Financial Market turmoil as a factor in potential human service crisis....how can FOSS help?

Consider what a radically new social landscape we create when we can engage all levels of society based on this idea….

Develop systems and operating frameworks that turn users into producers and consumers into creators as an approach to offsetting the demand on community human services AND support development of globalization models that address a significant current problems of economic development across Africa and CSR program short falls that will have a negative impact on corporation profits (declining social capital).

Corporations especially are invited to open dialogues to help harness the talent and passion of the individuals within their organization. Consider the social capital value you lose when your business does not support your employees with a passion for social innovation that can be your key to connecting with market/customer/end user inspired innovations.

Lessons from Freakonomics…there have been no shortage of reports about the anticipated crisis in certain sectors of the financial market. However little attention has gone to the very human side of that scenario, that could also mean an increase in demand on an already under supported human services sector.

Recently I was having a conversation with a close friend of mine who works in peri/prenatal outreach. She sighed as she said, “I am now where you were a couple of years ago…now I understand what you meant.” We had a dialogue where I indicated that if nothing change that exactly what is now happening would happen…hitting hardest the people we had been working with.

One person with full time employment providing shelter and varying degrees of support for two other single parents under the age of 21, having that one person (head of household) become displaced because of a big increase in their mortgage interest rate actually impacts at least two other families. If they are barely surviving now what will that mean? Is this reality something to factor into economic policy? How do you visualize/develop solutions for a problem that has been denied proper attention?

In the past I’ve written articles and proposals citing the various homeless statistics from county to county and I have learned that statistics do not tell the story that is the truth that many people live each day. One lesson: Life is more than numbers and you are more than your bank account.

Take for example a state reporting a decline in numbers entering homeless shelters, therefore concluding they have had an impact on the problem by achieving this benchmark of x decline in homeless count. Perhaps there are fewer people going to shelters but is that really because they are no longer “homeless” in the sense that they do not have their own permanent home? My experience and that of the many people I know or have known that work in the human services sector serving those in need…our experience is that people are staying away from shelters for a whole range of reasons from social stigma to fear of their safety. Some shelters for example will not allow a son that is older that 14 to stay with his mother and many women would sleep in their car with their children rather than have them separated.

Some shelters have policies that may deter many most in need of their services and that gets into core issues such as some people believing that certain people (active substance abusers) do not deserve the right to access of emergency shelters. The reality is that many of the women on the streets are also mothers and so this leads to occupancy in abandon or otherwise unfit/dangerous housing. Fear of prosecution on behalf of these women presents another challenge for the women charged with helping them and their children. Often this then leads to issues effecting the senior population living in challenging conditions that take on responsibility to care for their grandchildren rather than see them go into the foster care system.

My point is not to list all the people in need because obviously that is far from a complete list. The intention is to give you the context of the understanding shared between my friend and me. When I was focused on the grassroots level in a different capacity my driving mission was to help strengthen community services to be ready for what I hope would not happen because it represented what I then saw as a worse case scenario. Considering the downsizing of the mental health system I have wondered why no one is discussing how to develop intervention strategies for child and senior abuse victims. Without this it is likely we will have stories of deaths instead of rescues.

So when people wonder why I am so focused on the value of “art as philosophy” to develop solutions to increasingly complex social situations…I ask you to think about this.

The opportunity is that in times of great change is that there are opportunities as well as risks. And that is why I want you to be inspired by this post. I hope to share with you a bit of what inspires me and how I am reminded of a quote

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” —-Nelson Mandela

What do the financial indicators foretell for the most vulnerable among us?

And so we see a very obvious example of how the poor are treated as if they are invisible and I ask you to consider how do we build a better future if we ignore these realities? Furthermore, since there has not been value previously established for the radically new approaches called for that can bridge disparate situations to improve conditions for all, there exist a great opportunity for frameworks such as SoulFood in context such as Cultural Fusion. There is a place for the positive work of many who are committed to applying their talent for change. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by this post, realize that history will tell the truth of who we are despite what we claim or choose to believe.

If you didn’t know before…hadn’t thought of it this way. What will you do now that you do?

Click the link below and check this out:

Talks Charles Leadbeater: The rise of the amateur professional