In 2018, Cisco and Vacation spot: Dwelling 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 chance to leverage expertise to enhance lives. Whereas not a panacea, expertise can play a vital position in serving to people experiencing homelessness entry important assets, and might improve the effectivity and repair supply of the organizations serving them.
Assessing expertise wants in Santa Clara County’s supportive housing system
We started with a expertise wants evaluation of Santa Clara County’s supportive housing system, which aimed to establish alternatives to leverage knowledge and expertise to strengthen the system of care. The findings have been insightful: each homeless service suppliers and folks receiving companies expressed a necessity for higher communication between workers and shoppers, in addition to the necessity for techniques that enable people to entry companies and handle their very own info.
Based mostly on these insights, the evaluation advisable 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 shoppers and suppliers. This laid the inspiration for what would finally turn into MyConnectSV.
Constructing MyConnectSV: A collaborative effort
Constructing MyConnectSV was not fast. Vacation spot: Dwelling adopted a considerate and inclusive course of to make sure it was executed proper. Techniques-level modifications, similar to updating insurance policies round digital releases of data on the County degree, have been essential earlier than implementation might start.
All through the design, growth and testing course of, the Vacation spot: Dwelling group constantly engaged service suppliers and folks with lived expertise of homelessness to assist create an answer that would actually meet their wants.
The consequence? A safe, user-friendly platform designed to empower people and streamline service supply.
Key options of MyConnectSV embody the power to:
- Replace contact info in actual time
- Observe upcoming appointments
- Add and entry private paperwork
- Entry vital assets, similar to meals and medical care info
- Signal and add key paperwork electronically
- Talk straight with case managers
- Observe their place within the housing queue
- Share their location with case managers through a “drop pin” function
These functionalities save weeks of time, forestall missed alternatives, and expedite the journey to steady housing. For people experiencing homelessness, this implies staying linked to important assets and help techniques. For service organizations, it means improved outreach and effectivity in delivering care.
The group continues to enhance the software by actively listening to customers and incorporating their suggestions into ongoing growth—guaranteeing that MyConnectSV evolves to satisfy the wants of these most impacted.
The broader impression of expertise in homeless companies
The advantages of expertise like MyConnectSV lengthen past time financial savings. It democratizes entry to info, making vital assets 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 may very well 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 executed, it is a reminder of how expertise, when designed with empathy and objective, can really enhance lives.
To be taught extra, try Vacation spot: Dwelling’s newest publication, Breaking Down Boundaries to Housing.
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