HOUSEportland: Smart distribution of shelter and employment information for Portland’s homeless
Homelessness is a problem on the rise in Portland, Maine. According to federal data cited by the Portland Press Herald, the number of homeless people in Maine rose 14.6% from 2010 to 2014, despite a 10% drop in homelessness nation wide.1 In Portland, that means an ever-increasing number of adults, youths and families staying in homeless shelters or out on the streets without a place to sleep. While about 500 individuals were identified as homeless in the 2014 annual point-in-time count,2 only about 460 individuals were residing in a homeless shelter in Portland each night in the month of September 2014.3 Though holistic policy reform is clearly needed to ensure sufficient space at homeless shelters and the availability of low-income affordable housing, in the mean time, we can use smart solutions to assist individuals without a home in getting back on their feet.
A method to efficiently deliver real-time information about homeless shelters and temporary employment would be dramatically useful to Portland’s homeless population. Research has shown that homeless individuals are sleep deprived and that lack of sleep is inextricably tied to poor health and depression.4 The goal of this project is to newly empower homeless people by delivering critical information allowing them to: (a) better plan where they will stay each night, thereby increasing sleep hours and reducing stress, (b) avoid wasting time and energy making trips to shelters that are already full, (c) take advantage of temporary employment opportunities, and (d) to have more awareness of the options available to them. I propose a three-pronged smart solution: the creation of “HOUSEportland,” a system comprised of a linked webpage, smartphone app, and automated text-messaging program.
The webpage and smartphone app would show the real-time number of bed openings in each homeless shelter in Portland. This would require all shelters to link their registration database with the webpage in order to keep information in real-time. Users would have the option of creating a username and password to which they could link a cell phone number. A “Favorites” option on the webpage and smartphone app would allow users to receive push notifications and text messages when shelters put in the Favorites category are nearing capacity. The webpage and smartphone app would include embedded maps with personalized directions to the shelters with open beds nearest to the user. (Proximity to the user could be optionally determined by inputting address or by allowing the application to access the GPS location of the computer or smartphone.) An option for temporary employment notifications would allow users to receive push notifications and/or text messages with critical information about temporary employment opportunities in Portland (e.g. “CONSTRUCTION LABOR NEEDED: Tmr, Wed Nov 12; be @ Oxford & Elm @ 7AM”). Employers would be able to register on the website and send alerts about their labor needs without having direct access to user information and phone numbers.
The HOUSEportland webpage, smartphone and text-messaging system should increase the accessibility of information regarding shelter and temporary employment that is available to individuals without a home. As a result, I hope it increases their sleeping hours, reduces stress, speeds re-employment and/or re-housing, and ameliorates some part of the pain involved in homelessness.
Work Cited
1 Miller, Kevin. “Count of Maine homeless dropped this year, but rises over long term.” Portland Press Herald, October 30 2014, accessed November 10, 2014, http://www.pressherald.com/2014/10/30/count-of-maine-homeless-dropped-this-year-but-rises-over-long-term-survey-finds/.
2 Maine State Housing Authority. Annual Point in Time Survey (Portland, ME: January 2014), accessed November 10, 2014, http://www.portlandmaine.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/5035.
3 Social Services Division, City of Portland Health & Human Services Department.
Portland Homeless Shelters (Portland, ME: September 2014), accessed November 10, 2014, http://www.portlandmaine.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/7006.
4 Chang, Hui-Ling, Felicia D. Fisher, Lorraine R. Reitzel, Darla E. Kendzor, Minh Anh H. Nguyen, and Michael S. Businelle. “Subjective Sleep Inadequacy and Self-rated Health among Homeless Adults.” American journal of health behavior 39, no. 1 (2015): 14-21.