Business Proposal for Homelessness Solution

Introduction

The rapid increase in prices, rents, and the cost of purchasing houses, not to mention the housing shortage, has led to an increase in street population. This is the problem of homelessness, which is infesting cities across the country. The government has responded by developing and running homeless shelters across the country, but the problem hasn’t been addressed. This is due to the cost associated with running an effective homeless shelter. A single person takes approximately $ 10,000 annually, which is significant considering the homeless population in cities (Evans et al., 2023). The municipal government doesn’t have enough funds, and that is why this business proposes the Productive Housing for Homeless Program. This program will address the problem since it is self-sustainable, and the shelter facility will have a working platform where the sheltered individual will work with a company that has a product line that will be purchasing their product. The collected revenue will help in sustaining the facility by covering expenses. Thus, this paper presents the business proposal to get startup funding for the Productive Housing for Homeless Program.

Outline

• Problem description;
• Prevalence number of homelessness
• Its economic cost
• Mental health and drug abuse problem of homelessness.

1. Description of the proposed solution
2. Productive Housing for Homeless Program (PHHP)
3. Self-sustaining homeless shelter.

• Incorporates product line company

1. Generated revenue to sustain the facility and offset expenses.
2. Request for Funding and funding source;
3. Source of funding: municipal government, bank loan, non-profit investment (Salvation Army).
4. The budgeting and needed funds to kick start the program.
5. Management and Personnel
6. Senior management of the facility
7. Supportive management of the facility

• Role of each manager and personnel.

1. Implementation of the Homeless Shelter Program
2. The process that will be taken in the implementation.
3. Coordination between all stakeholders: municipal government, social workers, healthcare workers, and social workers

• Orientation to the facility

1. Projection of the Program
2. The benefit that all stakeholders will attain
3. Development in addressing mental health and drug abuse problems.
4. Business Proposal for Sustainable Homeless Shelter Program

Problem Description

Despite being among the most developed countries in the world and having productive and state-of-the-art cities, the United States is having a major social issue of high numbers of homeless people. According to the most recent data, the number of homeless individuals living in the streets in a given night exceeds six hundred and fifty thousand, as per the Department of Housing and Urban Development (Evans et al., 2023). The issue of homelessness has increased in prevalence due to the rapid increase in home prices/rent and the shortage of affordable houses. With its increase, so does the economic cost of the problem. It is determined that each chronically homeless person living in the streets costs taxpayers approximately $35,578 annually, and by multiplying this value by the number of homeless individuals in each city, one can see the significant amount of cash the government is losing (Bassuk, 2023). Besides, it is important to mention that the cost also accounts for secondary social issues that homelessness leads to. Studies indicate approximately 57% of people who are homeless end up abusing drugs or being addicted to them, and more than 63% of them develop or live with mental health problems (Bassuk, 2023). Also, not only does homelessness make cities unorganized and dirty, but it also leads to insecurity, which is bad for development. Thus, by looking at the economic cost and problems associated with homelessness, it is evident that the municipal government, which heads cities and towns, will benefit significantly by cutting costs and creating a productive and sustainable city.

Proposed Solution/Project/Program

Even though there are already programs trying to address this issue, this business proposes an unconventional approach that has proven to be successful in other countries. The proposed solution is the Productive Housing for Homeless Program (PHHP), a self-sustaining homeless solution program. As a solution, it entails securing a facility that can house all the homeless adults and seniors in the city. Since the cost of running and sustaining a homeless shelter is significantly high ($10,000 per person annually), this program proposes to collaborate with a manufacturing or packaging company that has a simple process and assign it to the shelter facility. This means people living in the shelter will be working for the production line of that company’s dedicated product, and the company purchases the completed product. This will help the facility raise enough revenue to run it and offer homeless individuals the best quality of life and housing. This program will mean that homelessness is addressed, and the sheltered individuals contribute to the community they are living in.

Request for Funding and Source of Funding

What remains is to get funding to jumpstart the Productive Housing for Homeless Program. As per the starting calculation and budgeting, the program needs approximately $20,000 in loans or funding to get something started. This amount will account for the facility rent; utilities will take approximately $5000 per month, and about $7000 will be invested in the equipment and resources needed, such as bedding, tables, chairs, and utensils, among many others. Also, $3000 will be needed for hiring and paying supportive management to oversee the functioning of the facility. Since most of the homeless people who will come will have drug addiction and mental health problems, having the necessary facilities and personnel in place to help them will make the Productive Housing for Homeless Program more effective in addressing the problem. In addition to getting funded by the government and seeking a loan from the bank, help can also be acquired from contacting existing funders and supporters of preexisting homeless shelter programs such as the Salvation Army. This player will be a non-profit investor. The final funding source will come from the product line company that will work with the facility and purchase the products its members make. These funding sources are necessary to ensure enough capital is raised and the city government doesn’t feel the weight of funding the whole project.

Management and Personnel

The success of the Productive Housing for Homeless Program will be determined by its management and the personnel who oversee it. Since this is a starting program for a non-profit organization, management and stuffing will be made up of a few hired individuals at the senior level and more than enough volunteers from community and social work professions. At the senior level of management, there will be the Director of the program’s service, who he/she will be responsible for all of the services the facility will provide. These services will entail and not be limited to sheltering, health, commerce practice, outreach, inventory management, finances of the facility, and securing funds and support from investors and philanthropists. The services offered by him/her will be supported by the Business Operation Manager, who will ensure that the business operation that the facility engages in generates enough income for the sustainability of the facility.

There will also be an Outreach Manager responsible for identifying homeless individuals from the streets and bringing them to the facility with the support of the city council government. Additional support and operation of the facility will come from the 15 direct staff members, three of whom will be team leaders, and twelve volunteering workers will be coordinating with six working overnights and the remaining six on day to evening hours. Two housing workers will also provide support in conjunction with two heads of the kitchen, who will ensure enough food is prepared and served for the people. There will also be a Mentor and Life Skills Coordinator who will help in developing the skills of people who are housed to make them productive in working for the product line company that will be selected. Most importantly, he will offer services that help those suffering from mental health problems and drug abuse.

Implementation of the Homeless Shelter Program

After everything has been secured, including the facility, and all necessary materials and resources are availed, what will follow is coordinating with the mayor and his office, social workers, and law enforcement to reach out and collect every homeless person from the street. They will be taken to the facility, registered in the system, and presented with orientation, where everything regarding the facility, what they should expect, and what is expected of them will be explained to them. At this point, rules and regulations about the program will be explained to them, and those who return to the street will be imprisoned. After that, each one will be directed to their respective rooms and given things they will need while they live in the facility.

Projection of the Program

If everything goes well, at the end of one year of operation, the number of homeless people living on the street will be zero. In addition to the city being clean and free from insecurity, which will attract more investors, the municipal government will have addressed the issue of cost and excessive expenditure due to the economic cost of homelessness. This means the municipal government will increase its revenue collection by 12%, which is good as such funds can be directed to other social problems and challenges. Also, mental health problems and drug abuse problems that the government doesn’t address among the homeless people will be tackled effectively. The facility will have a capable psychiatrist and psychologist who will be helping those who have these problems. Therefore, by looking at the bigger picture, everyone will benefit from this homelessness prevention program, Productive Housing for Homeless Program.

Reference

Bassuk, E. L. (2023). The homelessness problem. In Housing the homeless (pp. 253-261). Routledge.

Evans, W. N., Kroeger, S., Palmer, C., & Pohl, E. (2023). Housing and Urban Development–Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Vouchers and Veterans’ Homelessness, 2007–2017. American journal of public health, 109(10), 1440-1445.