Feedback

During this feedback session for our group projects we received the following comments:

• Could our service allow homeless people to pick up any prescription medication they may need? - Yes, our service was to give homeless people an email and physical address (Post Office). They can use these to receive benefits and put on job applications. Many Post Offices already have locked boxes that are used for packages bigger than envelopes so the same would apply to the homeless people using our service.
• Could they use other locations other than Post Offices? - Maybe, while we were brainstorming this project idea we had thought of public lockers being dotted around towns/cities. The issue we ran into was how they would unlock these lockers as most would need some type of unique code or key. Some suggested that we could use QR codes as many homeless people now own smartphones but it is a concern that some do not or will not have internet access and thus would end up being discriminatory to those people.
• Is there a way that our service could collaborate with homelessness charities? - Yes, I think that’s a great idea. If we were able to collaborate with homeless charities that helped with job searching and medicine. For example, Pathways is a homeless healthcare charity. Pathways help patients with housing and benefits advice. This would be very useful in addition to our service, as we handle how homeless people are delivered these things but not advice. Pathways collaborate with clinics that can help with drug problems which is an issue amongst homeless people. Pathways also helps homeless people receive new clothing, which could help them look more presentable for job interviews and reduce the discrimination they face.
• There is a concern of social stigma surrounding this service as the staff in the Post Office could be rude to the homeless users. - That is true and is unfortunate. Considering the social stigma homeless people often endure is important when creating services such as this. Homeless people are already prone to mental health issues with 64% admitting they struggle with anxiety. If our service causes anxiety in the homeless users it is unlikely to be successful. One way we could combat this is by hiring volunteer staff to handle the homeless people’s mail, that way they would be greeted by someone understanding and compassionate.
• There is also the potential of discrimination when employers see a post office address on a job application - Again, unfortunately true. A way we could combat this issue is by using something similar to ‘Virtual Offices’. Virtual office spaces are physical office buildings that you can apply to have your business be a part of. There are staff that work at those offices that answer calls and sort your mail but you or your staff never need to be physically present. To use something like this for homelessness we would need to have a physical office space for our service. These could be small offices dotted around the country that homeless people use as their fake addresses. Our volunteer staff would sort their mail and if we collaborated with other homeless charities other services could be present in those buildings. It would have to be a private address, so could be hard for homeless people to find, but would be a safer option to put on job applications.