Next step is to review the AI generated documents including the website page, the original input I fed it, and all my other notes, in order to build up this plan.
Try to locate existing websites (and associated apps) that already fulfill the objectives of this project. Or anything close. And work with those, when found and appropriate.
Organize the data, especially for routing clients the fastest possible to available resources. And organize the website layout to support it.
Determine levels: (some rough ideas...) which will have generic solutions available, but is focused on routing to specific client to resource connections.emergency - not directly covered hereextreme poverty - social situation that needs to be handled in a massive formpoverty - need support and help out of poverty - employment, welfare if unable or too old, or possibly start a business though probably difficultlow income (difficult pay rent/taxes/mortgage) - more profitable job/business/other income luxury level increase - pretty much same as low income, but higher goals and more strategicachieve personal goals (enjoying life)achieve world/societal improvements
Hoping to scale up to everything, as long as it doesn't interfere with lowest levels of help. In the abstract of helping, of course employees help customers, employers help employees (pay them money or compliments), and so on. The intent here is not to be a employment matching service or anything. It would not be a horrible thing, and I would not intend on filtering that out or disallowing it, unless it became a problem. I expect there are so many other resources available it would have no point here.
The use of proxies is very useful, and especially if it can be anyone at any time. The consideration here is insuring that the one client does not come in the system multiple times. This area is still vague and I have to consider this. But if the client can understand to have just one identifier (QR code) and insure only they use it, can help them get help faster. If lost, the client has to be clear to indicate they have no copies of their QR code any more. And nobody they asked to hold on to one is available or still has it. Each client can have many proxies, as long as they have one identifier used among them. Each proxy can replace a missing identifier, or if necessary a new identifier can be issued, and the old identifier is "invalidated" and references the new one. This area is very vague, and I'm hoping for a better solution. The easiest solution, which I don't think many clients would be happy with - is a photo, and every time there is help interaction they need to have a picture of their face submitted to the system to match to the right needing help account.
Some random notes:
Dual site kind of - tailor for those seeking help and those offering help.
Organization and navigation needs to handle incidental and short term situations, as well as long term help needed.
The tracking part is about helpers getting follow up, but mostly about more help getting injected to insure progress, and hopefully speed it up.
One point to me is gathering stories of how people come needing help. Sometimes it's obvious (constant terrorist bombings), other times is more complex and obscure. By understanding how people come to need help allows for looking for ways and ideas to prevent further occurrences. This is helping people before they need help. This point though needs to remain background here, and possibly pursued elsewhere I am expecting. In order to prevent obscuring the work at hand - get help to those needing it.
Further this is about hoping parallel sites in other languages will be developed and will be linked here, or once this is basically working, to expand to be multilingual.
If you would like to help, or just have comments about this, please post that information on your personal website and share a link to that page here.
Feel free to help with planning, designing the site and front page, or whatever, just post on your site and share here.
In any case if you need help or are offering, definitely post on your personal website. Please share that here as well. (For now is here until site is built.)
One thing that pops in my mind is instructions on how to help people.
For example helping someone out of poverty is complex and difficult often, depending on how long and how deep in poverty the client is. People often think of just giving food and maybe shelter to poor people is enough, and either they will find their own way out of poverty or there is no way out.
Unfortunately by not looking beyond immediate needs, people get stuck in poverty for a long time, and often will give up hope. Literally resigning themselves to a life on the streets. By looking for and working on ways to help them out of poverty you help them, and society in general.
On rare occasions the solution may lie in starting a business. Much more difficult in poverty, no resources and living on the streets or in shelters, but not impossible. But of course a job or welfare (if qualified) is quicker and easier.
So it starts with an intake process that gathers information - what help do they need and so on.
In the case of helping someone out of poverty, and in general, it is important to keep your ego in check. The client knows a lot more, and needs to be an interested part of it.
Perhaps a good begin point is just work on whatever their plan is currently, unless absurd, dangerous, immoral, or anything like that.
It is important to work with the client to make a plan that they approve of - by understanding and believing in the plan, not approving just to comply with or compliment the help provider.
Pay attention to their thoughts and plans. Quite probably that, even if you don't understand or agree with it, it is still the best plan.
