Bridging the Gap: Community Initiatives for Homeless Assistance

The report outlines a community-driven project that succeeded in securing sponsorship from two companies to assist homeless families. The initiative, named 'Social Innovation Project,' involved collaboration with local organizations like Community Waitakere and VisionWest. By engaging key stakeholders such as Michelle, the team effectively divided tasks to manage responsibilities efficiently, addressing challenges like budgeting with external support. Through strategic interactions, they secured vital sponsorships: one company provided temporary housing and supported entrepreneurial ventures for self-reliance, while another committed funds based on detailed plans regarding location, cost, and family needs. The project not only facilitated immediate assistance but also fostered long-term benefits by integrating team-building activities to improve the quality of life for participants. Updates were regularly communicated with Community Waitakere to ensure alignment and progress monitoring. This initiative demonstrated effective community engagement and project management practices that enabled a significant social impact, setting a precedent for future projects aimed at tackling homelessness.

Running head: PROGRESS REPORT 2 1
Progress Report 2
Name:
Institution:
Affiliation:

PROGRESS REPORT 2 2
Progress Report 2
1.0 Executive Summary
The aim of this progress report is to inform my academic supervisor on the progress that
we have made since issuing the first progress report. The supervisor will be able to see the
milestones that have been made on the, “Breathe Again Project.” It will also show the goals that
have been achieved as the project progresses and challenges that have been faced. In the first
progress report, different organizations had been approached to see if they could support with the
project. A framework for the project had also been made and a power-point presentation was –to
be done in preparation for an expected presentation. The community was also to be updated on
the objectives of the project. Vision West and the housing clinical leader had been approached to
help in getting families who will be beneficiaries of the project, which involves giving care
packages to the less fortunate members of the society.
2.0 Introduction
Michelle and I founded the “Breathe Again” project and it involves giving care packages
to less fortunate society members who are homeless. My supervisor and the project manager at
Community Waitakere have already approved the project. The next step is to look for families
that we will support and businesses that will be willing to sponsor the project. We will be linked
to the homeless families through Vision West and The Ministry of Housing clinical leader. A
power-point presentation has to be made to them concerning the project before they can assist us
to get families (Banks et al, 2013). Once all these things are done, we can come up with the
appropriate packages and the project can kick-off.

PROGRESS REPORT 2 3
3.0 Record of Results
3.1 Sponsorship Letters
We were able to do more sponsorship letters and used them to approach more businesses
around the area. We also took advantage of some events, which were happening, in the
Waitakere area to publicize our project and give out letters. There was a business forum in one of
the conference center and we were able to give a small speech to the businessmen and women
who attended. There was also a community event where we also spoke concerning our project.
Many were impressed and promised to call or get back through our email (Wates, 2014). Some
of the schools around the area were also interested in giving back to the community hence we
also took sponsorship letters to them. We got email replies from five organizations.
3.2 Power-point Presentation
We finalized with the power-point presentation and showed it to the supervisor. We made
it short, precise and catchy so that it would enhance our presentations (Vanclay et al, 2015). The
presentation gave a summarized overview of our project and helped people see our vision in
terms of what we were really aiming to achieve. It also enabled Michelle and I carry out separate
presentations whenever we were given two similar appointments by different customers. This
made us reach out to a number of business people.
3.3 Meeting with Vision West and Ministry of Housing
The meetings with Vision West and Ministry of housing happened in early November.
We were able to make our presentation to them and they felt that we had a very good project.
The said that the number of homeless people in New Zealand was on the rise hence they would
appreciate any innovative projects that would help to take care of the homeless people. They
institutions said they would help us get families that needed assistance but suggested that we first

