Community Homelessness
Research Project
1
MARIE ELLIS
JAIME GONZALEZ
DUSTIN STRONG
ISAAC AVALOS
KIMBERLY OLSON
AVERY PEREZ
ANDY BALLESTEROS
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Presentation Outline
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Executive Summary ~Marie Ellis and Jaime Gonzalez
Needs Analysis ~ Dustin Strong and Isaac Avalos
Solution Statement ~ Marie Ellis and Kim Olson
Solution Choice ~ Andy Ballesteros and Avery Perez
Understanding what's Available ~ Marie Ellis
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Executive Summary
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MARIE ELLIS
JAIME GONZALEZ
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Project Goal
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 Develop current information of 150-200 surveys
about their knowledge and opinions of the local
homeless population, and how we need to solve it
We want solutions to issues homeless face,
whether the cause is personal, mental, physical,
developmental, ext.
We want everyone to help by just
understanding that not all homeless persons are just
“lazy” but rather uniformed
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Team Responsibilities
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Marie Ellis ~ Team Leader and PowerPoint manager
Kimberly Olson ~ Asst. Team Leader and Solutions manager
Andy Ballesteros ~ Team Developer
Isaac Avalos ~ Team developer
Avery Perez ~ Survey Results entry and Percentages
Jaime Gonzales ~ Research on what's Already Available
Dustin Strong ~ Team Developer
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Where we Surveyed
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



Downtown Watsonville
Downtown Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Metro Center
Watsonville Cabrillo Campus
“There is an estimate of 2,789 homeless
people recorded in Santa Cruz”
~ Santa Cruz County Health Services Survey, 2007
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Who we Surveyed
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We ended with 157 Surveys
57% Male
43% Female
Ages:
17% Under 15
51% 15-20
19% 21-25
13% 26-30+
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Ethnicities:
74% Hispanic
23% White
1% Asian
1% African-American
1% Other
Thesis Questions Asked
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 Do you want homelessness to change?
 Do you think the state should develop more




programs?
Do you think that being lazy is the prime factor of
homelessness?
Are you able to see homeless people utilizing
standard working conditions?
Should children be categorized as homeless?
How can homelessness change for the better?
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Needs Analysis
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DUSTIN STRONG
ISAAC AVALOS
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Facts From Santa Cruz Health.com
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2.1% of Santa Cruz is Homeless
2. Overall, job loss is the highest reason for being homeless,
followed by alcohol and drug use
3. 87% of homeless say they don’t have a job
4. Only a total of 9 homeless persons in the entire county
where counted in drug and alcohol rehabilitation in 2007
5. 18% of the homeless persons noted in 2007 where under
age 18
6. 35% of the homeless persons said they didn’t have a high
school diploma or G.E.D
1.
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Data from Our Surveys
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 57% thought that homelessness
is primarily caused by laziness.
 87% said they wanted
homelessness to change
 89% said they thought the state
should develop more programs
 35% said children should be
categorized as homeless
“Get all those homeless off their lazy ****
and tell them to get a life” ~ non-homeless
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
What does this tell
us about the need?
 That people don’t know much
about the personal lives of the
homeless, and don’t
understand that some are ill or
unable to work
 That homeless have a “bad rep”
and it obviously would be hard
for them to get a job
 People would like the issues
around homelessness to change
Pro’s and Con’s of Supporting and not
Supporting Needs
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Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
The Solution Statement
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MARIE ELLIS
KIMBERLY OLSON
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
The Three Recommended Solutions
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1.
Awareness Counselors
2.
Homeless Community Act
3.
Homeless anonymous
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
1:Homeless Awareness Counselors
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• Our main goal in the (H.A.C) Homeless Awareness
Counseling is to show homeless people that they
have a voice and there are people in this world that
will listen to there problems.
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
2:Homeless Community Act
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• Consists of large public meetings in Santa Cruz
addressing what can we do as a community to help
homelessness.
• Will directly impact those who live on the streets of
Santa Cruz county.
• Will inform the community of the new truths
behind homelessness as well as recourses that are
already available.
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Resources and On going Homeless Projects
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• Homelessgardenproject.org
• Nationalhomelessness.org
• Picturethehomeless.org
• Scshelter.org
• Homelesskids.org
• Casaofsantacruz.org
• Infant, and Children (WIC) Call: 888-WICWORK
• Fed. Housing administration (FHA) 800-225-5342
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
3:Homeless Anonymous
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 An “AA” type meeting that will address common
problems surrounding homelessness



Interacting with others
“Venting” or talking about problems
Handling addiction problems
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Criteria for Selecting Useful Solutions
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1. Availability (resources)
2. How long it will take for success
3. Advertizing (how much)
4. How easy it is to organize
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Criteria Table
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Availability
(resources)
How Long it
will take
Advertizing
Organization
Needs
Totals
1. Awareness
Counselors
XX
XX
X
XX
7
2. Homeless
Community
Act
XX
XXX
X
XXX
9
(highest )
3. Homeless
Anonymous
X
XX
XX
X
6
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Our #1 Recommended Solution
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ANDY BALLESTEROS
AVERY PEREZ
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
The Goal of our #1 Solution
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 Increase understanding of homeless populations in
Santa Cruz
 Advise the public to give homeless people a chance
 Access homeless for personal differences and define
individual needs
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
The Objective of our #1 Solution
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 Start a project of interested volunteers to become
experts on homelessness, and all the resources
available for help
 Develop group strategies to create movement in the
community surrounding homelessness
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Outcomes of our #1 Solution
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 Higher community support systems
 Development of an educated community that helps
one another
 Increased amount of job skills for those who are
homeless or at-risk
 Raise in the level of voters
 A raise in personal self-motivation for those who are
homeless
 Increase in success rates for homeless and at-risk
 An understanding of what's already available
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
Understanding what's Already
Available
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MARIE ELLIS
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008
For More Information on Local Homelessness Go To:
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www.santacruzhealth.org
•Homelessgardenproject.org
•Nationalhomelessness.org
•Picturethehomeless.org
•Scshelter.org
•Homelesskids.org
•Casaofsantacruz.org
•Infant, and Children (WIC) Call: 888WICWORK
•Fed. Housing administration (FHA) 800225-5342
Digital Bridge Academy Spring Semester 2008