Thoughts on Finding my Place

In the first group project, my peers presented their Find my Place kiosk. This kiosk was proposed to help the homeless, especially in big cities as they have the highest concentrations of homeless people. The homeless population is a growing concern, as many of them cannot help this even if they are truly trying to better their life. This kiosk would help assist the homeless by providing care packages, being a virtual map for job openings, as well as showing where to find homeless shelters and food banks.
This idea was absolutely amazing to me. I could actually see this proposal coming to life in the real world. This could potentially help so many lives across the country.
As a few suggestions, the finances and work that will go into these was a concern for me, yet these could easily be addressed. As one kiosk would probably cost around ten thousand dollars, the founders of the company could go around asking prominent members of society to donate one for their community. As a reward, a plaque could be placed on the front of the kiosk saying "This kiosk was given by..." as a way to promote and advertise their company as a charitable organization. As far as refilling, making, and donating items for the care packages, local churches or school organizations could volunteer to be in charge of a certain kiosk. Many school programs require that you have a certain number of service hours to remain in the group. These hours could be fulfilled by donating or volunteering for the kiosk you were assigned. This way, the kiosks would have no labor charges at all, making it even more doable.
As for donations, I loved the idea of having a card slider with a touch pad on it. Much like we have on our vending machines on campus, it would be small and affordable to place on the kiosk. Once you slide your card, you can press how much you would like to donate and be done. This quick and efficient way to donate to a cause would encourage many people to do it as they walk by, as it would not take up much time and they would know exactly where the money would be going to. For this reason, I would locate the kiosks in busier part of downtown where there is a lot of foot traffic. If not there, then within a block of churches.
This idea was so well thought out a doable that I could actually see these being produced and used on a daily basis to solve the social problems of that come along with homelessness, uncluding unemployment, hunger, and more.