Gimme Shelter's Homeless and Rough Sleeper Health Survey

By James Crow

NZ $6,493 pledged


103 people pledged


Closed


NZ $20,000 minimum target


32 32% Complete

This campaign failed to reach its target by 01/07/2016 at 8:00 PM (NZST) and is now closed.

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About

Gimme Shelter's Homeless And Rough Sleeper Health Survey

Project 2016-04-05 16:25:02 +1200

 

 

 

My story

Hi, I'm James from Gimme Shelter. Three years ago a friend of mine approached me for some advice. She had been helping a young man who was sleeping rough in central Auckland and she wanted to know if I had any ideas on how we could collectively do more to help the greater issue. I went away, looked at the big picture and found that besides hardworking and underresourced front line services, there was nothing tangible being done that either politicians could champion or the public could rally to.

What homeless problem?

Here in New Zealand, like in many countries, we have a problem. That problem is homelessness. But we won’t admit to it. In many other developed countries the issue of homelessness, and specifically rough sleepers, has been in government crosshairs for more than a decade. This has led to most countries cited commissioning good surveying and data analysis programmes to target funding at those most in need and in a way that is shown to work. In our opinion, New Zealand is a bit behind in starting this process of serious data collection - and we're not good at waiting - so Gimme Shelter is ready to roll up our sleeves and do that ourselves. Good current information is key to solving any probelm, so Gimme Shelter will #LetEveryPersonCount

How big a problem are we talking about here?

We know it's estimated* that in 2006 there were as many as 5,000 people sleeping rough in New Zealand. With population growth, the Christchurch earthquakes and housing shortages this figure could now be in the range of 6,700 people - but it could be far greater. We just don't know. And if we don't have the data, NZ can't find and allocate resources appropriately. Gimme Shelter intends to find out. And how do we do that? With your help of course!

[* Source (1.) to Otago University, Wellington ]

 

Listen to James explain the HARSH survey and New Zealand's current policy situation.

How does New Zealand differ from other countries?

In many other countries homelessness has been tackled head-on due mainly to the undeniable fact it will almost always cost more to taxpayers to keep a person on the street than to secure them in a home and wrap support around them from there. This is called "Housing First" and it has worked very well in state funded project across the US with Utah a standout*. This approach has also been seen to be far more successful long-term, and is even being adopted by individual support agencies here, but we still have no mandate or policy from government. Why not?

[* Source (2.) to The Daily Show ]

How real change occurs.

Gimme Shelter believes government policy is the only way to create tangible change in a large society. At the same time a society must know the true size of an issue if they are to apply presure to have it solved.

Real change

How you gonna do that guys?

I have created something I call a Crowd Social Survey tool. This allows a member of the public or a community group to survey a rough sleeper and securely upload that data to the cloud before being erased from their phone. This means our ability to survey New Zealand's population is limited only by the number of people involved. I call this The Homeless and Rough Sleeper Health Survey, and it means a new way of resolving this issue of good data.

 

 Gimme Shelter App

 

Funding and how we plan to invest it.

Our HARSH survey requires three key things:

  1. It must be easily accessible by the public via their phone or mobile device.
  2. It must be easy to use and offer a painless process for both the surveyer and the member of the public being surveyed.
  3. All data collected must be securely handled at all times and protected once stored. In addition, no data must be left on the surveyer's phone.

To achieve these goals we require a well designed website applicatin that allows for ease of use and security of data.

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000+

  1. HARSH app creation and launch.
  1. HARSH app creation and launch.
  2. Market the survey to public and community groups nationwide.
  1. HARSH app creation and launch.
  2. Market the survey to public and community groups nationwide.
  3. Produce training videos and hold workshops in key locatons to support training of App use.
     
 

 Our team

 
  

Gimme Shelter Logo

"We have a tight team with a laser like focus"

James Crow - Founder and instigator

Co-founder of Nice Blocks and Little Island, the Fairtrade and Living Wage employer. James is always keen to lend some commonsense to a social issue. He is also currently writing this in the third person.

