers to provide simple support services to the client, such as companionship, mentorship, and life skills, such as cooking, cleaning and using the library. We recognize that when a person gets out of homelessness they are starting an entirely new life, and leaving behind their old habits and circle of friends. Volunteers, who can provide companionship and mentorship in the form of simple acts such as going out for coffee, can help the client immensely in getting re-integrated into society and combating loneliness.  We will approach the large groups of volunteers from the Cold Wet Weather Mat (CWWM) Program as well as from the community at large. The community can also be asked to donate other life essentials for the client such as food, clothing and furniture. Members of the community can donate these directly, and local businesses can also be asked for donations. Essentially, the entire community is sponsoring the homeless client, and helping the homelessness problem, one life at a time.