Technology and Human Services

Technology and Human Services

Before you promise to change the world, it makes sense to do the hard work of changing your neighborhood.
Do what you say, then do it again, even better.
We need your dreams, but we also need your deeds. –Seth Godin

The Code for Princeton #hackathon is already making a difference in the lives of people. Princeton community members, coders, organizers and interested people came together to contribute to the cause of building something of great value for the community.
Hackathons happen in a space that is driven by individuals. It is for the community and it is the motivation of the individuals. It is in that sense voluntary and not-for profit. The end result is pure enhancement of a product or a service with no monetary gain. In that sense they are a pursuit of excellence without a tangible award in return.
So why did it become a success? A better question still is- why did the community want to participate?
The simple answer is that we are problem solvers. When we see no easy solution to problems, we find solutions with our efforts and that’s what people did.  And the small community of hackers at the weekend event was problem solvers, who sought to do something to give back to the community.
Technology and access to the internet and a smart phone are already present in the lives and hands of everyone in and around Princeton. More specifically, the minority and the under served are also part of this community in that they have the access. They seek the services of the human services department very frequently and the key elements of what needs to be done are the interface that needs to change in order to make it mobile friendly as well as interactive.
As part of the process of my user research at the hackathon, I met with a few people and this became an enlightening process all in a matter of two interviews. I am excited to think about what more is possible in the future. My reason for the adrenaline is the meeting with to interesting community members- Elisa and Ross.
An interesting input received was from Elisa who is the executive director of Princeton Human Services. The work she does is to a large extent in the area of the under-served and the minority community. Her single most time consuming work is communicating to the groups and people who seek the human services office for help- about the services that are available. Her research on the needs assessment in the community, not yet in the public domain as I write this post, is a phenomenal work that needs to be up on an app. The services provided can be easily made available to the people via an app or a more interactive website.
Another input was from a Princeton native of 25 years, Ross, who volunteers at the Human Services office and chair of the commission, says that community engagement is needed at a more essential level where people meet after hours instead of the standard office hours. He mentioned auntbertha -a website that serves human services in Texas with online access to the requirements of the under-served communities. He opines that the same can be replicated in Princeton and can benefit the community.
Let see that happen soon!

Cheers!