Harnessing the Power of Technology to Empower Unsheltered People

America is on the brink of radically increased homelessness.

On the outskirts of the pandemic, many Americans excitedly embark on a new year that promises a renewed sense of normalcy. But there is one statistic steadily rising, and while it thankfully isn’t COVID cases, it does warrant grave concern and has the potential to wreak more havoc on our communities and the healthcare system. 

The pandemic shined a light on our nation’s housing challenges that still persist despite initiatives like the federal moratorium and other federal funding. This in combination with the scarcity of secure, affordable housing with inflation steadily rising further accelerates the homelessness crisis which has in many ways maxed out Health and Human Services and is becoming an unavoidable public health concern.

Because homelessness is directly associated with steep declines in physical and mental health, the question then becomes, how can the health care community work together to find a sustainable way to provide reliable, affordable, and accessible primary and preventative care for the steadily rising unsheltered population currently overburdening emergency rooms across the nation?

For one tech startup, leaning on the use of widely available technology can bridge the gap and yield impressive outcomes with just a few taps in a smartphone app.

Homelessness and Healthcare

When it comes to homelessness, there is only one place with the light always on – and that is the emergency room. What many unsheltered individuals could receive in a primary care setting at a much more affordable rate, a lack of resources such as transportation, income, and social support are continual and sometimes deadly barriers.

In large cities like Los Angeles, coronary disease, drug overdoses, and transportation-related injuries were contributing factors to homeless mortality rates. With heart disease in many cases preventable with education and more prudent dietary choices, or substance abuse being thwarted by preventative mental health services like therapy, and transportation-related injuries largely avoided by having a roof over their head, it affirms the unavoidable realization that we could – and should – be doing more.

But to one ambitious tech startup, technology is bridging the gap between homelessness and healthcare in America.

Jonathan Kumar founded the app Samaritan, an app that connects homeless people with oftentimes lifesaving resources from people right in their own communities. The Samaritan app provides actionable, real-time ways for communities to provide tangible care to their unsheltered citizens, and while money is one way to make a profound impact in the life of someone who can’t afford dialysis treatment for diabetes or their next meal, for example, other resources seem to be far more beneficial in addressing the problem of homelessness as its root.

The Common Denominator that Contributes to Homelessness 

According to Kumar – who got his inspiration for Samaritan by going directly to the source and interviewing dozens of homeless people he encountered in his day-to-day affairs – there is one common denominator that contributes to homelessness: They all lacked a robust network of support when they needed it the most.

Whenever a life-changing event occurred that led to homelessness - whether job loss, increased rent becoming unaffordable, a domestic violence or other traumatic situation, substance abuse, or mental illness – they had no social safety net to keep them afloat.

How Technology Can Bridge the Gap

Having grown up with immigrant parents who struggled to make ends meet, he saw first-hand the benefits of having a dependable community within reach to pick you up when life pulls you down. A local church adopted his family as their own and showered them with social and financial benevolence that in many ways sustained them and inspired him to do the work he does today. Their unyielding support enabled both his father and him to graduate college and lead richly successful lives, leveraging their own experiences to make positive impacts on those less fortunate in their communities.

The findings? Technology can play an integral part in the betterment of society. Here are a few ways innovation in social activism can improve health outcomes for the unsheltered and beyond.

1. Technology can connect unsheltered people with community members who are positioned to provide real-time resources and support that drive sustainable, positive change. Whether you’re rich or poor, everyone needs a team. We are hardwired to live in community and crave companionship. Where community and companionship seemingly jumped ship in the wake of cataclysmic events that drove the unsheltered into the throes of homelessness, we have the power collectively to mend the broken pieces for someone else’s mother, father, sister, brother, daughter, or son simply by donating the cost of a morning latte or texting an inspirational quote.
   
   You may recall a time in your own life where your support system came together to help you through an unimaginably difficult season. Technology, especially the use of social media apps that connect us with people near and far in nanoseconds, is an untapped avenue for coupling the less fortunate with those well-equipped to lend a hand in ways that can immediately improve the quality of life for the giver and recipient alike.
    
2. Communities stepping up to fulfill immediate needs for the unsheltered community can mean unburdening the tired, overworked healthcare system. With the emergency room often being the only place open 24/7 to help the homeless – who are often ravaged by the elements in winter months, in active mental health crises, or worse – technology could play a pivotal role in early intervention, reducing the need for and dependency on emergency healthcare.
   
   With emergency room personnel still reeling in burnout and dampened morale after countless hours tending to the millions who suffered at the hands of the pandemic, getting the homeless community the turnkey health care they need and reducing the burden on emergency departments could mean improving health care quality for everyone, including those who work tirelessly to provide it.
    
3. Communities fulfilling immediate needs for the unsheltered community can mean better health outcomes all around. The power of not just financial capital but social capital can literally mean life or death for the unsheltered community. When you’re at your lowest point, words of encouragement – even from strangers – yield miraculous mental and physical health outcomes.
   
   And with charitable acts such as these linked to reduced stress, lowered blood pressure, and overall better physical and mental health, the impacts are far-reaching, for even the donors themselves.

The Homelessness Problem Can’t Be Outsourced

The fact remains, homelessness is growing, and it is one problem we cannot outsource away. Turning the tide begins with communities banding together, leaning on resources available to us like technology, to connect at-risk individuals with community members who want to make a difference and help others – which should be all of us. If one homeless person has 30 people willing to do one small act of kindness, they would have around-the-clock support for a month that equips them to build a sustainable, healthy future without overburdening one person or system.

To learn more about how better health outcomes begin with empowering unsheltered people through technology, listen to the full episode of Faisel & Friends with Jonathan Kumar, founder of the first-of-its-kind Samaritan app, who is on track to provide community support to 100,000 homeless people in the next 10 years.