Technology for Good: Frugal Innovation and Apps for the Homeless Natalie Linnell, Silvia Figueira Santa Clara University

Talk Outline  StreetConnect SMS Announcements Hackathon

Text messaging broadcast system for NGOs serving the homeless  Allows NGOs to send mass texts to clients who have registered  Clients can interact with system using SMS only  System built to meet specific needs of this population

FIL and CTA partnership  Started as class project  College students building technology for the homeless?  Partnership: The Frugal Innovation Lab Research group at Santa Clara University focused on humanitarian applications The Community Technology Alliance (CTA) San Jose-based NGO that helps other NGOs serving the homeless and low-income to adopt technology  Tech-savvy NGO and people-savvy technologists

The homeless are difficult to reach  NGOs who serve the homeless find it difficult to get information to clients Rely on word-of mouth and regular schedules Especially difficult for intermittent or one-time services ○ Medical van ○ Job fairs Usual methods of advertising don’t work ○ High-tech (web, , social media) doesn’t work ○ Low-tech (mailing) doesn’t work “Medium tech”: Text messaging

Why text messaging?  CTA-Conducted Survey Homeless have cell phones, but not smart phones ○ Though we expect more smart phones in the future AAAA

Text alert system for NGOs and the homeless  We decided to build our own solution rather than using a commercial service Cost Privacy issues ○ NGOs have access to sensitive information ○ NGOs already host their DBs with CTA Integration with DBs ○ Hosted at CTA ○ Reporting Specific needs of the homeless population/NGOs

Our system  Clients can register and subscribe to topics through Web or SMS Text “add food”  NGOs send out alerts through Web  Also developing an app version for those who do have smart phones

Specific needs of the homeless  No passwords One-time code  No address But location is important  Don’t want to give out personal info Only phone number is required  May not have access to Web even to register

Lessons learned from our first deployment  Provide alerts in both English and Spanish  Allow client to specify a maximum number of monthly messages sent  Some NGOs want to use something more like an client Alternative version for this use case Issue: Customization vs generality?

Current work  Deploy more widely Commitment to “the last mile” Many student-built projects never go beyond prototype  Transition server to CTA  Come up with revenue model to offset server costs.  Expand app version to allow for pull of information, not just push  Tie in to existing HMIS database  Deploy more widely Commitment to “the last mile” Many student-built projects never go beyond prototype  Transition server to CTA  Come up with revenue model to offset server costs.  Expand app version to allow for pull of information, not just push  Tie in to existing HMIS database

Project ideas  Smartphones: CTA is working to get smartphones to distribute, and support for cheap plans Having apps to deploy is helpful in making this happen

Expanding Streetconnect: Hack for the Homeless  Student interest in a hackathon  Next step of Streetconnect  Idea: How can an app use the information from HMIS in a pull fashion?

Proposed projects  Met with CTA, Downtown Streets Team  Clinic Finder Allowing the client to find free or low-cost clinics that suit their needs  Meal Reminders Notifying users of when meals are available near them

Hack for the Homeless  Student organized  24 hours of coding 5pm Friday to 5pm Saturday Tutorials from industry professionals and consultation with NGO professional Friday night  50 students participated SCU and SJSU  12 teams finished (1-4 students on each team)  7 teams won prizes $1000, $500, $350, $350, $250, $125, Windows Phones, Android phones, external hard drives

Projects  Judges from CTA, IEEE Special Interest Group in Humanitarian Technologies, industry partners  Students came up with their own ideas!

Winning project: Homeless Helpline  Opposite direction: Lower-tech than SMS Voice interface for HMIS  User calls number, is prompted for zip code and desired service.  Text-to-speech presents the services to the user  Text message followup with address

2 nd place project: Care Buddy  Android app  Ties into HMIS to allow the user to search for services  Ties into google maps to show location and directions  “From the Wall” feature allows restaurants and other organizations to post promotions, etc.

Summary  Text messaging broadcast system  Allows NGOs to send mass texts to clients who have registered  Clients can interact with system using text only  System built to meet specific needs of this population  Next steps out of Hackathon: Allow users to pull info Smartphone apps Voice calls