https://techandsocialchange.mit.edu/2018/10/08/values-and-housing/ MAS.S63 Fall 2018 | Wednesdays 10-1 in E15-341 Wed, 10 Oct 2018 14:40:11 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.1 https://techandsocialchange.mit.edu/2018/10/08/values-and-housing/#comment-2128 Wed, 10 Oct 2018 14:40:11 +0000 http://techandsocialchange2017.wordpress.brownbag.me/?p=1000#comment-2128 Yours is a potentially powerful project that seems structured to succeed in addressing an issue that, for many years, has been tackled mostly through the opposite of the “nothing about without” model. Your commitment to acknowledging bias and empowering those whose lives the project would impact, I think, would bring to the table the power of collaboration from not just the nonprofit and social services experts, but would enlist important investment from people who would benefit from the effort. Because so many initiatives to address homelessness in the past have struggled to produce results, I would suggest including a core value that the results are actionable. That addition might help disarm skeptics and would signal the group’s commitment to install some tangible working result from the project. Your proposal seems to echo many of the values included in successful “housing first” programs that seek to place people in housing before trying to deliver other medical/social services they may need.
Also, your plan to move the convening outside of the more “elite” spaces and into the communities impacted seems like a smart strategy. The proposed convening’s success will be dependent on strong turnout from those communities, so I would be willing to offer advice/aid in generating the publicity in local media outlets and through on-the-street outreach necessary to help drive attendance.

]]> https://techandsocialchange.mit.edu/2018/10/08/values-and-housing/#comment-2124 Wed, 10 Oct 2018 14:39:52 +0000 http://techandsocialchange2017.wordpress.brownbag.me/?p=1000#comment-2124 I love that you’ve explained how your values will manifest in concrete ways at your proposed hackathon & policy summit — that is a key way to help build the transparency you describe as one of your core values. If people can see the rationale for various aspects of your design, they can offer feedback about whether or not they feel the values are being upheld, or if they can imagine different ways of achieving the value in practice. I would consider adding a value (or modifying an existing one, perhaps Seek Just Systems?) to think about different ways of bringing in decision/policy makers, landlords, or people with power to affect systems at many different levels — it may be a useful strategy to help marginalized voices get heard. That said, I can imagine some reasons it may not be ideal to invite them to this first convening as well — would be interesting to discuss with potential participants.

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