A PROPOSAL:
CREATING MORE SUSTAINABLE HELP FOR
THE HOMELESS POPULATION
Proposal created by Anika Kingsley, CEO of Kingsley Inc. Consulting firm
I: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Kingsley Inc. is dedicated to helping companies expand their business models to create
sustainable services to assist their clients. The project we are proposing for Lava Mae is to
adopt additional services to their existing core services, but will be incrementally more effective
in providing assistance for the betterment of the lives of the homeless population.
Problem
The homeless population in the United States has reached 553,000 people as of 2018, 130,000
of them residing in California. Many organizations exist, including Lava Mae, to provide various
services to help this population from various angles including medical, food, and housing
services. These services have found great success in their individual platforms, for example Lava
Mae has provided showers to 19,000 people since the beginning of the organization. These
services offer short term fixes to specific important challenges that are absent among homeless
people, but often fail to provide a long term solution to homelessness.
Proposed Solution
Kingsley Inc. will employ a three-step process that will put its participants on track to improve
their lives and get off the streets for good. The three steps take form as stations that can be
added to two of the core services; Pop-Up Care Villages and weekly mobile showers. The first
step is providing the necessary paperwork needed, including government ID applications and
resumes, to the homeless population. The second step would be the Loan-a-Pantsuit program
that would help the participants seeking jobs look presentable for their job interviews. The final
step would be personal financial advice to create individual budgeting plans to create a secure
and sustainable future for the participants.
Success Metrics
The success of this project will be determined in the short run by the number of volunteers and
donations that are collected, as well as the number of participants in the added services. Long-
term success will be determined by how many of the participants have created sustainable
ways to get off and stay off of the streets. The ultimate goal of the project is not to help people
once, but instead to provide assistance that can help the homeless help themselves by making
changes that can last for years, if not a lifetime.
Since Lava Mae was founded on the idea of care for the homeless, we believe that developing a
more complete business model will be consistent with their goals and their organizations best
interest. A partnership with Kingsley Inc. and the adoption of this plan is the first step to getting
553,000 homeless into the workforce and off the streets. No one should have to spend another
night on the streets, so why wait to take action to help?
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II: PROBLEM / NECESSITY
Since beginning in San Francisco in 2013, Lava Mae has maintained an impact goal of providing
critical health and cleansing services to the homeless community while restoring dignity among
their participants. Lava Mae’s business model is rooted on three beliefs, one being that
delivering unexpected care to people moving through homelessness has the potential to fuel a
sense of opportunity that is often lost among those living on the streets.
Sixty-one percent of homeless adults have suicidal thoughts which is in part effected by lost
hope in improving their situations. Lava Mae has proven its success by serving 19,000 with
shower services, participating in 31 Pop-Up Care Villages, and inspiring 136 other organizations
to adopt similar mobile shower models. The people who have participated in the mobile
shower services have reported feeling ‘like a million bucks’ and finding a new confidence.
Despite Lava Mae’s success, the homelessness crisis continues. In San Francisco, around 9,800
people fall underneath the city’s definition of homelessness and in Los Angeles County close to
50,000 people will be without a home on any given night. Every night in California, 130,000
people do not have a sheltered home to go to.
Homelessness has many negative effects. San Francisco is currently experience first-hand the
problem of litter and human feces left behind on the streets by their homeless population.
Additionally, homelessness has a high overlap with drug misuse and street culture activities
such as panhandling and prostitution.
Those who have been provided services from Lava Mae or similar organizations, have felt
empowered to make changes in their lives to improve it for the better. The problem is this
sense of empowerment has limited impact for someone who does not have all the resources or
information needed to be successful in improving their living situation.
The five main causes of homelessness for unaccompanied individuals in the United States are
(1) lack of affordable housing, (2) unemployment, (3) poverty, (4) mental illness, and (5)
substance abuse. These groups can be simplified into two categories: the ones struggling
financially (1,2,3) and the ones struggling mentally (4,5). Both groups need to be addressed
with two varying tactics because their situations are not comparable when deriving a solution.
The group of focus for this project will be the ones struggling financially. Many initiatives have
been put in place to try to create more affordable housing and to help people escape poverty.
