FIC001 Project: Sheltery App Solution for Homeless Community AU

This project addresses the pressing issue of homelessness in Australia, particularly within the CBD area, and proposes a mobile application called "Sheltery" as a potential solution. The project delves into the causes and consequences of homelessness, emphasizing the lack of safe and secure living conditions, food insecurity, and social isolation experienced by this vulnerable population. The Sheltery app aims to connect homeless individuals with essential resources such as shelter, food, job opportunities, and support groups. A SWOT analysis of the app highlights its strengths in empowering homeless individuals to manage their lives, weaknesses in addressing the root causes of homelessness, opportunities for increasing public awareness, and threats related to affordability and accessibility. The project concludes with a reflection on the importance of addressing the social issue of homelessness through increased community involvement and the provision of comprehensive support systems.

Running Head: ASSIGNMENT ON THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY (CBD AREA) IN
AUSTRALIA
Assignment on the Homeless Community (CBD Area) in Australia
Name of the University:
Name of the Student:
Author Note:

1ASSIGNMENT ON THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY (CBD AREA) IN AUSTRALIA
Stage 1
Homelessness in Australia is a burning issue that has not been addressed with urgency as
per the needs of the hours. The aim of this project is to look into the various perspectives that
would lead to possible outcomes of providing help. There is no proper definition that can be
referred to when it comes to defining homelessness hence the degree of it varies from place to
place. However, the general definition of homelessness in Australia contain those who do not
have any access to a safe and secure living condition, or the housing available is a threat to their
health, their circumstances are also threatening or are supported by some organization (Flatau et
al. 2018). Along with homelessness come a number of issues such as lack of proper food on a
daily basis, lack of sanitation facilities, and joblessness. Some of the common causes of being
rendered as homeless are violence in the family, unable to afford housing facility, physical and
mental illness, unemployment, addiction and substance abuse, disintegration of family, and lack
of safety at home. Being homeless also comes with a number of consequences such as lack of a
sense of pride, no social interactions, social isolation, lack of a sense of pride, and no sense of
belonging. Homelessness also leads to the increase in risks of being vulnerable and prone to
experiencing isolation and loneliness. The general attitude of the public is not very healthy and
positive towards the homeless as thus it only aggravates the situation of the homeless
community. Most of the non-profit organizations and communities focus on proving aids to the
homeless, they are very few in number in comparison to the ever rising population of the
homeless community. Another important aspect to understand is that the goal and approach
towards the issue should be to eradicate the issue from the grass root level and not just lend out
helping hands for them to survive in the streets (Horsell and Zufferey 2017).

2ASSIGNMENT ON THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY (CBD AREA) IN AUSTRALIA
As a possible solution to this social issue, the use of technology in the form of a mobile
app can cater to the various needs of the homeless people. “Sheltery” is an app that has been
designed specifically to meet the needs of the homeless as well as the public. It mainly focuses
on the aspects of finding living accommodations, jobs, food, and various support groups. The
research thus takes into account various methods of working on this perspective, which can help
the homeless section of the society (CBD area as the community in focus) by developing the
mobile application so that it provides better and effective service to those in need, and to conduct
research on the workability of the application (Horsell and Zufferey 2017).
Stage 2
A number as high as 400 have been found as rough sleepers in the inner suburbs of the
Melbourne. Although Kira Walker, a 26 year old woman who has been on the streets for about
nine months. According to her, people are mostly nice but sometimes they tend to advise her to
get a job or something similar along the lines. But unemployment, as Ms. Walker points out is
one of the major problems that homeless people are homeless in the first place. On asking her
about her chosen location, she informs that she had to escape from violence and hence the streets
were the only option available to her (MacKenzie and Waters 2019).

3ASSIGNMENT ON THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY (CBD AREA) IN AUSTRALIA
The situation is however different according to George, who has been on the street for
two years. He tells us that with the dip in the temperature, the only way to survive is to layers up
the thermals. He also talks about how the new bylaws are extremely detrimental for those who
are rough sleepers and homeless. They do not benefit the community in any manner. Instead,
there is only an increase in the number of disruptions, and definitely does not contribute towards
solving the issue of homelessness from the
very cause.
By keeping these two instances in
mind, it can be very well understood that
the recurring reasons for the increase in the
number of homeless is violence, mental illness
and physical ailments. However, this is
vicious cycle that has not end to it. The
major problem that has been observed is the
lack of a permanent solution to the
problem. This brings us back to the basic
criteria of this project that is to help the community to find support in ways that are possible.
“Sheltery” not only gives information about food and shelter, but also of jobs that can help them
get back to the mainstream of life. The app targets these basic criteria that are the concerns of
those who belong to the community of homeless people. Effective contribution towards the
betterment of these people in terms of their living situation and daily life would also lead to have
a positive effect on the physical and mental health issues. They shall be able to find out ways of

