I have a proposal for a program to benefit the homeless in Philadelphia, I have (what I believe) is a well thought out, written idea for how to take action in this city and bring an idea like this to fruition. However, I'm not sure who to go about contacting in regards to this idea. Who would I want to talk to that would actually give me the time of day? City government? HUD offices? Homeless shelters? It is a city wide plan so i feel that i would need to approach someone higher up than a private organization, but would anyone listen to me? Have any of you had experience with such a matter?
no, but seriously, you're not giving us a lot of information to give an informed opinion. are you looking to profit monetarily or otherwise or are you doing this just out of the goodness of your heart? if you go through city government i'd not bother unless i knew someone personally that's connected... i've always regarded letters to city councilmen, etc. a waste of time.... but if it were me i'd just call all of the organizations in your area (or drop by) that are involved with homeless programs and just chat em up.. you don't have to give anything away but say exactly what you just asked us.. salv. army, goodwill, st. vincent depaul, etc.. anybody who takes charitable money/product donations would be able to help. whenever i've called any of these places i can ususally find people who know what there talking about.
if you're hoping to at all benefit from the proposal of service or whatever you've come up with i'd read through the us patent and trademark info and see if any of this applies:
No this would not done for any monetary gain, thanks for the advice. I like that parking meter idea though. I will definatly post my concept at a later date, probably later this week, as I think many cities could benefit from it, and since i was inspired by another group who did a similar project it would only be fair to share my version as well.
cool. but remember if you really feel strongly enough about your idea and the way its handled that you'd like at least some amount of control (so that its not picked up, squandered, and/or ruined but an orginization or government...i know, sounds ridiculous, right??..) you still might consider at least studying service trademarks before giving away too much. i didn't actually think you wanted to profit financially but there's lots more to having control of an idea/ideas than making money.
The above link will take you to the contact page for the Department leadership. Also click on the "10-Year Plan" on the left. That will take you to a PDF which includes contact information to the 10-Year Plan project manager.
Also, I would try to find out if there are any particular City Council members that have made ending homelessness part of their agenda.
thanks phil, I figured I could wait till the election is over then try and talk to either Dwight Evans or Chakah Fattah. They both have been crusaders on the homeless front. However I don't think starting out my email "So now that you lost the election, I'm sure you've got some free time on your hands" will work :)
Allthough, now that i read through the "10 year plan to eliminate homelessness" it puts into doubt my ideas. Mainly because i feel like Street and co. are going to be so far into developing this (ambitious yet completely unrealistic) idea that anything that would be considered a half step would be looked upon as a setback. Hell I wish we could eliminate homelessness in 10 years too, but I don't see it happening.
pretty much every city seems to have a "10 year plan to eliminate homelessness"... i know mine does... however, as is the case with most "plans" of this type the basically sit on a shelf and gather dust... it really requires passionate and energetic leadership and full buy-in from all of the parties (city, non-profits, public, etc)
a modest proposal: cities wanting to rid their streets of the homeless should pool money buy some land and create a new town in which to send their homeless. homelesstown, north dakota. it solves several problems. 1. scary homeless people who frigten the tourists, 2. people needing shelter.3. reloading diminishing populations in north dakota.
You should probably talk to me. I'm in Philadelphia and the sh!t. And by that I mean of course that I'm a nobody. If you need help getting anything done though just let me know. I could try to get some Philadelphia AIAS chapters involved. (I'll be Pres. of Philadelphia University chapter next year). I think the main goal would be to create awareness of your issue and then see of the politicians pick it up. I'm not sure when elections run, but if you let running candidates know your plan during the election process they'll listen to you more then if they get elected. They just want your vote then.
Who ya gonna call?
I have a proposal for a program to benefit the homeless in Philadelphia, I have (what I believe) is a well thought out, written idea for how to take action in this city and bring an idea like this to fruition. However, I'm not sure who to go about contacting in regards to this idea. Who would I want to talk to that would actually give me the time of day? City government? HUD offices? Homeless shelters? It is a city wide plan so i feel that i would need to approach someone higher up than a private organization, but would anyone listen to me? Have any of you had experience with such a matter?
here's a free-market type suggestion...and no, i'm not always talking about sports, just often.
find someone off of the phillies, sixers or eagles and get them to take it up as a pet project.
donovan mcnabb (eagles), chase utley (phillies) and/or coach maurice cheeks (76ers).
pretty much all big-name major leaguers in every sport run their own charitable organizations. just one of the ways sports give back to the people!
seriously though...if you can sell it to someone like that, they'll help grease the wheels towards getting city hall on board.
i'm sorry i can't add much to this except my support!
good luck and keep us posted. =)
right - i should've said that too...
good luck! may your endeavours to fight homelessness in one of america's most iconic cities not go unrewarded!