Bonnie Sumner

Bonnie Sumner – Communications and social media

With a decade's experience covering most comms hats, including journalist, copywriter and PR manager, Bonnie now mixes her time between parenting, freelancing and Instagram stalking.


 

Tagaloa Lui Tusani

Tagaloa Lui Tusani of Website Robots – Website and App development.

Twenty years ago Tagaloa Lui Tusani was given a second chance, and from that moment he has dedicated his life to helping others achieve their very best. He believes in the value of employment in society and it is for this reason he focuses on growing employment in our communities.

  
 

Rewards

A big thanks to all our brandmates for their rewards.

  

 

#LetEveryPersonCount

www.facebook.com/gimmeshelternz

 Data Sources:

  1. [* Source Otago University, Wellington ] - Severe Housing Deprivation: The problem and its measurement

  2. [* Source The Daily Show ] - Watch here
 

 

Comments

Updates 3

We’re just getting started

12/05/2016 at 8:19 AM

We’ve been hard at work spreading the word on New Zealand's need for real data and policy for rough sleeping homeless - and people are starting to listen.

Last night's piece on TV3's Story showed our task is not a popular one among some frontline services, but others demanding better data stand with us and that’s a good start.


Watch the TV3 Story segment

The recent rise in stories around begging and council bylaws is also shedding more light on symptoms of lack of policy and funding for frontline services and also means we have the public's attention.

All of this means we can’t stop now and let that little issue of funding and deadlines slow us down. So in typical disruptor style we’re just changing the rules. As of this week we will be extending our Pledge Me campaign and also join Action Station to create a petition demanding Government policy and acknowledgement of rough sleeping homeless as a distinct and growing societal issue. More on this next week.



We are also still getting our message out to the broader public so for all of you who haven’t yet please share our Facebook page, recent post about the Pledge Me campaign or just share the video also up on our page.




Our Facebook page



Our Twitter account



Our Instagram



Our Pledge Me

Our Website

Big thanks from the Gimme Shelter team.

We’ve hit almost $3,000 in just a few days!

17/04/2016 at 7:10 PM

It’s been an amazing first few days for us here at Gimme Shelter. First our story has appeared in the new North & South magazine and then yesterday a last minute interview in Kim Hill’s Saturday Morning show on RNZ. This marked a real milestone as it was just four months ago that our founder James spoke with Kim and made public his plans to launch the Pledge Me campaign for the HARSH survey.

Listen to the radio interview here.

The support you, our initial funders and supporters, have shown is not only a boost to our campaign total but also further confirms our belief that New Zealand does care about the issue of rough sleeping homelessness and you want to see innovation in its solution. So a big thank you for coming on board so quickly.

Here is a short link to the Pledge Me page: http://pldg.me/gimmeshelter

We are also still getting our message out to the public so for all of you who haven’t yet please share our Facebook page, recent post about the Pledge Me campaign or just share the video also up on our page.

Our Facebook page

Our Twitter account

Our Instagram

Big thanks from the Gimme Shelter team.

$500 in the first five minutes!

15/04/2016 at 10:57 AM

Thanks to everyone that has helped us to this stage and for jumping on board so fast. This is gonna be fun!

    Pledgers 103

    Anonymous pledger
    03/05/2016 at 6:36pm
    Kay Parish
    03/05/2016 at 3:37pm
    Ataria Sharman
    02/05/2016 at 4:46pm

    "Awesome idea guys! Well done :) "

    Ollie Tabooger
    02/05/2016 at 2:27pm
    Anonymous pledger
    02/05/2016 at 9:45am
    Alice Shopland
    01/05/2016 at 8:18am

    "Kia kaha! Great project!"

    Colin James Woods
    01/05/2016 at 8:07am

    "What a great idea. Happy to give a little to help it on its way."

