Research Outline

Pilar Warner

2/16/18

Research Topic- Floor2Feet

1. Background

   1. Homelessness: According to the Stewart B. McKinney Act, a homeless person is “One who lacks a fixed permanent nighttime residence or whose nighttime residence is a temporary shelter, welfare hotel, or any public or private place not designed as sleeping accommodations for human beings.”

      1. Reasons for homelessness

         1. Poverty

         2. Unemployment

         3. Lack of affordable housing

         4. Poor physical or mental health

         5. Drug or alcohol abuse

         6. Gambling

         7. Family or relationship breakups

         8. Domestic violence

         9. Physical and/or sexual abuse

         10. Prison release

   2. Pervasiveness of homelessness

    a) More than 554,000 people are homeless in America

1. Problem

   1. Joblessness

      1. Physical appearance

         1. Most do not have clean or sufficient clothes because they have no money to wash or buy them and no place to store them.

         2. No money for haircuts or shaving

      2. Employer’s inability to make contact with a homeless person to let him hear back about a job.

         1. Homeless people cannot afford to keep a phone or residence, therefore making contact difficult.

         2. Homeless people cannot afford cars, making transport to a job difficult or impossible

      3. Lack of skills or work experience

         1. Lack of education (dropouts)

         2. Inability to get hired to attain work experience (ex-offenders, convicts, etc)

         3. Mental or physical health problems that prevent one from working or seeking a job

      4. Criminal record

         1. Hesitation by employers to hire people with a criminal record

         2. Time away from society (difficult to reintegrate into society from prison, suddenly having to be independent, convicts coming directly out of prison are homeless, without a vehicle, sometimes without friends or family.)

      5. Lack of soft skills

         1. Soft skills include communication, enthusiasm and attitude, teamwork, networking, problem solving and critical thinking, and professionalism.

         2. Homeless people who have been out of society for awhile can lack communication skills, as well as social and emotional intelligence critical to succeeding with a job.

         3. Soft skills are essential to employment because they nurture effective communication with employers, customers, and employees

      6. Social stigmas and attitudes toward the homeless

         1. The homeless are lazy and dirty

         2. The homeless steal from the system

         3. The homeless aren’t intelligent or capable enough for work

2. Solution

   1. Making Connections

      1. The homeless need a reliable and discreet way of seeking work that is unbiased in regards to their situation.

         1. Create a website database where disadvantaged job seekers can find local work opportunities through a skills-matching system with the requirements of jobs and the work abilities of users.

         2. Ensure a dependable connection between employers and homeless employees by conveying information through homeless shelter liaisons using Floor2Feet.