Category: The City of South Bend

We received feedback on our recommendation from Peter Lombardo, the Director of Community Learning at the Center for the Homeless.

Date: May 2, 2017

Location: LaFortune, University of Notre Dame

Team Participants: Matt McCormick, Paul Cepak, Sarah Riehl, and Yuwei Tu

Takeaways:

• Housing First will require rent, but guests can receive grants
• Toochi is a synthetic marijuana that as become common in South Bend
• Center for Homeless doesn’t allow current drug users, so it will refer them to Life Treatment Center, which has residential options for patients

 

Recommendations: 

• Peter recommends having 2 professional counselors at Housing First, along with interns (possibly from ND’s Psychology Masters and PhD students)
• 2 Steps: Identify those who will stay at Housing First, then connect the appropriate social worker to them
• Prioritize the mentally ill at Housing First, because they are often targeted and taken advantage of on the streets

On Monday May 1, Parker interviewed Brady August for half an hour about the Youth Bureau Street Outreach team. We discussed the origin of the street outreach program, its mission, personnel, training, financial and non-financial resources, and traction in the community. August was very excited about the FUSE program and the housing-first initiative, but he identified a clear disconnect between developing the housing and actually getting the necessary people into the apartments. August provided further evidence that there is a need to locate and prioritize who should be in the housing first.

Take your concepting down a level.  What are the specific user needs each idea is addressing?  How can you break down the concepts to engage with the user’s around what works and invite them to create new ideas.  Keep in mind the 5E’s so that you can understand best ways to Entice the user, Engage, etc.

For the Evaluation matrix, you will want to break out the aspects of each prototype to score the value.  For example with the counseling network, is it better to have the counseling offered in a group or one-on-one?  Should the setting be at the Center for the Homeless or other locations?  If you can score each aspect of the solutions as each team members takes the prototypes out for feedback, you will be able to collectively determine which aspects of each idea are strongest and explore ways to build on those.

*Just like with your ethnographic research, you will want to capture video, photos, and direct quotes.

For the 5E’s, remember for each idea how your user is “enticed”.  This is a big hurdle of how you will compel participation.  Implementation of ideas is always the toughest part!

First workaround: I used a clip meant to keep chips fresh on my toothpaste tube to push the toothpaste down.

Second workaround: I made a makeshift fruit basket out of an empty wine bottle and the netting clementines come in so I can more easily see the fruit I have.

Third workaround: I noticed my friend was using a blanket to cover her window to block the sun in the morning.

Prototype Plan

Plan 1: Counseling Network

Consider the Setting:

First:

• Develop rough idea in familiar operating environment (i.e. classroom setting)
  • Familiar setting will help us prototype rapidly to create visual manifestations of our initial ideas/concepts
• Utilize whiteboards, classroom materials, and sticky notes
• Prototype all ideas from Ideation Summary

Second:

• Introduce prototype into the community
  • United Methodist Church soup kitchen
  • Mayor’s Office meetings (Cherri and Suzanna)
  • Center for the Homeless
  • South Bend Correctional Facility
• We believe that we will learn most from seeing our prototype in the context in which it will ultimately be used
  • Challenging to evaluate the effects/impacts of our prototype on the homeless population, as the behavior, reactions, and responses of homeless individuals is often unpredictable

Define What to Test:

First:

• We would like to receive feedback on all of our testing. This feedback will come from individuals already working on solving the homeless problem, organizations already in place to serve the homeless, and the homeless population themselves.  

Second:

• We would like people to participate in our counseling program. To accomplish this we would have to run some questionnaires, surveys, or interview to see if our programs would be viable enough for people to participate in them. In addition seeing if people recommend the counseling program could help see if these programs could successfully spread.

Third:

• Our ultimate goal is to see a positive impact and reduction in the chronically homeless population of South Bend. It will be important to study if the behaviors of the homeless change in response to the introduction of  counseling.

Define Feedback Activities:

• Arrange for conversation to present our prototype to experts and homeless individuals
  • “Would this be implementable in South Bend? What are the obstacles?”
  • “Would this help the homeless population gain awareness and access to resources as well as motivation that they didn’t have prior?”
  • “How could we make this network even better/more useful?”
  • “Who could be the sponsors behind this project? The City? Center for Homeless? Notre Dame?” 

Plan 2: Communal Housing

Consider The Setting:

We would create a floor-plan for this housing space using glue and foam boards in class. Creating this prototype in class would be the fastest and easiest way to build this rough model.