    Rachel McDonough
    30/04/2016 at 1:28pm

    "Good work James! All the best xx"

    tara riddell
    30/04/2016 at 1:05pm
    Katrina McMillan
    30/04/2016 at 10:54am

    "Good on you for trying to make a difference."

    Lee-Anne McCall
    29/04/2016 at 6:02pm
    Anonymous pledger
    29/04/2016 at 11:12am
    levi hawken
    28/04/2016 at 8:27pm

    "This is awesome James, chur 2 u!"

    Marian Willberg
    28/04/2016 at 2:13pm
    Laura Beth Keown
    27/04/2016 at 2:32pm
    Thora Blithe
    27/04/2016 at 10:12am
    Kerry-Ann Boyle
    26/04/2016 at 9:32pm

    "Great practical project and we love your ice blocks."

    Anna Dean
    26/04/2016 at 10:44am
    Deane Craw
    25/04/2016 at 6:05pm

    "If Government local and National won't do it who will?"

    Val Grose
    24/04/2016 at 10:18pm
    Harry Chapman
    24/04/2016 at 8:45pm
    Richard Harding
    24/04/2016 at 10:18am

    "Awesome initiative JC, all the best with this - Ricardo"

    Helen
    24/04/2016 at 10:12am

    "Excellent cause and great work James and crew"

    Anonymous pledger
    24/04/2016 at 9:23am
    Maya Bailey
    24/04/2016 at 8:59am
    Rowan Wernham
    23/04/2016 at 6:24pm
    Rob
    23/04/2016 at 6:20pm
    Jennie Arvidson
    23/04/2016 at 6:05pm
    Kevin Graham
    23/04/2016 at 3:04pm
    Rebekah Henderson
    23/04/2016 at 10:36am

    "Fabulous idea, really hope you get the funds you need. This is an issue I think we all want to see some progress toward solving. Well done."

    Followers 7

    Followers of Gimme Shelter's Homeless and Rough Sleeper Health Survey

    Gimme Shelter's Homeless And Rough Sleeper Health Survey

    Project 2016-04-05 16:25:02 +1200

     

     

     

    My story

    Hi, I'm James from Gimme Shelter. Three years ago a friend of mine approached me for some advice. She had been helping a young man who was sleeping rough in central Auckland and she wanted to know if I had any ideas on how we could collectively do more to help the greater issue. I went away, looked at the big picture and found that besides hardworking and underresourced front line services, there was nothing tangible being done that either politicians could champion or the public could rally to.

    What homeless problem?

    Here in New Zealand, like in many countries, we have a problem. That problem is homelessness. But we won’t admit to it. In many other developed countries the issue of homelessness, and specifically rough sleepers, has been in government crosshairs for more than a decade. This has led to most countries cited commissioning good surveying and data analysis programmes to target funding at those most in need and in a way that is shown to work. In our opinion, New Zealand is a bit behind in starting this process of serious data collection - and we're not good at waiting - so Gimme Shelter is ready to roll up our sleeves and do that ourselves. Good current information is key to solving any probelm, so Gimme Shelter will #LetEveryPersonCount

    How big a problem are we talking about here?

    We know it's estimated* that in 2006 there were as many as 5,000 people sleeping rough in New Zealand. With population growth, the Christchurch earthquakes and housing shortages this figure could now be in the range of 6,700 people - but it could be far greater. We just don't know. And if we don't have the data, NZ can't find and allocate resources appropriately. Gimme Shelter intends to find out. And how do we do that? With your help of course!

    [* Source (1.) to Otago University, Wellington ]

     

    Listen to James explain the HARSH survey and New Zealand's current policy situation.

    How does New Zealand differ from other countries?

    In many other countries homelessness has been tackled head-on due mainly to the undeniable fact it will almost always cost more to taxpayers to keep a person on the street than to secure them in a home and wrap support around them from there. This is called "Housing First" and it has worked very well in state funded project across the US with Utah a standout*. This approach has also been seen to be far more successful long-term, and is even being adopted by individual support agencies here, but we still have no mandate or policy from government. Why not?

