Ending homeless hunger with the blockchain [ETH]

[blockcrushr]

Startup aims to end homeless hunger with blockchain technology
Cashless society and donor cynicism tackled by proposal
 
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - May 2, 2016 – BlockCrushr Labs today unveiled a solution to revolutionize P2P (person to person) street giving, using emerging “blockchain” technologies to ensure that funds given to buy meals and other necessities are spent for their intended purpose. The system addresses diversion of funds and the declining prevalence of people carrying cash, by allowing people to anonymously load “digital food wallets” of homeless or marginalized people in their neighborhoods through common payment methods such as smartphones, credit cards and Paypal. The “smart wallets” can be spent securely at participating food retailers.
 
“Nobody should feel the desperation of true hunger in a society which has so much abundance,” said Scott Burke, founder of BlockCrushr Labs and author of the white paper released today describing the system. “Blockchain platforms such as Ethereum have provided us with exciting tools to solve this problem with a community-based, free-market solution that taps into the global payments system. Secure, 1-way donations which can only be spent on food or other necessities could give vulnerable and homeless persons more predictability and dignity – Improving the quality of their lives while giving them the food stability they need in order to move their own lives forward.”
 
According to one study of panhandling in San Francisco, although 94% of panhandlers use the money they collect to buy food, 44% also use it to buy drugs and alcohol. This dynamic is a main inhibitor of P2P street giving, due to many people’s reluctance to feel like they are contributing to someone’s addiction – one that may be keeping them on the street, or have put them there in the first place.
 
The other primary barrier to giving is that people just aren’t carrying cash anymore. 90% of US citizens never, rarely or only sometimes carry cash. BlockCrushr’s proposed solution implements the payment methods people use daily, leveraging access to the global banking system while providing a secure, anonymous, 1-way firewall for givers.
 
The white paper, entitled “Ending Homeless Hunger With The Blockchain”, describes a system where homeless or vulnerable people hand out small business cards or pieces of paper with a web site and a scannable QR code on them to people who may wish to give them money for food. The giver takes the card, downloads an app and scans the code to access a secure checkout page to donate. Recipients of funds can check their balance at a participating retailer or anywhere with internet access such as a public internet terminal at a local library.
 
Recipients are also issued a “private key” to spend funds, which is a card or piece of paper with another QR code on it. Participating food retailers scan their private key in order to check the balance and complete the transaction. The smart wallets allow the possibility of daily spending limits or other restrictions to maintain the effectiveness and integrity of the system.
 
BlockCrushr Labs describes the proposal as a first draft and they are asking for feedback from any and all interested parties.
 
The white paper, “Ending homeless hunger with the blockchain”, can be downloaded from BlockCrushr Labs’ web site:
 
https://www.blockcrushr.com/ending-homeless-hunger-with-the-blockchain

[blockcrushr]

Looking for technical feedback on this proposal, please check it out and let me know what you think and if you have any ideas or comments!

[sandiman]

Startup aims to end homeless hunger with blockchain technology
Cashless society and donor cynicism tackled by proposal
 
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - May 2, 2016 – BlockCrushr Labs today unveiled a solution to revolutionize P2P (person to person) street giving, using emerging “blockchain” technologies to ensure that funds given to buy meals and other necessities are spent for their intended purpose. The system addresses diversion of funds and the declining prevalence of people carrying cash, by allowing people to anonymously load “digital food wallets” of homeless or marginalized people in their neighborhoods through common payment methods such as smartphones, credit cards and Paypal. The “smart wallets” can be spent securely at participating food retailers.
 
“Nobody should feel the desperation of true hunger in a society which has so much abundance,” said Scott Burke, founder of BlockCrushr Labs and author of the white paper released today describing the system. “Blockchain platforms such as Ethereum have provided us with exciting tools to solve this problem with a community-based, free-market solution that taps into the global payments system. Secure, 1-way donations which can only be spent on food or other necessities could give vulnerable and homeless persons more predictability and dignity – Improving the quality of their lives while giving them the food stability they need in order to move their own lives forward.”
 
According to one study of panhandling in San Francisco, although 94% of panhandlers use the money they collect to buy food, 44% also use it to buy drugs and alcohol. This dynamic is a main inhibitor of P2P street giving, due to many people’s reluctance to feel like they are contributing to someone’s addiction – one that may be keeping them on the street, or have put them there in the first place.
 
The other primary barrier to giving is that people just aren’t carrying cash anymore. 90% of US citizens never, rarely or only sometimes carry cash. BlockCrushr’s proposed solution implements the payment methods people use daily, leveraging access to the global banking system while providing a secure, anonymous, 1-way firewall for givers.
 
The white paper, entitled “Ending Homeless Hunger With The Blockchain”, describes a system where homeless or vulnerable people hand out small business cards or pieces of paper with a web site and a scannable QR code on them to people who may wish to give them money for food. The giver takes the card, downloads an app and scans the code to access a secure checkout page to donate. Recipients of funds can check their balance at a participating retailer or anywhere with internet access such as a public internet terminal at a local library.
 
