I started the blog solely to help keep track of information for myself. I abandoned it for several months when I first left downtown San Diego and went to the North County. I even posted a "Goodbye" post. Then, weirdly, even without updates or any promotion whatsoever, it was getting organic traffic. I discovered this because of the occasional few cents here and there showing up on my Adsense account from the site.
Since the major city and the county have the same name and I was still in the county, I decided to make it a countywide resource to the best of my ability. It is now being developed with more of an eye towards being a resource for homeless Americans generally.
It can be shockingly hard for a homeless person to find the information they need online. I have had a college class on how to do online search and sometimes have difficulty finding things online so I can get an address and phone number for an agency that serves my needs. This can be true even when I know for a fact they exist.
For example, when I was in the North County and my food stamps expired and I tried to reapply, it took me and my oldest son a couple of days to find the page listing the Welfare office for the North County, which is why it is linked on my Food page. While in the North County, I sometimes gave other homeless individuals verbal instructions on where to find the Social Security office, which in at least one case they had walked right past before running into me.
Most websites for homeless service providers are not intended to be client facing. They are intended to impress potential donors. They typically do a poor job of telling needy individuals what they need to know.
There is enough demand for such info that this site became one of the most successful projects I have ever had in terms of traffic and being taken seriously as a valuable resource. Money is not the motive for keeping this site updated. I have made very little money off of it.
A lot of charity is done in a harmful manner. I am not the only person to have that idea. I recently tripped across a book titled "Toxic Charity."
This site takes the position that an individual's agency (right to make real choices for themselves) is incredibly important. I try hard to blog about what a homeless person can access without having to sell their soul, lose their dignity, give up their agency and so on.
Since the major city and the county have the same name and I was still in the county, I decided to make it a countywide resource to the best of my ability. It is now being developed with more of an eye towards being a resource for homeless Americans generally.
It can be shockingly hard for a homeless person to find the information they need online. I have had a college class on how to do online search and sometimes have difficulty finding things online so I can get an address and phone number for an agency that serves my needs. This can be true even when I know for a fact they exist.
For example, when I was in the North County and my food stamps expired and I tried to reapply, it took me and my oldest son a couple of days to find the page listing the Welfare office for the North County, which is why it is linked on my Food page. While in the North County, I sometimes gave other homeless individuals verbal instructions on where to find the Social Security office, which in at least one case they had walked right past before running into me.
Most websites for homeless service providers are not intended to be client facing. They are intended to impress potential donors. They typically do a poor job of telling needy individuals what they need to know.
There is enough demand for such info that this site became one of the most successful projects I have ever had in terms of traffic and being taken seriously as a valuable resource. Money is not the motive for keeping this site updated. I have made very little money off of it.
A lot of charity is done in a harmful manner. I am not the only person to have that idea. I recently tripped across a book titled "Toxic Charity."
This site takes the position that an individual's agency (right to make real choices for themselves) is incredibly important. I try hard to blog about what a homeless person can access without having to sell their soul, lose their dignity, give up their agency and so on.