    [* Source (2.) to The Daily Show ]

    How real change occurs.

    Gimme Shelter believes government policy is the only way to create tangible change in a large society. At the same time a society must know the true size of an issue if they are to apply presure to have it solved.

    Real change

    How you gonna do that guys?

    I have created something I call a Crowd Social Survey tool. This allows a member of the public or a community group to survey a rough sleeper and securely upload that data to the cloud before being erased from their phone. This means our ability to survey New Zealand's population is limited only by the number of people involved. I call this The Homeless and Rough Sleeper Health Survey, and it means a new way of resolving this issue of good data.

     

     Gimme Shelter App

     

    Funding and how we plan to invest it.

    Our HARSH survey requires three key things:

    1. It must be easily accessible by the public via their phone or mobile device.
    2. It must be easy to use and offer a painless process for both the surveyer and the member of the public being surveyed.
    3. All data collected must be securely handled at all times and protected once stored. In addition, no data must be left on the surveyer's phone.

    To achieve these goals we require a well designed website applicatin that allows for ease of use and security of data.

    $20,000

    $25,000

    $30,000+

    1. HARSH app creation and launch.
    1. HARSH app creation and launch.
    2. Market the survey to public and community groups nationwide.
    1. HARSH app creation and launch.
    2. Market the survey to public and community groups nationwide.
    3. Produce training videos and hold workshops in key locatons to support training of App use.
         
     

     Our team

     
      

    Gimme Shelter Logo

    "We have a tight team with a laser like focus"

    James Crow - Founder and instigator

    Co-founder of Nice Blocks and Little Island, the Fairtrade and Living Wage employer. James is always keen to lend some commonsense to a social issue. He is also currently writing this in the third person.

    Bonnie Sumner

    Bonnie Sumner – Communications and social media

    With a decade's experience covering most comms hats, including journalist, copywriter and PR manager, Bonnie now mixes her time between parenting, freelancing and Instagram stalking.


     

    Tagaloa Lui Tusani

    Tagaloa Lui Tusani of Website Robots – Website and App development.

    Twenty years ago Tagaloa Lui Tusani was given a second chance, and from that moment he has dedicated his life to helping others achieve their very best. He believes in the value of employment in society and it is for this reason he focuses on growing employment in our communities.

      
     

    Rewards

    A big thanks to all our brandmates for their rewards.

      

     

    #LetEveryPersonCount

    www.facebook.com/gimmeshelternz

     Data Sources:

    1. [* Source Otago University, Wellington ] - Severe Housing Deprivation: The problem and its measurement

    2. [* Source The Daily Show ] - Watch here
     

     

    Comments

    We’re just getting started

    12/05/2016 at 8:19 AM

    We’ve been hard at work spreading the word on New Zealand's need for real data and policy for rough sleeping homeless - and people are starting to listen.

    Last night's piece on TV3's Story showed our task is not a popular one among some frontline services, but others demanding better data stand with us and that’s a good start.

    
Watch the TV3 Story segment

    The recent rise in stories around begging and council bylaws is also shedding more light on symptoms of lack of policy and funding for frontline services and also means we have the public's attention.

    All of this means we can’t stop now and let that little issue of funding and deadlines slow us down. So in typical disruptor style we’re just changing the rules. As of this week we will be extending our Pledge Me campaign and also join Action Station to create a petition demanding Government policy and acknowledgement of rough sleeping homeless as a distinct and growing societal issue. More on this next week.

    

We are also still getting our message out to the broader public so for all of you who haven’t yet please share our Facebook page, recent post about the Pledge Me campaign or just share the video also up on our page.


    

Our Facebook page



    Our Twitter account

    

Our Instagram



    Our Pledge Me

    Our Website

    Big thanks from the Gimme Shelter team.

