Raising People’s Hopes Through Community

Presented by Mark Van Baale

Economy has hit us hard through:

Home foreclosures Unemployment Illness Stress Overdue bills No health insurance

This generation is in a state of desperation:

In the Midwest, foreclosure has played a role for 15% of newly homeless people Unemployment rate at 10% in Kansas City area 86.7 million Americans

uninsured over last two years

*Foreclosure to Homelessness 2009 survey by National Coalition for the Homeless

People are hurting everywhere

Feelings of: Depression Failures Shame Hopelessness Loneliness

They need a helping hand to reach out

We need each other to help

Humans are social animals:

We crave feeling supported,

valued and connected. We can transform society by

extending a hand to lift

people up through service

to their needs

How can Communities help?

Olathe Serve Day Christmas in October program

Olathe Serve Day

In 2009: 45 home projects completed 150 single mothers got free oil

change, car checkup 2 pre-fab homes built for needy families

Christmas in October program

Founded in 1984 by 2 KC area men Volunteers offer labor/time to make homes

more liveable 6,000 volunteers repair 500 homes annually One of the largest volunteer

programs of its kind in the U.S.

Online networks can help to change the world

We are social by nature and crave feeling supported, valued, and connected.

Use of tools like Twitter enable us to read about people’s lives and interact with them to provide support/help

The power of many in a network can make a difference in someone’s life

David Armano helping Daniella's family get back on their feet

David, known as @Armano on Twitter, asked people to helpDaniella and her family

Used the power of his network via Twitter and his blog

$5,000 was goal $17K was raised, 337% of goal

InvisiblePeople.tv Blog

Mark Horvath set out to change view of homelessness

Homeless portrayed onvideo to give them a faceand a voice

Some homeless even useTwitter to talk about theirdaily struggles (@padschicago)

Amy Kiel’s support for suicide prevention

Amy openly shares on her blog and Twitter about the need for the mental ill to not be ignored

Amy received support all over the world for Out of the Darkness walks to increase awareness ofsuicide prevention

Twestival (Using power of Twitter for donations, raise awareness)

Global series of events organized by volunteers around the world under short timescales, which bring people offline for a great cause. 

The first Twestival Global was held in Feb. 2009. 200 cities participated. 100% of all proceeds went direct to charity: water. $250,000 was raised in total.

Twestival is run 100% by volunteers and independently from any not-for-profit.

Sponsors donate time/resources for event, usually held on one night worldwide

ModestNeeds.org

Work to stop the cycle of poverty BEFORE it starts for low-income workers

Grants offered to people to help them deal with short-term expenses

Donors can make financial contributions and allocate where the money is spent to help

Online Network for Kansas City to help less fortunate get back on track

Similar format to ModestNeeds.org Website database showing all needs People enter in their needs and those who want to

help can search the needs Match those who want to help with those who need

help Those out of work can use skills/time to help others

Online Network for Kansas City to help less fortunate get back on track contd.

This model would be used locally in KC at first and potential to grow

Bring together communities (churches, individuals, groups) to collectively meet people’s needs through site

Together we can change the world

"The test of our progress is not whether we add

more to the abundance of those who have too

much . . . it is whether we provide enough for

those who have too little."

- Franklin D Roosevelt