Recipients are also issued a “private key” to spend funds, which is a card or piece of paper with another QR code on it. Participating food retailers scan their private key in order to check the balance and complete the transaction. The smart wallets allow the possibility of daily spending limits or other restrictions to maintain the effectiveness and integrity of the system.
 
BlockCrushr Labs describes the proposal as a first draft and they are asking for feedback from any and all interested parties.
 
The white paper, “Ending homeless hunger with the blockchain”, can be downloaded from BlockCrushr Labs’ web site:
 
https://www.blockcrushr.com/ending-homeless-hunger-with-the-blockchain

Awesome project which remind me why I believe in Blockchain technology. I don't have technical knowledge, but chapeau bas!

[spartak_t]

We have a similar idea with FAILCoin since ages, and there is a much easier way to make it happen. Partnership with YouTube channels who are doing Social experiments with homeless people. They can just put a wallet address in the description of the video and run a campaign for a month. People who liked the homeless person from particular video can send coins to help him. After the month is over, creator of the video will then sell the coins and make another video on how he is giving the money.

- The address could be easily traced if they try to move funds before the month is over.
- People will know exactly how much coins were gathered.
- The YouTube channel owner can easily prove how he is giving the money by making a new video.

Period.

Why do you need white papers for? The homeless person may indeed spent the funds on drugs and/or alcohol, but this is not our problem, nor we can do something about it. Homeless people need money. You just give them the money in their hands and they can do whatever they want. There is no need to complicate things.

[blockcrushr]

Hey Spartak!

First of all I think it's great that you guys have been thinking about this issue too. Just like families, communities and social networks have a variety of resources and a way to solve problems, the problem of hunger is multifaceted as well and probably needs a variety of approaches.

We have a similar idea with FAILCoin since ages, and there is a much easier way to make it happen. Partnership with YouTube channels who are doing Social experiments with homeless people. They can just put a wallet address in the description of the video and run a campaign for a month. People who liked the homeless person from particular video can send coins to help him. After the month is over, creator of the video will then sell the coins and make another video on how he is giving the money.

- The address could be easily traced if they try to move funds before the month is over.
- People will know exactly how much coins were gathered.
- The YouTube channel owner can easily prove how he is giving the money by making a new video.

That's a great idea. Do you have anyone doing this currently? That would be a great thing to roll out, assuming people are comfortable with being on YouTube receiving assistance. One thing I will say is that the scheme we have proposed has more anonymity and perhaps dignity designed in.

Why do you need white papers for?

#1 - It's a proof of concept of how blockchain technologies can be used to solve human problems.
#2 - I'm not an expert on homelessness or hunger, so one goal of putting it out is to get feedback from a wide variety of stakeholders. To see if it is feasible, desired, and a first step towards actually implementing it.

The homeless person may indeed spent the funds on drugs and/or alcohol, but this is not our problem, nor we can do something about it. Homeless people need money. You just give them the money in their hands and they can do whatever they want. There is no need to complicate things.

That's one point of view and you are certainly entitled to it. Although, it's well known that that's a reason people do not give. According to this study, http://cmfmedia.org/web/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Public-Perceptions-Homeless.pdf, 45% of people surveyed think people panhandle because "it's an easy way to pick up cash". I'm trying to find more specific statistics about people's attitudes towards this. I know that I personally would be more likely to give if I know the money will be used for food.

[blockcrushr]

Awesome project which remind me why I believe in Blockchain technology. I don't have technical knowledge, but chapeau bas!

Thank you!

[mybitcoin101]

How about all you pimple face kids living in your parents basement go out and get a job and help the homeless that way

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Don't give money to bums.  Food is free and everywhere (in the US at least) and there's nothing they're going to spend it on but drugs/alcohol.  There are soup kitchens everywhere.

[spartak_t]

Hey, blockcrushr,

Looks like you have noticed my tweed and decided to join the discussion. Thank you for that!

That's a great idea. Do you have anyone doing this currently? That would be a great thing to roll out, assuming people are comfortable with being on YouTube receiving assistance. One thing I will say is that the scheme we have proposed has more anonymity and perhaps dignity designed in.

Well, I would like to explain a bit more about this. FAILCoin was created over 2 years ago as an answer to the many scams, which we are witnessing with cryptocurrencies, but it is now developing as a way to help people and just for fun. Below you can see a screenshot of our Beta wallet. The idea is very simple. The wallet will pick up specific hashtags from Twitter (Facebook is currently a problem), and for the homeless (or just people in need) the hashtag will be probably #FAILdonations. You can just click on the specific tab and see everything with provided links. No need to visit websites, read forums and such. There are actually good amount of people involved in this, despite we are looking silent. FAIL team currently has 2 members from England, Bulgaria: 2, Russia: 1, Indonesia: 1, Netherlands: 1, Greece: 1, South Korea: 1, Thailand: 1 and France: 1. Six of us revealed our real identities (we will be soon presented on our thread, website etc...). It's extremely hard to achieve that, because all of us are working only for a share of the project (i.e. FAIL coins) and we all know that most of the people would prefer to take their $5 in Bitcoin, instead of working for something greater.