    We’ve hit almost $3,000 in just a few days!

    17/04/2016 at 7:10 PM

    It’s been an amazing first few days for us here at Gimme Shelter. First our story has appeared in the new North & South magazine and then yesterday a last minute interview in Kim Hill’s Saturday Morning show on RNZ. This marked a real milestone as it was just four months ago that our founder James spoke with Kim and made public his plans to launch the Pledge Me campaign for the HARSH survey.

    Listen to the radio interview here.

    The support you, our initial funders and supporters, have shown is not only a boost to our campaign total but also further confirms our belief that New Zealand does care about the issue of rough sleeping homelessness and you want to see innovation in its solution. So a big thank you for coming on board so quickly.

    Here is a short link to the Pledge Me page: http://pldg.me/gimmeshelter

    We are also still getting our message out to the public so for all of you who haven’t yet please share our Facebook page, recent post about the Pledge Me campaign or just share the video also up on our page.

    Our Facebook page

    Our Twitter account

    Our Instagram

    Big thanks from the Gimme Shelter team.

    $500 in the first five minutes!

    15/04/2016 at 10:57 AM

    Thanks to everyone that has helped us to this stage and for jumping on board so fast. This is gonna be fun!

      Anonymous pledger
      03/05/2016 at 6:36pm
      Kay Parish
      03/05/2016 at 3:37pm
      Ataria Sharman
      02/05/2016 at 4:46pm

      "Awesome idea guys! Well done :) "

      Ollie Tabooger
      02/05/2016 at 2:27pm
      Anonymous pledger
      02/05/2016 at 9:45am
      Alice Shopland
      01/05/2016 at 8:18am

      "Kia kaha! Great project!"

      Colin James Woods
      01/05/2016 at 8:07am

      "What a great idea. Happy to give a little to help it on its way."

      Rachel McDonough
      30/04/2016 at 1:28pm

      "Good work James! All the best xx"

      tara riddell
      30/04/2016 at 1:05pm
      Katrina McMillan
      30/04/2016 at 10:54am

      "Good on you for trying to make a difference."

      Lee-Anne McCall
      29/04/2016 at 6:02pm
      Anonymous pledger
      29/04/2016 at 11:12am
      levi hawken
      28/04/2016 at 8:27pm

      "This is awesome James, chur 2 u!"

      Marian Willberg
      28/04/2016 at 2:13pm
      Laura Beth Keown
      27/04/2016 at 2:32pm
      Thora Blithe
      27/04/2016 at 10:12am
      Kerry-Ann Boyle
      26/04/2016 at 9:32pm

      "Great practical project and we love your ice blocks."

      Anna Dean
      26/04/2016 at 10:44am
      Deane Craw
      25/04/2016 at 6:05pm

      "If Government local and National won't do it who will?"

      Val Grose
      24/04/2016 at 10:18pm
      Harry Chapman
      24/04/2016 at 8:45pm
      Richard Harding
      24/04/2016 at 10:18am

      "Awesome initiative JC, all the best with this - Ricardo"

      Helen
      24/04/2016 at 10:12am

      "Excellent cause and great work James and crew"

      Anonymous pledger
      24/04/2016 at 9:23am
      Maya Bailey
      24/04/2016 at 8:59am
      Rowan Wernham
      23/04/2016 at 6:24pm
      Rob
      23/04/2016 at 6:20pm
      Jennie Arvidson
      23/04/2016 at 6:05pm
      Kevin Graham
      23/04/2016 at 3:04pm
      Rebekah Henderson
      23/04/2016 at 10:36am

      "Fabulous idea, really hope you get the funds you need. This is an issue I think we all want to see some progress toward solving. Well done."

      Followers of Gimme Shelter's Homeless and Rough Sleeper Health Survey

      This campaign was unsuccessful and finished on 01/07/2016 at 8:00 PM.