Homelessness Database Promo Video

This is a video I made using some statistics from nationalhomeless.org and images I took downtown Dallas on 1/16/12

Video and an exmaple of a web site

Video

The video gives brief statistics about homelessness as well as some imagery to add emphasis.

Example of the website

I will use Flash and videos making my website look similar to this

http://www.redcross.org/

Capstone Elements (Entry three)

Elements of my Capstone Project

Constructing/Purchasing:
My project will include one or several poster boards for data visualization, so far that is the only purchase I have in mind. I exclude a purchase of paper, ink and other office supplies I might need.

Presenting a poster:
I will stick to a traditional poster layout, as shown on a picture (some elements might be swapped around).

Prototype:
There will have a working database prototype created with a freeware (freeware is yet to be chosen).

Outfit:
I will wear a classic suit

Important Elements in presentation:
I will emphasize the severity of the issue and the fact that current methods to fight homelessness are ineffective. I will also take time to explain how my project will work.

Broshure:
I will not create brochures, unless required by the grading criteria.

Website and a database will be included in the presentation.

Discuss the look and feel the issues (Second entry)

Comedy and humor vs. taking it seriously:

With all the toughness and danger homeless people have to face, it is impossible to make it through without humor or at least a touch of irony. My presentation will include some irony as well in order to keep my audience from ongoing pressure, yet I will stay away from jokes because they may degrade the level of awareness at which I want the issue to be foreseen.

Designing the project:

Colors
I am going to use several shades of grey for my backgrounds, that will include a grey scale background designs and patterns. Most of the images will also be black and white to add to an overall image of depression that will emphasize the issue of homelessness. Fonts will be of three colors; black-for placing on a light background, white- for darker backgrounds, and blue-for highlighting major topics. Graphs will be among the very few things that will be colorful, I am planing on creating a quality visualization data that is easy and interesting to observe.

Fonts
I am planning on using only one font, the classic Times New Roman, which it to be used in bold, underlined, and cursive to emphasize a minor topic, a key term, or a headline. I am purposefully not using fonts like comic sans or other fun looking fonts in order not to make my project immature.

Design layouts
I am planning to use a simple design without tilted texts or upside down graphs, this will keep the information easily readable and professionally looking.

Graphs, Imagery and other visual data will be planned later on during the research part of the project.

Persuasion of my material:

I will persuade my audience by a combination of emphasis (pictures and videos about day to day misery of homeless people) and professionalism of a clearly designed data which will add my project a credibility.


Making my point of view understood:

I will use a combination of three parts to explain my point of view: identifying the problem, providing statistics, and explain how my solution will work. This way I will raise the awareness, explain how massive it is, and explain my way to solve it.

My intention:

I am intending to design a freeware program that will be available to social workers as well as to homeless people who will be offered to use the program in local libraries (many libraries tend to attract homeless people as a shelter from summer heat and winter cold), or charity facilities.

Capstone Project Statement of Intent (First entry)

Capstone Project Statement of Intent:

The intent of my Capstone Project is to gradually reduce the population of homeless people by making most of them self sustainable, which in given case is defined my having a permanent housing and a reliable source of income (from job or pension)

Goal:

The goal:

My Capstone Project goal is to create a database for a non for profit organization or homeless people themselves (or both, that is yet to be decided), targeted on eliminating the homelessness by providing a very specific step by step plan based on socioeconomic parameters (candidates age, skills, sex, family status, drug or alcohol addiction, disabilities and other parameters.)

How will it work?
For example a homeless person comes to a social workers, and takes a survey. The information provided by the homeless is entered in a database, and based on the provided parameters database will give a step by step plan of recovery fora given person. For example if person is a drug addict and misses a basic education, the program will guide them though getting a treatment and will help enrolling in getting GED. Keep in mind that there is one thing required for a successful recovery using the database, and that is the persons will to work hard on making a change in their life.

Why should we care?

Homelessness is an ongoing and rapidly growing issue, which charities were proven ho have little to no effect on reducing, therefore my project, which is targeted on elimination of the homelessness itself is unique and very important.

How do this goals fit with my career objectives?

Restating my Capstone Project goal- I will design an efficient way to design an efficient way to guide a homeless person through a step by step recovery to a socially acceptable lifestyle based on a detailed surveying of an individual. My intended career is an international management. Most of the time I will be working on utilizing human resources as efficient as possible, often in various remote locations, for example managing a cooperation of group of engineers from Middle East and Asia working on a same project. Both my project and future carer involve managing many people in a smart way, therefore they are very similar, and I will be able to use skills I gain during creating the project further on in life.

Giving back to society:

If my project works as I expect it to, a lot of homeless people will be returning to becoming valuable members of society, they will no longer beg bystanders for money, they will not do drugs (a mandatory requirement in my project is for participants to go through a treatment from drug or alcohol addiction),as well as they will be far less likely to commit crimes. Most of those who are going through the program designed by my project will also get jobs, thus boosting economy by paying taxes, and adding to a purchasing power of the nation.

Richland triple bottom line ( Environment, People, and Economics):

Environment:
Homeless people do not do much harm to environment, they are far more environmentally friendly then an average person; they don't drive cars, don't create much trash (rather recycle by wearing used clothes or utilizing old gadgets, therefore this part of triple bottom line is irrelevant to my project.

People:
My Capstone Project is for the most part all about people, underprivileged people who are forced to survive on day to day basis, not knowing where their next meal will come from or where they will wake up tomorrow morning. By providing this people with housing and a source of income, my project will give them confidence in life and an ability to reach their full potential.

Economics:
A person that is taken from the street and put to work can be viewed far more then just a tax payer in the economical sense. Person with an income and a place to live is not only directly contributing to government revenue, and increasing the purchasing power of people in general, such individual can be also useful in many other ways; they can come up with ideas and strategies that will be useful to economy, the ideas that a same person being homeless would have never came up with.