Define What to Test:

• Would the City be willing to subsidize a project like this?
• Is this temporary housing helping individuals work towards permanent housing?
• Do they take care of the apartments?
• Does living in close quarters with other homeless individuals work well? (i.e. no drug use)
• Would these help put strain away from housing projects already in place? (i.e. center for the homeless)

Define Feedback Activities:

• Arrange for conversation to present our prototype to experts and homeless individuals
  • “Would this be implementable in South Bend? What are the obstacles?”
  • “How could we make this housing plan even better/more useful?”
  • “Would this fulfill a need that is not currently met?”
  • “Who could be the sponsors behind this project? The City? Center for Homeless? Notre Dame?”
• Talk to contacts involved with the City of South Bend government
• Talk to homeless shelters/programs already in place to see if they would be willing to change their model

Plan 3: Food Delivery on Bikes

Consider The Setting: We would employe the homeless in areas where there would be high demand for delivery food. This can be tested by seeing if we would be able to bike back to downtown after imaging we were delivering food from various locations.

Define What to Test:

• Would food delivery companies be willing to implement this?
• How much would they be willing to pay?
• Would they hire someone with minimal work experience?
• Would the City be willing to give some sort of financial incentive to companies willing to implement this program?
• Would this program be able to run during the winter season?

Define Feedback Activities:

• Arrange for conversation to present our prototype to companies as well as the town
• Work with Mayor’s office in their homeless focus group
• Speak directly with homeless population on their new stream of income

Create Solution Evaluation Matrix:

Criteria	Weight	Rating	Score
Feedback	0.33	1     2     3     4
Implementation Timeframe	0.33	1     2     3     4
Financial Viability	0.33	1     2     3     4
Totals	100%	1     2     3     4

MAX SCORE: 1.32

 

As you begin thinking about how to get feedback on your ideas, keep your Point of View Statement in mind.  From your presentation I understand this to be, “Chronically homeless men (or women?) need a way to get food, counseling, and a place to sleep in a way that makes them feel like it is on their own terms.”  Feel free to tweak 🙂

For your Prototype Plan, think about how you can test the various facets of your ideas.  What will you test and how?  Where will you test your ideas?  Who will you test them with?  And when?

City of South Bend:

 

Our Ideation Summary focuses in on 3 potential solutions for preventing/eradicating chronic homelessness in South Bend using the “5E” framework.

 

1. Hire social worker as a counselor in charge of three chronically homeless individuals

 

Entice: Develop a counselling program and market it to social workers around South Bend. Additionally, begin to stir interest amongst the homeless population by making them aware of the benefits associated with having a counselor.

 

Enter: Start with at least 10 social workers. Train them on how to effectively work with the homeless population (i.e. attitude, motivation, behavior, drug issues, mental stability, etc.). Begin to introduce them to key figures at hospitals, social service providers, center for the homeless, soup kitchens across town, employers, landlords, and many other influential figures that the homeless people need to interact with on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.

 

Engage: The counselors would provide mentorship, access to drug and mental illness counselling, employment opportunities, resume reviews, increased access to social service resources, access to food via soup kitchens, their personal network, personal experience, access to temporary and permanent housing. They would help homeless population begin to develop a social network, hopefully giving them the means for advancement.

 

Exit: Counselors could make weekly visits/checkups after their assigned homeless individual is in permanent housing to make sure they are still clean from drugs, mentally stable, and still employed/attending work.

 

Extend: Staying in touch with the homeless individuals (hopefully now fully independent/not homeless) and utilizing them to help the current homeless population with their problems. Continuing to grow the network and have people sharing their experiences.

 

Key Takeaway: Homeless individuals are in need of a support network to get themselves out of their situation. Without developing support relationships, it is difficult for them to receive the motivation and support overcome their homelessness situation.

 

1. Shared living to help develop a network. Develop subsidization program.

 

Entice: Spread awareness to homeless people by means of their counselors. Attract the homeless population by informing them of a way to live more independently, while having a support network of similar individuals. Low cost, non-discriminatory, and provides address for social security purposes.

 

Enter: Allocate resources and funding to apartment buildings or houses in South Bend that can be turned into communal living homes. Create a specific program with regulations (ex: drug tests, job requirements?) that allow 4 or more homeless people to live together in government subsidized housing.

 

Engage: The housing would lift a burden off the residents’ shoulders, so that they can spend more of their time toward finding a stable job, paying for food, paying off other bills or loans, etc. The residents would have their own rooms to ensure individual privacy and independence, but would share other areas like the kitchen and living rooms, thus strengthening the support system between them.

 

Exit: After the residents establish a stable income and can support themselves, connect them with local landlords who can provide low-income housing. The residents would eventually move into their own private apartment and live on their own.

 

Extend: Maintaining close relationships with former housemates and building new relationships to expand each individual’s support network. With greater support, homeless individuals and people in danger of becoming homeless can reach out for help and advice.