Sadly, we are still in the middle of our developing, but we will deliver.

P.S. Why anonymity? People who are making videos on YouTube are known either way. People who send coins could have their privacy, because only their wallet address will be known.

 

#1 - It's a proof of concept of how blockchain technologies can be used to solve human problems.
#2 - I'm not an expert on homelessness or hunger, so one goal of putting it out is to get feedback from a wide variety of stakeholders. To see if it is feasible, desired, and a first step towards actually implementing it.

I know why you wrote your white paper, but my point was that the people in general are not tech savvy. Our idea about this is again very simple. We will create a short video (which will be most likely narrated on 5+ languages), where we will explain on how this works. Of course, we intend to write something like a white paper too, but everything will be explained in a simple manner. In my humble opinion, we all must try to explain things simple if we want better adoption of the cryptocurrencies. What is that I mean? I mean, for example, you probably don't know/understand the technology, which is behind your sink in the kitchen, right? You just know that you can turn it on and drink water (or pour it in order to cook) and then turn it off. it's not your job to know HOW this water is coming to you. I believe that we just need to talk with people and just show them how to "turn on and off" their wallets, without complicating things.

That's one point of view and you are certainly entitled to it. Although, it's well known that that's a reason people do not give. According to this study, http://cmfmedia.org/web/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Public-Perceptions-Homeless.pdf, 45% of people surveyed think people panhandle because "it's an easy way to pick up cash". I'm trying to find more specific statistics about people's attitudes towards this. I know that I personally would be more likely to give if I know the money will be used for food.

Believe me, I know! I don't need to read this, because I live in Bulgaria, where sadly, begging is also a business. There are many beggars who are earning more money per month, than the average salary of an average person here. We again will try to keep things simple. Watch video below for reference:





Now, this guy didn't spend his money on alcohol, right? Did you liked him? Personally I did and I would not mind to send him 5 coins for example. This particular video has been watched by almost 45 million people, right? If only 1% of them are interested (or know about) cryptocurrencies, then we talk about 450,000 people. If only 0.05% decide to participate in the given campaign, you have 2250 more people who helped the guy and knows about you.

It sounds simple indeed, but I know very well that it would be extremely hard to achieve that.

Cheers,
Spartak

[BitLoans]

Why not just give them Safeway gift cards if you're concerned about what they will spend it on?

Either way, they will just sell your QR code to buy drugs and alcohol. The idea will never work, sorry brah.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Why not just give them Safeway gift cards if you're concerned about what they will spend it on?

Either way, they will just sell your QR code to buy drugs and alcohol. The idea will never work, sorry brah.

Becausr you can sell gift cards for cash.  You can sell food stamps for cash.  Hell, you can sell your ass for cash.  Give the homeless nothing.  Our taxpayer dollars do that.

[Nxtblg]

Well, you've set yourself a tough task.

First of all, you'd better have a thick enough skin to not only shrug off the righty blowback (you've gotten a taste of it upthread) but also shrug off the lefty blowback. How many of the lefty folks are going to see "intended use" as an implied insult?

And the mechanics of getting it up and running ain't straightforward. Has one of your team been homeless? If not, do you have a volunteer-evangelizer who's willing to live in (say) the Sally Ann shelter near Citadel Hill for enough time to establish him as one of the boys? As trustworthy enough to be listened to by the folks in the shelter? If you can't get over that trust hurdle, I don't see why any homeless person would bother to use your system.

Speaking of the Sally Ann, they almost certainly would not agree to be a use-case for a smart contract that could only be used for a nightly admission tickie unless you had a reliable fiat gateway already set up for them. Doing so in advance would show that you're considerate towards them rather than tech-absorbed.

[w0mp]

I love the idea!  Of course some homeless will decide to try and sell the QR codes for cash, to buy drugs and alcohol, but not all will.  I have worked with a few homeless shelters over the years and not all of them are drug addicts.  There are many who would actually use the money to buy food and not drugs/booze.  It's not fair to say they all will, just because some will.

[SockPuppetAccount]

This is possibly the dumbest idea I have seen around here in a long time.  The time and energy wasted on this project would be better spent donating to or volunteering in your local soup kitchen or homeless shelter.  Developing the software to make this happen is the easy part, good luck convincing businesses to accept it.  Literally all they gain from it is hoards of unwashed homeless people coming to their stores to spend their panhandling money.  I don't think any businesses are clamoring for that market.