A nonprofit hires a consultant to do a needs assessment for unhoused people in their city. They find that 32 organizations are working on this issue and decide this is a “duplication of resources.”

(Notice how the “needs assessment” found a “problem” – not an actual need...)

So, community leaders and funders propose consolidation.

Six months later, after many coffee meetings, lunches, and PowerPoint presentations, these leaders realize that exactly zero executive directors want to volunteer to lose their jobs. 

(I know. Total shocker. 😐)

Instead, they propose a Digital Resource Hub to coordinate services and organize the fragmented ecosystem. They discuss which organization should “own” the Hub. Groups argue over who should be included because homelessness is a complicated and multifaceted challenge.

• Are the police a resource or part of the problem? 
• What about the people giving away free haircuts? Are they helping or enabling? 

• Should the libraries be involved?

Again, after many coffee meetings, lunches, and PowerPoint presentations, decisions are made, funding is secured, technology vendors are selected, and building a Digital Resource Hub begins.

Six months later, the Hub owner launches the web app. (If they had lots of money, they also launched a mobile app for Android and iOS.) The community celebrates. There are many pats on the back and talk of synergy and streamlining while they wait for someone to use the Hub. 

…and no one does.

Why? I can only make assumptions. Like: 

• The leaders who identified the problem of “fragmented services” didn’t learn about this problem from unhoused people.

• Unhoused people are not overwhelmed by all the organizations competing to offer them services. Fragmentation is not their problem but the community leaders' problem.
• The problem for homeless people is not that they can’t decide which service to use, but that they don’t know about the resources at all.

People who work closely with the unhoused population will say: “Exactly! They don’t know what they don’t know.”

The people who created the Digital Resource Hub will say: “That is why we created the Hub, so they can find the resources they need!”

Then, I would say: “And the unhoused people asked for a Hub?” crickets “They asked for a Hub, right!?” 

What if I told you that a Digital Resource Hub for the unhoused already exists in every city in the country?

You simply type in “shelters near me,” and you can see a map of every shelter in your community. Each listing provides detailed instructions on how to get there on foot, by bicycle, via public transit, or by car. You can quickly see the hours they operate, a phone number to call if you have questions, and reviews of each shelter provided by community members.

Better still, this Hub comes pre-installed on every browser and is used by 3.5 billion people worldwide every day. Anyone with access to the internet uses it by default.

Best of all, it's free.

After suggesting Google, the people working close to the unhoused will protest: “That will never work! Most unhoused people don’t have phones or access to the internet, and many don’t know how to read.”

And then I'll look at the community leaders and reply: “Then why the hell (I really emphasize this part) did we spend the last 12 months building a Digital Resource Hub!?”

…

…

…

The water is now lukewarm.

I can no longer see through the glass door, and soapy water pools around my feet.

It’s time to get out.

My work here is done.

Until next time,

Ted