These initiatives include: HomeFirst and the Navigation Center. The problem with these
initiatives is that they are creating solutions for people who do not have all of the drive to make
change in their lives or the required paperwork to be eligible to participate.
Lava Mae has already proven itself to be successful in empowering a drive for change among
their homeless consumers, and now the next step is to provide the necessary materials to act
on this empowerment and remove excuses preventing change from happening.
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III: PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The proposed sustainability project would expand the existing goals of Lava Mae while
maintaining the preexisting event formats. The Pop-Up Care Villages that Lava Mae already
participates in are a perfect opportunity to add more services to begin the process of getting
freshly cleaned and empowered homeless people off of the street. Due to lack of resources, the
hiring process is much more difficult for homeless people.
My three part initiative will provide ways to assist these people cross the initial barriers
stopping them from living off the streets or becoming employed. Just like the organization,
these steps will first be implemented in San Francisco and once proven successful, expanded to
other locations.
Paperwork to Make the Dreamwork
There are two documents that, once completed, can substantially impact the future steps for a
person without a home. These documents are a government issued ID and a resume.
Accessing a Government ID
Government ID’s are required for many things in the United States including job applications
and affordable living spaces. On any given month in 2004, 54% of homeless people without a
photo ID were denied access to shelters of housing services, 53% denied food stamps, and 45%
denied medical aid (PEW). The absence of a Government ID creates a major road block for
homeless people.
The process for getting an Identification Card requires an application form, and fee (waived for
the homeless in California), a document representing residency and identity, social security
number, and a true full name (DMV). In order to make the process easier, computer and
printing stations will be added to the Pop-Up Care Villages. After getting a shower, haircut, and
their healthcare needs addressed, participants can continue to this station to complete the
paperwork needed to obtain a government ID.
It is apparent to us that the most difficult item among the list of necessities for being issued a
government ID would be documents stating residency and identity. The computer stations will
be prepared with vitalchek.com so participants can fill out the forms electronically to get the
document. The certificates can be delivered to the Lava Mae offices in San Francisco where
they can be picked up by the participants or retrieved at the next event.
Resume Writing Assistance
For participants who have begun the process of getting their ID or already have one, there will
be a station where they can create, type, and print copies of their resume. Hiring employers
require resumes to get a general idea of the experience and skills the potential employees
have.
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In addition, assistance will be provided to apply for certain jobs through job aggregating cites
such as Monster.com and Indeed.com. Printers, paper, and the experience of how to develop a
resume are not commonly found among the communities living on the streets. On top of the
resume help, a list of open local positions will be updated before each event. We could see this
expanding into a recruiting event for employers over time.
Dressing for Success: The Loan-a-Pantsuit Program
Another barrier preventing many homeless people from seeking jobs is that they often do not
own presentable clothes for interviews. If these people would like to be interviewed, their best
chance at securing the job is to “look the part.” The cleansing and fresh haircut part of the Pop-
Up Care Village is already taken care of, but now these people must dress to impress. This is
where we would like to propose a ‘Loan-a-Pantsuit’ station when donated professional clothes
can be lent out to these people who are preparing for job interviews for some sort of collateral.
The collateral would be the way to ensure that the clothes are returned so they can be reused
for other people and interviews.
Donations
There are several ways to get these donations. First, add to the existing donations page on the
Lava Mae site. Since people are already donating money for clean underwear, they can also see
an option for physical or monetary donations. All donations would be tax deductible.
Physical donations can be dropped off at Lava Mae or participating organizations locations and
the monetary donations can be used to buy clothes that companies are selling at the end of
their season or because they are not selling well from the racks. Negotiating or partnering with
retailers, for example at the end of their apparel season, will extend how far the donated
money can reach. The generosity of retailers would be another options for donations. Retailers
such as Macy’s, Ross, Men’s Warehouse, Ann Taylor, etc. can be contacted to see if they would
donate unpopular styles to the cause. The final way to get donations would be to target college
campuses. Donation boxes placed on college campuses can be filled with old professional
clothes and would reach a wide-audience of typically more philanthropic groups of people,
when it doesn’t involve monetary donations (philanthropy.com).
In addition to being available at the Pop-Up Care Villages, the Loan-a-Pantsuit program will also
be available during the regular mobile shower schedules. This will make it easier to return the
clothes and makes the times for scheduled interviews more flexible.
