How do you find help if you are on the streets?
Teens at a Redlands nonprofit that offers services to homeless, runaway, and at-risk youth have asked that question many times. Now, with the help of the geographic information systems giant Esri, they are building an answer – with their own app.
Since fall 2017, Esri employees have volunteered with YouthHope to teach Justin Burzachiello, 17, and 18-year-olds Oscar Flores and Frankie Bustamante how to apply geographic concepts in the real world.
While on winter break, Justin decided to start creating a services locator app using the skills he learned. While mainly geared toward helping the homeless, there are a myriad of services included – from where to find a hot meal to a group that takes children to see their incarcerated parents.The team hopes to have it wrapped up in a couple of months.
“When I was growing up, I only knew of about three places that were nonprofits that offered things,” said Justin, who has been coming to YouthHope for a year or two. “With the spreadsheet that we’re working on we have over 70 places in San Bernardino County.”
Flores said he also knew of only a few organizations offering assistance.
“When I lived in San Bernardino there were all these people who needed help,” said Flores, who has been coming to YouthHope for three years. “Now I can tell them about it.”
Esri employee Emily Swenson, who is volunteering her technical expertise to the project, said part of the problem with connecting homeless individuals to services is that the programs are not necessarily connected to one another.
A lot of the team’s work has been finding the organizations that offer services by following connections from one group to another to another.
The tools and technology can take them only so far. The team had to plot and create the app, keeping in mind the users and their needs. What would someone who opens the app search for? What would make their experience useful, and is there a way to prevent those using the app from feeling judged?
“These guys being able to shed insight on those different services that they may have used before has also been really cool,” Swenson said. “They’ve been able to say this one is really awesome, or this one charged money, we shouldn’t have them on the list.”
Big cities across the nation seek Esri’s help to use technology to help solve big problems, and employees there are eager to see such technology used in Redlands as well.
“What we’re doing here has garnered interest from folks at Esri that are saying ‘let’s see it put to work in Esri’s backyard,’” Swenson said. “These kids are leading the effort to do that.”
The team has designed the app for those who want to help as well, matching volunteers and donors with service providers that fit what they are looking for.
Though working with computers isn’t his favorite thing, Justin said, “I actually like doing this because, for me, it feels like I’m doing something (to help).”
Volunteer Laura Carnahan said the opportunities, like this one, that YouthHope provides can really make a difference for the kids who need it most.
“Plugging the kids in to something that will help them progress to come to a place where they can come out of homelessness” is a great opportunity, Carnahan said, by helping them with school, or finding jobs, or just giving them encouragement, “Hey, you can do this.”
Just knowing that there are groups out there that can help is encouraging, Carnahan said.
“It’s not a hand out, it’s a hand up,” YouthHope executive director Heidi Mayer said of the organization’s philosophy. “Everyone deserves a meal a day. However, let’s educate, let’s do what we need to do to move forward and get out of that.”
Mayer is especially proud of the teens and their app.
“Our kids are taking what they’ve been taught,” she said, “and are out to change the world.”