Thanks Cris, I'll definatly keep this thread up to date on my progress.
Mightylittle, thats a really interesting way to go that i never would have thought about. It is certainly worth looking into. Thanks!
homeless parking meters? already been done
no, but seriously, you're not giving us a lot of information to give an informed opinion. are you looking to profit monetarily or otherwise or are you doing this just out of the goodness of your heart? if you go through city government i'd not bother unless i knew someone personally that's connected... i've always regarded letters to city councilmen, etc. a waste of time.... but if it were me i'd just call all of the organizations in your area (or drop by) that are involved with homeless programs and just chat em up.. you don't have to give anything away but say exactly what you just asked us.. salv. army, goodwill, st. vincent depaul, etc.. anybody who takes charitable money/product donations would be able to help. whenever i've called any of these places i can ususally find people who know what there talking about.
if you're hoping to at all benefit from the proposal of service or whatever you've come up with i'd read through the us patent and trademark info and see if any of this applies:
http://www.uspto.gov/main/faq/index.html
my pleasure. if it work though, i want eagles/giants tix!
No this would not done for any monetary gain, thanks for the advice. I like that parking meter idea though. I will definatly post my concept at a later date, probably later this week, as I think many cities could benefit from it, and since i was inspired by another group who did a similar project it would only be fair to share my version as well.
You got it ml!
cool. but remember if you really feel strongly enough about your idea and the way its handled that you'd like at least some amount of control (so that its not picked up, squandered, and/or ruined but an orginization or government...i know, sounds ridiculous, right??..) you still might consider at least studying service trademarks before giving away too much. i didn't actually think you wanted to profit financially but there's lots more to having control of an idea/ideas than making money.
i'd try someone at the city... i just did a quick search on the city website and came up with the following...
City of Philadelphia Office of Emergency Shelter & Services
The above link will take you to the contact page for the Department leadership. Also click on the "10-Year Plan" on the left. That will take you to a PDF which includes contact information to the 10-Year Plan project manager.
Also, I would try to find out if there are any particular City Council members that have made ending homelessness part of their agenda.
good luck...
thanks phil, I figured I could wait till the election is over then try and talk to either Dwight Evans or Chakah Fattah. They both have been crusaders on the homeless front. However I don't think starting out my email "So now that you lost the election, I'm sure you've got some free time on your hands" will work :)
And thanks for the link!
Allthough, now that i read through the "10 year plan to eliminate homelessness" it puts into doubt my ideas. Mainly because i feel like Street and co. are going to be so far into developing this (ambitious yet completely unrealistic) idea that anything that would be considered a half step would be looked upon as a setback. Hell I wish we could eliminate homelessness in 10 years too, but I don't see it happening.
i agree...
pretty much every city seems to have a "10 year plan to eliminate homelessness"... i know mine does... however, as is the case with most "plans" of this type the basically sit on a shelf and gather dust... it really requires passionate and energetic leadership and full buy-in from all of the parties (city, non-profits, public, etc)
a modest proposal: cities wanting to rid their streets of the homeless should pool money buy some land and create a new town in which to send their homeless. homelesstown, north dakota. it solves several problems. 1. scary homeless people who frigten the tourists, 2. people needing shelter.3. reloading diminishing populations in north dakota.
Sounds like you should be mayor of New York City Vado
Vado's solution sounds a lot like Al Bundy's idea to make pregnant women go to their own state - "Pregnaho"...
You should probably talk to me. I'm in Philadelphia and the sh!t. And by that I mean of course that I'm a nobody. If you need help getting anything done though just let me know. I could try to get some Philadelphia AIAS chapters involved. (I'll be Pres. of Philadelphia University chapter next year). I think the main goal would be to create awareness of your issue and then see of the politicians pick it up. I'm not sure when elections run, but if you let running candidates know your plan during the election process they'll listen to you more then if they get elected. They just want your vote then.
You need to talk to someone trying to run for office, who will take it up as their pet political agenda.
Politics is politics... play ball!
did that too, V
tent city
the tent city thing didn't work out too well here in st. petersburg
first it was deemed illegal...
then it was shut down...
then it resprouted somewhere else...
then it was shut down again and an officially sanctioned one opened up at the original site...
and now the officially sanctioned one has closed...
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.