The [currently untitled] NOW What? Project
by Dreamer - November 13th, 2009.Filed under: NOW What?.
We walk past them, shutting our nose and our eyes.
We accept them as motionless statues of urbanization.
Some shower them with pity and food and clothing, some block them out in contempt.
We forget that homelessness in such a gorgeous, vibrant city is morally unacceptable.
How about let’s address the root cause of poverty – let’s empower homeless people through entrepreneurship?
THE EXPERIMENT
We will link a couple top entrepreneurs in Vancouver to mentor a couple homeless youth interested in starting their own ventures, and document the process from idea, product/service, revenue, to continuity to analyze the project’s impact and effectiveness. We would like as much community involvement as possible – planning, execution, etc. We hope that this small experiment could add to the social change movement of the business and entrepreneurship community mentoring the poorest people to help them full-fill their potential and their dreams.
OUR ACTION PLAN
We would like to make this project as grassroots as possible by turning to you for ideas and suggestions. We admit ignorance in homelessness and we would like to learn as much as possible. This grassroots project will be planned and carried out by the community. We invite you to share your experience, insights, and expertise on the community-powered project plan here.
SHARING THE STORY
We invite you to join us in our experiment through three possible components:
1. Our blog
We will reflect and document the process of this project from start to finish to facilitate a platform for discussion and support. Everyone involved in this project could be an author of the blog. We look forward for your comments, support, ideas, and suggestions!
2. A documentary
Again suggestions would be awesome.
3. Multimedia
Pictures, videos, dance, stories, theatre… whatever you can think of!
I strongly believe in the power of creativity, commitment, and community support to empower homeless people to achieve their dreams and potential. Hope to hear from you :]
[afterword:
This project is now led by May Zou (may.zou@now-org.com) and Heather Sarsons (heather.sarsons@now-org.com), Vancouver. We are currently in the process of learning more about the issue by volunteering in the community and talking to those who have been dedicated in these issues.]
Cheers,
Janny
janny.ke@now-org.com
