In 2018, Cisco and Vacation spot: House launched into a partnership to sort out homelessness in Santa Clara County. Whereas our major focus was on the event of supportive housing and homelessness prevention, we additionally noticed a possibility to leverage know-how to enhance lives. Whereas not a panacea, know-how can play a vital function in serving to people experiencing homelessness entry important sources, and might improve the effectivity and repair supply of the organizations serving them.
Assessing know-how wants in Santa Clara County’s supportive housing system
We started with a know-how wants evaluation of Santa Clara County’s supportive housing system, which aimed to establish alternatives to leverage knowledge and know-how to strengthen the system of care. The findings have been insightful: each homeless service suppliers and other people receiving companies expressed a necessity for higher communication between workers and purchasers, in addition to the necessity for programs that enable people to entry companies and handle their very own data.
Primarily based on these insights, the evaluation really helpful the event of a client-facing portal. The envisioned software would offer safe entry for e-signatures, appointment scheduling, doc administration, and direct communication between purchasers and suppliers. This laid the muse for what would ultimately change into MyConnectSV.
Constructing MyConnectSV: A collaborative effort
Constructing MyConnectSV was not fast. Vacation spot: House adopted a considerate and inclusive course of to make sure it was accomplished proper. Programs-level modifications, reminiscent of updating insurance policies round digital releases of knowledge on the County degree, have been essential earlier than implementation may start.
All through the design, growth and testing course of, the Vacation spot: House workforce constantly engaged service suppliers and other people with lived expertise of homelessness to assist create an answer that would actually meet their wants.
The outcome? A safe, user-friendly platform designed to empower people and streamline service supply.
Key options of MyConnectSV embrace the power to:
- Replace contact data in actual time
- Observe upcoming appointments
- Add and entry private paperwork
- Entry vital sources, reminiscent of meals and medical care data
- Signal and add key paperwork electronically
- Talk straight with case managers
- Observe their place within the housing queue
- Share their location with case managers by way of a “drop pin” function
These functionalities save weeks of time, forestall missed alternatives, and expedite the journey to secure housing. For people experiencing homelessness, this implies staying related to important sources and assist programs. For service organizations, it means improved outreach and effectivity in delivering care.
The workforce continues to enhance the software by actively listening to customers and incorporating their suggestions into ongoing growth—making certain that MyConnectSV evolves to fulfill the wants of these most impacted.
The broader impression of know-how in homeless companies
The advantages of know-how like MyConnectSV lengthen past time financial savings. It democratizes entry to data, making vital sources accessible to all, and is each replicable and scalable. In partnering with Readability by Bitfocus, a platform at present utilized by over 75 communities throughout the nation, we ensured that this client-facing module could possibly be simply adopted by Bitfocus customers throughout america.
What started as an area initiative in Santa Clara County is now a replicable, impactful answer with the potential to make a distinction nationwide. And whereas there’s nonetheless a lot work to be accomplished, it is a reminder of how know-how, when designed with empathy and function, can really enhance lives.
To be taught extra, take a look at Vacation spot: House’s newest publication, Breaking Down Limitations to Housing.
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