It's about working together, not about the worst attitude - "they are poor because they don't know what they are doing - I'll have to decide everything exactly and just tell them what to do".
I'll be filling in details of different stories I know of, with the point of using those and others I find is to organize situations, solutions, clients, and the data surrounding them.
Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California, United States of America, America.
I don't know many stories, but did recognize many poor people on the streets. A few stick in my mind. One guy had found a spot that he was there almost everyday, seated on the street with his begging signs out.
I'd guess most of the years I was there it would be about 20 to 30 people begging on the streets downtown. In relatively good weather at least.
One lady I had often seen with a regular spot I began to notice often when I was walking into town or back from one apartment I had there. I later noticed she was sleeping on the porch of a business just outside the apartment building. She was probably over 60 then (probably dead now), and I thought it was terrible how old people are just left to fend for themselves.
Maastricht, Province of Limburg, The Netherlands, European Union, Europe.
I have not seen or talked with any clearly poor people, that I know of. One or two possibly, but I suspect they were on welfare and just begging for extra cash. One I tried to start discussing about her situation, but she just wanted money and left.
One story is a good example to me. A well dressed, healthy appearing gentleman asked for money. He said he was sleeping under a bridge. That was in between my questioning the situation, but not in a planned organized way. I did find out he was originally from another area in the Netherlands, and was living with his wife and child, until she threw him out. He was tired of chatting or so, and left after just the conversation was started. I was not prepared and did not think of in time to ask if he knew of one shelter in town. It's not free, although maybe with exception once or twice, but very cheap. Maybe he did and just did not want to go there. Or maybe that is what he was begging for. Maybe he thought that was obvious and I was to assume he was begging for that shelter instead of sleeping under the bridge.
But that was the point - being prepared - if I don't have the answer in my head, and he's anxious to move on, give him a hook into the system. Then later someone else would have know to determine if he knew of the one shelter. And others can offer to pay.
I have heard a few stories that are pretty bad.
The worst is a mother with 2 babies on the streets, needing to use old newspapers as diapers. It was just a few years ago, so is probably resolved by now. The person who reported seeing her bought her a snack and sent her to a church group. A lot of people are
The person living in poverty the longest I've heard of I actually met her, and the person who helped her out of poverty. She was living in an abandoned building for 3 years, and a severe alcoholic. She had certainly been on welfare earlier, I have no idea why it was terminated, and no further help was offered. She was not born in Maastricht but in a town in southern Limburg, so really should have been helped better normally. But eventually, and with going to judge, she was again on welfare, and the judge even ordered she get "back pay" as I see it. And that was a large chunk. But she was not given direct access, it was managed for her. I distrust the situation, and question what happened to that money when she passed away. And the church group interestingly visited her every workday, when other clients would just get a visit once a week. And they were intense on getting her signature. I think they got to book money off of her account for all the visits.
A refugee family from Ukraine was "couch surfing" with 3 babies across a number of households. Eventually they found their own way to Canada, as the Dutch Government did not allow them to reside here, and did not help to find another country that would take them. It was not really poverty as they were fed and I'm guessing were inside the whole time they were here. It is not a good situation as those families that took them in had, for a time, overcrowded situations, extra costs, and other inconveniences.
Colorado, United States of America, America.
I have the links somewhere, and will be sharing more information, but this is a very interesting thing some people are doing to help the poor. The article focused on one person who did a specific experiment. Others just did generally one formula or another. This person found a number of people living on the streets. In three different groups he gave them money according to a formula. One was monthly $50 for half a year, another was $300 at one time, and another group some other split. More than half of each group, not much more but definitely more, managed to get off the streets and find housing. It was not clear (maybe further in the article I didn't read) if it was temporary or permanent housing and solutions. But off the streets is very significant. One other thing that seemed significant to me is that he followed through and contacted the people (they probably had cell phones) just to see how they were doing. I am guessing that it was a no-pressure just saying "hi" more than "I want a report to hear it's worth my money". And it seemed that it was just give them money, but maybe there was some discussion or working on a plan of what to do. I don't think so.
As soon as this site is built, I'm going to feed into it that I have a boat in Sneek, the Netherlands, Europe. It's not really livable, but can be an emergency better-than-the-streets shelter for someone.