The Purpose and Goals of the Campaign
Background Information
Improving the state of housing is a current priority but is severely competitive and insufficient right now. Housing and shelter for the homeless are deeply tied to the current lack of welfare services that the homeless are able to use and rely on. There are many reasons why this crisis is a serious concern. The homeless experience structural barriers, which are obstacles in the welfare system that prevent even eligible individuals from receiving the services they require. For instance, the location of a program, method of organization, or special requirements from participants can affect the chances of a homeless person receiving welfare assistance (U.S Department of Health and Social Services, 2020). Capacity barriers are also detrimental. Frequently appropriate funding or resources are not given due to the lower sign-up of participants due to structural barriers. Eligibility barriers are also a serious obstacle as they dictate standards, time limits, and other factors that homeless people must meet before receiving life-changing services that they are in dire need of. The issue is embedded in an infrastructural and policy-centered field, and any successful campaign should address both the restricting bureaucracies and the lacking fundamental groundwork.
The Campaign
Currently, the majority of the progress being made is driven by federal authorities and local government. However, the presence of community members can have a staggering effect on an issue like this. One of the issues the campaign is currently facing is the lack of information about the problem, the current government programs, their strengths and weaknesses, and the input that general citizens can make for the improvement of homeless shelters and services. The proposed campaign would focus on recruiting community members to be informed and inform others of the currently available programs and offered services, with the potential to expand the reach of these services both through information and increased infrastructural improvements. This is essential as certain areas do not have corresponding services to certain individual needs. An informed center or person can communicate with the local homeless population about their needs and the available or lacking services in their region. Additionally, increased attendance of these programs will allow these organizations to request better funding and resources.
Publicization of the Campaign
The campaign will have multiple ways to recruit individuals and then inform them of the issue, the current programs, the solutions, and what their contributions can pertain to. Though recruiting volunteers through social media is important, it is a tool that is unavailable to many homeless people and is not only then useless but a dividing force. As such, social media can be used to promote the campaign and its events. The events can be hosted with the help of volunteers and local government. The most useful type of gatherings would be workshops with specialists. This will allow the homeless population and the volunteers to build a sense of community and teamwork while learning the essentials of current welfare. Additionally, the face-to-face meeting allows for questions and answers in real-time. Though such a gathering is difficult in the pandemic, these workshops can begin on a small scale and branch out as lockdown restrictions begin to ease.
Evaluation of the Campaign
Goals
Awareness Goals
Since the events will take place publicly, an estimated count of attendees can be made with every workshop. Volunteers can sign-up through social media and mark themselves as present if they arrive at the event. These numbers can be compared from area to area to estimate the impact the workshops are doing in comparison to population sizes.
Infrastructure and Services
Since the majority of provided services and welfare resources will be offered by federal authorities, there is likely to be a statistical collection of the increase or decrease of program applicants and users.
Feedback
Most importantly, qualitative data should be collected from attendees. It is essential that the primary hosts acknowledge the difficulties the homeless and volunteer attendees face. Feedback will be vital in understanding the workings of the campaign on a very grounded and individual level.
Plan
Introduction
Contact local programs and organizations that already work with the homeless and address issues of shelter, service availability, and general access to resources and information.
The Group
The initial group should be formed from volunteers and at least one specialist either from independent recruitment or from the organizations. The team will focus on reaching out to other volunteers and the homeless population.
Workshop
The first workshop is crucial as it will set a standard for the necessary funding, equipment, attendance rates, length of the event, and topics of discussion.
Reference
U.S Department of Health and Social Services (2020) ‘Housing and shelter’,SAMHSA. Web.