Providing Personal Finance Advice
Since the top three reasons for homelessness are financial, the last proposed course of action
would be personal finance advice. This would be another station at the Pop-Up Care Villages.
Volunteers will be available to outline ways to budget, setup checking and saving accounts, and
protect the participants money. Additionally, a handout will be created as a general overview
on budgeting. The handout can help people remember what was discussed or picked up for
those that do not have time to stick around. Financial Advice is the last step for the people
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capitalizing on their newly found empowerment and is vital for a more sustainable change to
their way of life.
Volunteers for this particular aspect must have a more thorough knowledge on budgeting and
financial analysis. Outreach for these volunteers will focus on CPA Organizations, Finance clubs
as well as business fraternity’s on college campuses, and insurance agents.
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IIII: COST ANALYSIS
Assuming that computers, printers, and printing paper cannot be donated, the three main
costs for this project will include office equipment, paper expenses, and additional wages. The
office equipment and printing paper will be used in the Paperwork to Make the Dreamwork
station. The flyers will be used for Personal Financial Advice station. Finally, the additional
wages are accounting for the added hours that employees would be using in order to plan and
develop this project (wages based on glassdoor.com). The budgeted total cost of implementing
this project would be $5,040.
Category Description Cost
Office Equipment Laptops (Dell Inspiron 11’s) 2 printers @ $90 each1
and Mobile printers (Epson 5 laptops @ $180 each2
WorkForce Es-50)
Paper Expenses Paper for printing as well as 500 sheets paper $603
flyer expenses 1,000 handouts for $6004
Additional Wages Payment for employees Estimated 30 hours with
working on the expansion to hourly wage of $225 for 5
the business model organizers
TOTAL: $5,040
1 https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/9260499/Epson-WorkForce-ES-50-Portable-
Color/?cm_mmc=PLA-_-Google-_-Office_Machines-_-
9260499&gclsrc=aw.ds&ds_rl=1256068&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhb6ojquQ5AIVB7vsCh3K4QYFEAQYASABEgL6xv
D_BwE
2 https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cty/pdp/spd/inspiron-11-3180-
laptop/nblodncwh3005s?mkwid=s5APKyFS0&pcrid=51916301508&pdv=c&product=NBLODNCWH3005S&pgr
id=10482906588&ptaid=pla-
788832047711&VEN1=s5APKyFS0~51916301508~901pdb6671~c~~NBLODNCWH3005S~10482906588~pla -
788832047711&&dgc=st&dgseg=dhs&acd=1230980731501410&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvsv3z6uQ5AIVDtRkCh3
OiAsREAQYAyABEgIovPD_BwE
3
https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/348037/Office-Depot-Brand-Copy-Print-Paper/
4
https://www.fedex.com/en-us/printing/marketing-materials/flyers.html#details
5
https://www.glassdoor.com/Job/oakland-ca-service-coordinator-jobs-
SRCH_IL.0,10_IC1147380_KO11,30.htm?src=GD_JOB_AD&rdserp=true&srs=EI_JOBS&jl=3220353396&ao=389273
&s=21&guid=0000016cacc5e67db435103a33b0a021&pos=102&t=EMPLOYER_SEARCH_RESULTS
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V: ASSESSMENT STRATEGY
The success of the implemented additions to the Pop-Up Care Villages, will be evaluated in two
segments: the volunteers and the people served.
The Volunteers / Donations
The only way that the proposed implementations can be successful is if a respectable number
of volunteers are attracted, and donations are collected. Therefore, the first metric of success
for the project will be related to those. The more volunteers and donations that we have, the
more successful our efforts have been. These metrics put us in a position to help a substantial
number of people.
People Served
The ultimate goal for this project is to get homeless people moving in the direction to stay off
the streets permanently. This success is hard to measure in the short run because the process
will not be an overnight transition. Mid and long term metrics will be collected on the people
who have used our services so we can follow-up on their outcomes. In the short-term, success
will be measured by the numbers of people who used the provided services. This means anyone
who applied for their birth certificate, developed a resume, used loaner clothes for a job
interview, or consulted about their personal finances will be counted. The more people who
use the services, the more successful the project will be.