4ASSIGNMENT ON THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY (CBD AREA) IN AUSTRALIA
asking for help when they no longer have to worry about a secure shelter, and food to themselves
(MacKenzie and Waters 2019).
Stage 4
SWOT Analysis of “Sheltery”
Strength
 The people who are homeless can manage their life in general that includes
management of finance and time.
 The homeless people for finding any kind of job support themselves can use the
app.
 The shelter seeking facility would also allow the homeless people to search for a
place where they could live in.
 The job finder can help them to look for jobs that would suit their capabilities and
needs.
Weakness
 They can be vulnerable towards the lack of any money management skills as they
can be prone to use the money.
 The app is not appropriate to anyone and targets only a particular group of the
homeless people.
 There is a dire need of building up connection that would help the gather food
along with donations of clothes.
Opportunities

5ASSIGNMENT ON THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY (CBD AREA) IN AUSTRALIA
 Have a proper design for the icon of the app.
 Have adequate information on food.
 To increase awareness among people about homeless community.
 To make the app available for the public and the homeless community.
 Take into consider the number of people who are not in a situation to afford a
smartphone.
 Suggestions to let people to have complete control over the financial usages.
 Have a more positive approach towards the entire approach of providing aid to the
homeless.
Threats
 Does not quite address the root causes of eradicating homelessness.
 Using an app is at times a luxury that many people are not able to afford.
The reason of carrying out the SWOT analysis of the app is to understand the area that
need improvement and focus that will in turn help to serve the cause for which the app was
created in the first place. It shows how important it is to understand that accompanying factors
that come along with being homeless, loneliness as one of the most common factors that affect
the homeless community. Being physical and socially isolated, they are extremely vulnerable.
The app can focus on the connectivity that comes along with it that can in turn help the
community to cope in a better manner. However, the highlight is also on the aspects of
restrictions that have been highlighted with the analysis. Increase in public awareness is also
important, as that would help to deal with the social issue of homelessness, isolation, and
loneliness.

6ASSIGNMENT ON THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY (CBD AREA) IN AUSTRALIA
Stage 6
Summary and reflection
Homelessness is defined as the state of being unemployed, without a safe and secure
living accommodation, lack of food, and clothes. To add to this, are issues of isolation and
loneliness that comes in for being devoid of a sense of belonging (Patterson 2017). This leads to
development of eating disorders, and make them prone towards developing eating disorders,
depression, anxiety, etc.
In order to have a clearer understanding of the situation, it is important to identify the
stakeholders. They include- individuals, organizations, government, police, business, media,
family, friends, non-profit organizations, public, neighbors, and healthcare sector. From these
stakeholders, it is clear that almost all of these factors actively contribute towards the growing
problem of homelessness. The major issues that need to be addressed are finding shelters for
homeless people, helping them cope up to the needs of the growing world, creating awareness
among people about the issue of homelessness and the root causes behind it. There should also
be active contributions done towards making feel them as a part of the society. This would help
them cope up with the isolation and loneliness and increase the reach of the app to the general
public along with the homeless community.
The social issue of homelessness needs to be treated in such a manner, which leads to the
increase in the involvement of people actively in understanding the situations and identifying the
reasons that can possibly make people take to the streets. Thus, this attempt would be a small
step towards eradicating the problem of homeless people in Australia.

7ASSIGNMENT ON THE HOMELESS COMMUNITY (CBD AREA) IN AUSTRALIA
Reference
Flatau, P., Tyson, K., Callis, Z., Seivwright, A., Box, E., Rouhani, L., Ng, S., Lester, N. and
Firth, D., 2018. The State of Homelessness in Australia's Cities: A Health and Social Cost Too
High.
Horsell, C. and Zufferey, C., 2017. Homelessness in Australia. In Faces of Homelessness in the
Asia Pacific (pp. 133-145). Routledge.
MacKenzie, D. and Waters, K., 2019. National youth homelessness conference 18-19 March
2019. Parity, 32(2), p.47.
Patterson, D., 2017. A national homelessness strategy: Why we need it. Parity, 30(6), p.10.
Steen, A., 2018. The many costs of homelessness. The Medical Journal of Australia, 208(4),
pp.167-168.