PROGRESS REPORT 2 4
follow up on sponsorship (Vision West, 2017). They also said that we should come up with a
write up of the specific packages that we would offer so that we discuss with them and see if
they could be enhanced in any way. A subsequent meeting has been set up and will happen in
two weeks. In this meeting, the organizations will come with the list of identified homeless
families and my group will update on sponsorship. We will also discuss the specific packages
and what they entail.
3.4 Meeting with Local Business
Five of the local businesses responded and meetings were set up to do a presentation so
that we could get sponsorship for the project. Michelle and I decided that we set the meetings
over two weeks so that we would do thorough presentations that would enable us get
sponsorship. We also decided to come up with specific budgets for the specific care packages
before making the presentations to the businesses so that the sponsorship amounts were definite.
4.0 Discussion of Results
4.1 Meeting with Vision West and Ministry of Housing
The second meeting with Vision West and the Ministry of Housing went well. They came
with a list of families who were homeless and really needed assistance. We were also able to
come up with the specific care packages, which included provision of meals and homes,
organizing meetings for families with similar circumstances and counseling and support
packages. The organisations said they would give full support during the project to ensure that
the families were well catered for and that everything progressed well (Vision West, 2017). We
also updated them on the businessmen that had contacted us and that there was hope for
sponsorship hence the project would kick off smoothly.

PROGRESS REPORT 2 5
4.2 Meeting with Local Businesses
We managed to have a meeting with three local businesses and made successful
presentations about the breathe gain project. One of the businesses said they were a young
business that had not really grown but they were willing to sponsor the team building activities
that would bring together the homeless families. They said we should come up with a solid
annual plan on how often these activities will take place and the place and budget and then we
would discuss further on how they will be releasing funds (Top Ink, 2017).
One of the businesses has accepted to sponsor the project by temporarily paying for
homes that will be used to house the homeless. They will do this for a certain period while at the
same time sponsoring start-ups of small businesses for the homeless so that they become self-
reliant (Hertz Electrical, 2017). They were interested in knowing the history of the families that
needed support, as they were willing to support five families for a start. Michelle and I were
therefore to look at the suggested homeless families and come up with the neediest. The
company would be willing to sponsor more families as time went by and if they managed to get
the initial families to be self-sufficient. The third business requested that we give them some time
and that they would get back to us (Honey Centre, 2017). We however still had meetings with
two other companies set for late November.
4.3 Updates
We updated Community Waikatere on the various developments that had taken place. They
assured us of their full support in carrying out the project (Community Waikatere, 2017).
5.0 Conclusion
Overall, the project was a success as we were able to get two companies on board for the
sponsorship. The homeless families would therefore receive the help that they needed and we

PROGRESS REPORT 2 6
will be able to learn more as the process continues (Van Rensburg, Meyer & Nel, 2016). This
project will assist homeless people in the area and will make them self-sufficient. It will also
bring them together through team building activities hence help them have a positive view
towards life.
6.0 Recommendation
Working together with Michelle was great and we decided to split tasks to enable us
achieve more. It was a relief that the organizations finally responded to us and we were able to
proceed with the project. We had a challenge in doing budgets but we got assistance and in the
process learnt a lot about budgeting. This enabled us to come up with the required packages and
present them in a professional manner to the various organizations that had requested for them
(Brunswicker et al, 2016). As we progress with the project we will ensure that we have a solid
plan that will enable us manage our time effectively and ensure that the project is a success.

PROGRESS REPORT 2 7
References
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Brunswicker, S., Bagherzadeh, M., Lamb, A., Narsalay, R., & Jing, Y. (2016). Managing Open
Innovation Projects with Impact.
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Hertz Electrical (2017). About. Retrieved from https://www.neighbourly.co.nz/business/hertz-
electrical-ltd-1
Honey Center (2017). About Honey Centre Warkworth. Retrieved from
https://www.neighbourly.co.nz/business/honey-centre-warkworth-ltd
Top Ink (2017). About. Retrieved from https://www.neighbourly.co.nz/business/topink-ltd-
printer-cartridge-expert
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In Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM), 2016 IEEE
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Guidance for assessing and managing the social impacts of projects.

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VisionWest. (2017). Community Trust. Retrieved from http://www.visionwest.org.nz/
Wates, N. (2014). The Community Planning Handbook: How people can shape their cities,
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