The long run metrics will be provided by following up with the people who embarked on their
life improvement journey with our assistance. The number of people finding jobs, homes,
applying for government aid, and setting up bank accounts, among other things, will be
counted as a success story. The projects overall success will be determined by the number of
success stories coming from the services’ participants and a decrease in the number of
homeless in the area.
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VI: CONCLUSION
CNBC recently reported that it would cost 12.7 billion dollars to end the homeless crisis in the
San Francisco Bay region if initiatives were put in place to provide housing for the homeless
people living between Sonoma and Santa Clara. This enormous costs can be reduced by
reducing the number of homeless people by helping the homeless help themselves to improve
their situation.
Lava Mae already has a successful and helpful services in place. With the additional proposed
steps Lava Mae’s assistance can expand the ways it aides individuals to get off of the streets
into jobs and housing by themselves. The costs to implement these proposed ideas are
minimal, compared to the cost to solve the homeless issue in the area with just handed-out
housing. In addition, the reduction of the homeless population will reduce the amount of waste
on the streets, thus positively effecting the environment.
The people living on the streets are losing hope for improving their lives every night, so why
wait to capitalize on the opportunity to help them live the life they deserve to live? Partner with
Kingsley Inc. by adopting our proposed ideas and the improvements can begin today.
Financial: Social:
A fraction of the Improving the lives
cost to get everyone of thousands of
off the streets in the people who have
San Francisco Bay been living on the
Area streets.
Environmental:
Homeless people generate a
lot of trash and human
feces, so limiting the
population will reduce the
contamination.
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VII: APPENDIX
T O: BAY AREA LAVA MAE EMPLOYEES
FROM: ANIKA KINGSLEY
DATE: 8/20/19
SUBJECT: SUSTAINABLE LAVA MAE : READY TO LAUNCH!
Lava Mae,
I have just received word that the project to expand Lava Mae to provide more sustainable
solutions for homelessness has been APPROVED! This project will add three new stations to
the Pop-Up Care Villages, one of which will also be added to the weekly mobile shower
locations.
Paperwork to Make the Dreamwork
The first station will have computers, printers, and volunteers assisting the process of creating
resumes and/or applying for government ID’s as well as retrieving birth certificates which are
necessary for getting a government ID. These documents will eliminate many roadblocks and
allow the homeless to get housing, steady income, and more.
Loan-a-Pantsuit
This program will loan professional clothes to its participants, in exchange for some sort of
collateral. It will be implemented at the Pop-Up Care Villages as well as the weekly mobile
shower outings. Donations will be tracked down through the website, donation boxes, and
retailers. To begin, if any of you have professional wear that you do not wear or no longer fits,
we would love to begin the donation process. These clothes will help the homeless people
seeking jobs feel confident in their appearance.
Personal Financial Advice
The last station will include volunteers from many different financial backgrounds (college,
insurance, CPA organizations) that will spend time creating personalized monetary
management plans for each participant. This management plan will help the homeless people
sustain their potential income and budget well enough to stay off the streets for good.
This project has the potential to reduce the number of homeless people in the Bay Area, and
eventually expand to other areas as well. The reduction of homeless people will save the
government money, improve the lives of so many people who are living unimaginably hard
lives, and reduce the waste on the streets.
We cannot wait for you all to get started with the project that will provide the tools to the
recently clean and empowered individuals that Lava Mae helps every week.
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SOURCES:
https://lavamae.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Meet-Lava-Mae.pdf
https://lavamae.org
https://abc7news.com/society/homeless-population-history-in-bay-area/5260657/
https://nlchp.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Homeless_Stats_Fact_Sheet.pdf
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/dl/checklists/id
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2017/05/15/without-id-
homeless-trapped-in-vicious-cycle
https://www.vitalrecordsonline.com/birth-certificate/application
https://www.vitalchek.com/vital-records
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/10/cost-to-end-san-francisco-bay-area-homelessness-would-be-
12point7-billion-report.html
https://www.philanthropy.com/article/College-StudentsGiving/158769
https://www.npr.org/2018/08/01/634626538/san-francisco-squalor-city-streets-strewn-with-
trash-needles-and-human-feces
https://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/site-
attachments/Roundup_2715_Homelessness_aw.pdf
https://bissellcentre.org/blog/2016/10/27/homelessness-hurts-how-being-homeless-can-affect-
mental-health/
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