Changing the View

From the streets to the boardroom: a paradigm shift (c) 2015

A presentation by A View From the Streets (c)2014

Homeless, but not helpless

Those who choose to recognize the market value of their own skills, with the help of allies/mentors in the community, can build their own path out of the shelters and the street and direct it to self employment

a three part problem

A roof and a benefit card are not the solution

Self confident former residents, training, employment and a vision for the future - not housing and assistance - must be the goal of responsible shelters seeking the end of homelessness

Problem 1

Traditional shelters generally do not have the capacity to help intelligent & skilled but challenged residents move up from homelessness. They must focus on the most needy and ill equipped.

Problem 2

When skilled or trainable residents do not know their own value and their skills are not identified by those seeking to help them, they usually cannot end their dependency

Problem 3

If talents are unrecognized and underutilized, no amount of assistance will transform dependency into goals or success

● helping agencies deal with burdensome regulatory requirements which complicate their work & tax their available resources

● services are often duplicated amongst the various agencies, making the system costlier & less efficient

● communication between groups is often slow and ineffective

Duplicated services & counterproductive requirements drain resources & complicate transition

addressing the disconnect

Skills and attitudes trump easy money

● Managers and owners prefer marketable skills and competent, dependable employees over subsidies and programs which are difficult to comply with

● Training is time consuming and expensive● Benefit of Government programs is often offset

by unpredictable, unexpected costs in lost labor and financial/regulatory penalties

A shelter system that makes sense

● Maintained by residents and managed by staff with allies in the business community

● Unaffiliated with and unencumbered by government bureaucracy, funding and controls

● Identifies marketable skills of residents over an extended period and works with them to develop a career plan

● Matches residents to prospective employers/mentors

Helping agencyHelping agency

business interest business interest

Resident Resident

The streets meet Wall Street

Not a program, a community

● a community of small and large businesses which trains and educates

● a community of socially/civically minded therapists, counsellors, clinicians and case managers rewarded by successful clients

● a community of skilled colleagues/partners with a shared experience

Presentation and concept by Hunter Nash (Carl Cervini)Shelter consolidation/communication, mentorship/training program, and community managed/resident maintained shelter proposal(s) described herein are proprietary concepts. They were conceived by Carl Cervini (Hunter Nash) and remain his intellectual property. No portion, in part or in total, may be use without permission and no one may make use of them, in whole or in part, without fair market value compensation for his efforts. Title image courtesy of Google Images and is owned by Timesunion.com.All other remaining images/graphics are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.