Water, Toilet Paper, Tents

One of the hardest things in the software development world is figuring out what you're supposed to build. Not "how" or "when" or for "who", but "what". There is an entire discipline built around this called Requirements Engineering. One of the core principles is that you need to talk to the stakeholders and figure out what they need. Be willing to listen to your customers.

With that in mind, we received some interesting feedback for helping the homeless this past weekend. On Friday, when we were handing out flyers for the Turkey in the Park event the next day, we also handed out bottled water and granola bars. One guy told us that the two hardest things to come by on the street were bottled water and toilet paper, and somebody else chimed in and agreed about the TP.

Then my friend Sara sent me the following after the Turkey in the Park this past weekend:

I met a couple at Turkey in the Park who desperately needed a tent. So yesterday Myah and I delivered a tent to them that we had in storage for a long time. While I was very nervous about going to "Tent City" in the mission district, we ended up having a nice afternoon setting up the tent and talking to many of the individuals that live there.

While we were there we noticed quite a number of individuals that do not have tents and wondered if this is something that your organization is or can get involved with. The couple that I met, Boyd and Christina, said that they can help us identify the specific individuals that need the tents and that won't sell them off for drugs.

This couple also said that they are part of a grass roots organization to establish a permanent "Tent City". They are working with state legislators and the media to have some land set aside. This might be something that your organization can help advocate.

P.S. I had a good time at Turkey in the Park and your organization is helping me better understand the homeless problems in Sacramento.

Interesting things to throw into our planning: water, toilet paper, tents.

By the way, I'd like to find out more about the grass roots organization working on a tent city. Does anybody here know anything about that?

Homeless Voter Registration

The following is a brief video from CNN. It's worth a watch and encouraging homeless friends we encounter to make sure that their votes count.

Is Denver Hiding the Homeless?

I've seen several stories lately regarding the Democratic National Convention and homelessness. The gist seems to be that the homeless in Denver are being encouraged to get off the streets by some, while at the same time encouraged to participate in the DNC by homeless advocate groups. It is difficult to know who to believe since sources say so many different things and you'll get a different opinion depending on who you read. I will say that it was great to look over a Colorado Coalition for the Homeless statement and to see that this group views the convention as an opportunity to provide services to families that they provide year round. Other organizations such as the United Way are also doing the work that they normally do, but hoping to use the convention as a platform for advocacy. I came across an article of a salon owner giving haircuts for the homeless too. Here is another article from the Rocky Mountain News.

In sifting through all of the information, I would not be surprised if the typical political move of getting the homeless off the streets was embraced by political figures in Denver as it is in other cities, but I will say that it is great to see so many grassroots organizations doing what they do everyday and really working hard to assist families.

What do you think? Is this good, bad, or both?