In 2018, Cisco and Vacation spot: Dwelling launched into a partnership to sort out homelessness in Santa Clara County. Whereas our main focus was on the event of supportive housing and homelessness prevention, we additionally noticed a possibility to leverage expertise to enhance lives. Whereas not a panacea, expertise can play a crucial function in serving to people experiencing homelessness entry important sources, 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 determine alternatives to leverage information and expertise to strengthen the system of care. The findings had 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 techniques 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 supply safe entry for e-signatures, appointment scheduling, doc administration, and direct communication between purchasers and suppliers. This laid the inspiration for what would ultimately develop 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 accomplished proper. Methods-level adjustments, comparable to updating insurance policies round digital releases of knowledge on the County degree, had been vital earlier than implementation might start.
All through the design, growth and testing course of, the Vacation spot: Dwelling workforce persistently engaged service suppliers and other people with lived expertise of homelessness to assist create an answer that would actually meet their wants.
The end result? A safe, user-friendly platform designed to empower people and streamline service supply.
Key options of MyConnectSV embody the flexibility to:
- Replace contact data in actual time
- Monitor upcoming appointments
- Add and entry private paperwork
- Entry crucial sources, comparable to meals and medical care data
- Signal and add key paperwork electronically
- Talk instantly with case managers
- Monitor 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, stop missed alternatives, and expedite the journey to secure housing. For people experiencing homelessness, this implies staying related to important sources and assist techniques. 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—guaranteeing that MyConnectSV evolves to fulfill the wants of these most impacted.
The broader affect of expertise in homeless companies
The advantages of expertise like MyConnectSV prolong past time financial savings. It democratizes entry to data, making crucial sources accessible to all, and is each replicable and scalable. In partnering with Readability by Bitfocus, a platform at the moment 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 resolution 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 expertise, when designed with empathy and goal, can actually enhance lives.
To be taught extra, try Vacation spot: Dwelling’s newest e-newsletter, Breaking Down Boundaries to Housing.
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