 

Key Takeaway: Establish a support system that homeless individuals feel they can connect with on a personal level. These individuals have gone through similar experiences and can empathize with each other.

 

1. Hire homeless to deliver food via bike.

 

Entice: Create corporate partnerships with food delivery companies such as Grub Hub, Dine In, Uber eats,etc. and create a program in which homeless people could deliver the food via bikes owned by the company for a small fee, and consumers would have the option to purchase a meal for the homeless person as well (BOGO model). This would be a good PR opportunity for companies, and provide jobs and meals to the homeless.

 

Enter: Counselors would connect members of the homeless population with this program, and the City of South Bend would create incentives for corporations to participate (tax credits, financial incentives, etc.).

 

Engage: The partnership would give homeless people a source of part-time work, while also providing some food and building work experience. Biking to deliver the food ensures that users do not need a license, and it is a type of work that most people could participate in.

 

Exit: The users would establish a steady source of income and begin building a professional network. Hopefully, they could get a full-time job after this position.

 

Extend: Eventually, the homeless individuals could use this network to find full-time work and establish more contacts in the professional world. They could also spread the word to other individuals in the community who may be looking for a low-skill requirement job with a flexible work schedule.

 

Key Takeaway: Finding a source of simple, and relatively easy work could go a long way for these individuals if the company is willing to hire them.

 

1. Create database with information of all chronically homeless individuals in South Bend. Without defining the population, it will be difficult to create an effective solution.

 

Entice: Understanding the profiles of chronically homeless individuals is the first step to designing and implementing a comprehensive solution to this issue in South Bend. We must first gain insight into exactly how many homeless people are within our range, and also learn more about their individual needs so that resources can be allocated more efficiently. The homeless offer their information to be collected in order to access personalized solutions.

 

Enter: This information will be individually updated through personal accounts, or gathered from individual interviews and consulting sessions. Additionally, it is important to gain insight into the individual’s life from another person’s perspective, a person that he or she might frequently interact with, to get the full picture of the individual and an unbiased story.  

 

Engage: This database will include biographical information such as a basic description of their appearance (height and weight) and other unique characteristics that would separate them apart. It also will include the individual’s “story”, along with a list of prioritized needs that the individual and the interviewer have conversed about. Lastly, a picture of the individual will be included for future identification purposes, if needed. This information will be uploaded to the cloud where counselors and city officials can access the data without having to re-mine for it.

 

Exit: When an individual has successfully entered into permanent housing, he or she will be moved to a section on the database separate from the biographies of current homeless people.

 

Extend: It is important to maintain a relationship with all of these individuals in order to track progress on their recovery and integration back into the real world. Also these biographies with the permission of individuals, can be shown as examples of how to move out of homelessness or of how to prevent it from happening. These stories can be uploaded to a blog so people can ask questions and so it can be easily accessible.

 

Key Takeaway: Identifying homeless individuals and gaining a more detailed understanding of who they are and what they might need in a timely manner is a small step towards further organization of the homeless assistance system. In addition having their stories can help the city understand the nature of homelessness and how to better deploy resources into the future.

On Friday, Parker, Matt and I interviewed Daniel, a chronically homeless man that is usually on the corner of S Bend Ave and Ironwood.

Ethnography Summary: Daniel

Date: 3/3/17

Type: Interview

Location/Time: Corner of S Bend Ave and Ironwood, where he was sitting/walking around asking for money at 10am on Friday 3/3

Team Participants: Sarah Riehl, Matthew McCormick, Parker Mathes

User Characteristics:

• Chronically homeless
• Male, age 34
• Physically disabled
  • Bilateral drop foot
  • Seizures
• Has seizures

Top 3 Learnings:

1. South Bend has strong programs in place to provide the necessary, day-to-day resources.
2. Losing an address when becoming homeless can cause significant issues to receiving necessary medication.
3. Daniel was homeless with his wife, which put a lot of pressure on their relationship and made it difficult to remain positive and happy.

Takeaways:

• There is a clear lack of accessibility to transitional housing for those financially unable to move into permanent housing.
• Incredibly unique story of homelessness, physical disability can be even more challenging to deal with than substance abuse or mental illness.
• The resources available to acquire food are incredibly beneficial.

Memorable Quotes:

1. “I was living a normal life until my concussion in high school football changed everything.”
2. “My wife’s family won’t speak to me because they think I dragged her into homelessness with me. It’s tough because I love her and want to speak with her family.”
3. “Acquiring and maintaining a job with a physical disability has been one of the most difficult aspects of my life. Without a steady income stream, it’s tough to get by.”
4. “I just need to get in transitional housing. Then things will get better for my wife and I. Until then, things will be challenging.”