The Salvation Army Data Collection Project Salvation Army Cambridge Corps Homeless Shelter and Drop-In Center

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The Salvation Army Data Collection
ProjectSalvation Army Cambridge CorpsHomeless
Shelter and Drop-In Center

• Ben Leong
• 15 September 2003

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BRIEF HISTORY

• Sep 2001 Graduate Student Volunteer Day
• Jan 2002 Formed team initial design
• March 2002 Design completed, but funds needed
• May 2002 IDEAS Competition 3rd Prize!
• July 2002 August 2003 Development and testing
  of system
• end-August 2003 System Deployed

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PROBLEM

• To automate the collection of data for services
  rendered to client
• shelter stays, meals, showers, laundry, clothing
• Why?
• HUD needs it for funding purposes
• To develop strategies to improve service delivery
  or outreach
• For planning/budgeting
• Solution To issue clients barcoded cards to
  scan them with a PDA (Handspring Visor)

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RESOURCES/SPONSORS

• IDEAS Award 2,000
• MIT Community Service Fund 1,500
• DELL Corporation 2 x P4-1.7GHz
• Arthur Blank Co. 1,000 cards

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OUR TEAM
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DROP-IN CENTER
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THE PAST
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Introducing. The Salvation Army Preferred Client
Card
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PALM APPLICATION
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AT MEALTIME
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APPLICATION SERVER
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SHELTER OFFICE
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WEB APPLICATION
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WEB APPLICATION
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FEATURES

• Full client information database
• Integrated with barcode scanner shelter stays,
  meals, shower, laundry, clothing
• Bedlist management
• Automatic Report Generation
• Statistical Analysis
• Volunteer Management
• Customizable Answers for most fields
• Full Access Control Audit trail

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STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
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LEARNING POINTS

• PSC did not like our idea at first
• Can use existing project
• Helps to raise funds, CSF probably wouldnt have
  given us 3,500
• If you win, you will have to keep coming back!
• IDEAS not about winning It is about serving the
  community
• YOU can make a difference!

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

• Project Homepagehttp//web.mit.edu/benleong/www/s
  alvation
• Development/Demo Serverhttp//18.26.2.82/salvatio
  n
• Contact me benleong_at_mit.edu

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THANK YOU