A centralized hub for homeless support efforts and resources. The journey from homeless to housed made easier by connecting people at each stage to the most effective government, non-profit, or enterprise relief efforts.
Recent annual data collection on homelessness populations have pointed towards ongoing challenges with ending homelessness in America. This problem has continued to persist even periods of low unemployment.
In the wake of COVID and rising unemployement numbers, it is up to our current homeless support systems to aid the estimated 250,000 new people that could require the help of homeless support programs.
The Bay Area has historically struggled with maintaining the floods of homeless people. There are a number of myths about homelessness in the bay area. One in particular is that many people come from outside of the bay area. However, 84% of those that are homeless are native to the Santa Clara County area.
With the rise of big tech, gentrification has changed the market more rapidly than policy could keep up with. The biggest barrier to housing is afforable rent - something that is exaccerbated by policies that slow the development of affordable housing properties. Homeless people want affordable housing but most can't afford rent, don't have work or income, or can't find available housing.
There is no shortage of money being thrown at this crisis in San Francisco, however, money doesn't seem to be the remedy when addressing homelessness. Big Tech has already committed nearly 4.5 Billion dollars to creating affordable housing but the fruits of those efforts may take decades to see results due to strict property/housing rules.
For the support efforts that do exist, many people that are homeless aren't even aware of the tools they have at their disposal. Getting access to homeless support programs requires the individual to go into designated government facilities which they often times aren't aware of. While affordable housing efforts seem promising, it will take years before they reach those who need it. And even if they do come quicker, there is no central place to distribute the housing to those who need it.
Entante would be a hub that documents homeless individuals, where they are in their journey, and creates suggestions on which support efforts they should be taking advantage of. One of the central issues of the current system is that homeless people aren't aware of the current homeless support programs they are qualified for. Likewise, organizations aren't aware of the specific individuals that could leverage their programs
Entante would be a service that could be implemented into government facilities to improve collaboration, data collection, and distribution of homeless support programs. By creating a central hub for these tools, homeless individuals can receive more directed aid according to their situation. Additionally, government agencies will have more detailed insights into their homeless population. This will ultimately provide data driven insights that can help drive policy change.
Given the chance to be a part of the Ideas 42 Venture Studio Fellowship Program, I would be dedicated to a social venture that helps address homelessness in my hometown of the bay area. If you want to learn more about me, feel free to click on the "More About Me" button to get redirected to my personal website
Ideas 42 Ventures Studio - Willy Lee