B.E.X.A.R. Necessities Orientation Meeting
the following is text from a PowerPoint presentation given by Heather Talley of United Way at a meeting to energize the first steps of the B.E.X.A.R Necessities project.
September 17, 1999
* New Program in San Antonio
* The United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County's Help Line is working to develop an "electronic bulletin board" to serve as a link for communication between service providers. This will allow agencies to post requests for help finding difficult to locate resources and access up to the minute information about service availability or changes.
* From the pilot agencies we would like to have:
1. Commitment to working with the program for the next two months.
2. Commitment to test the program in it's initial phase.
Presentation Information
Information and Referral Services (I&R)
* Provided by a variety of public and private agencies.
* Agency staff make referrals when the needs of a family or individual can not be met by existing in-house services.
* Referrals are given to those who do not know where to get help through referral services like United Way Help Line.
* Primarily used to advise someone where to get help.
Existing I&R Resources
* Most obvious is the "who you know" opportunities. Networking is a very important method of gathering resources.
* United Way's Community Assistance Directory.
* United Way's IRIS.
* Specialized
resource guides.
The Problem
* Directories only offer specific services to the community allowing some to fall through the cracks.
* No real-time method: leads to spent office hours thus expense. There is no efficient method of networking because there is currently not a system.
* Printed
directories are static- do not describe services that are offered
only at certain times.
Bexar County Solution
* B.E.X.A.R. Necessities.
* Method
of working together via e-mail.
An Electronic Bulletin Board
* Help better serve the needs of the community.
* Promote networking.
* Communicating agency activities.
* Posting unmet needs.
* Agency activity including closures.
* Access
to discussion among agencies.
How System Works
* Subscribers e-mail needs.
* Moderator screens information to see if it meets criteria.
* Goes out to subscribers.
* Agency
information is removed after past and needs removed once met.
* First established in Madison WI- called Dane Needs.
* We
are modeling closely to the same concept but trying to get it to
cater to S.A.
Dane Need Usage Statistics
* 5,000 people through 250 connections are participating.
* 50-60 postings occur per month.
* Estimated that over 90% of the needs posted are met.
Plan of Action
* Choose pilot agencies.
* Use to establish policies.
* Start them on program first.
* Goal is to get on line by end of October 1999.
System
Requirements
* Computer, Phone Line, Modem.
* Agencies without the system requirements can designate a personal e-mail representative to keep up with information. Ex: a church member with a computer at home or in the office.
* Do not need internet.
* Can get free e-mail services from Juno, Hotmail, etc.
Results
* Fill unique needs which are not met through any other resource.
* Reduction in cost and in amount of staff time trying to locate services.
* Allows for documentation of community needs.
* Reduces duplication of effort.
The
Future
* First year: 150 subscribers.
* Feasibility Study done on addition of Gifts-In-Kind and Volunteer Opportunities.