[DDN] Homeless.org and Crime.org

[Ben Smilowitz]

For Homeless.org, consider speaking with Michael Stoops of the  
National Coalition for the Homeless.
at (202) 462-4822 ext.19 or mstoops at nationalhomeless.org.  I cc'd  
Michael.

For Crime.org, you could use it to profile a group fighting  
poverty... or a group advocating for alternative sentencing...
something that isn't filling up jails and supporting the prison/crime  
industry.  Peter Wagner at the Prison Project may have ideas.  I've  
cc'd him.

Good luck!
Ben

On Jul 24, 2007, at 10:25 PM, Dave Chakrabarti wrote:

> Hey DDN,
>
> One of the projects I'm working on for Grassroots.org is the
> development of two top-level internet portals, namely homeless.org
> and crime.org A quick visit reveals that the existing content does,
> for want of a better word, suck. Badly. We'll scrap it all.
>
> So, in other words, we've got these two awesome domain names that we
> can do some good with. What do you guys think?
>
> We need help with:
>
> 1. Finding partners for development. Know any awesome homeless
> shelters, or orgs working on police brutality? Any relevant mailing
> lists I should know about?
>
> 2. Development strategies. Would it make sense to build out
> chicago.crime.org as a local portal?
>
> 3. Functionality. What's "portal" mean anyway? Should we focus on
> social networking tools, projects to let the homeless blog, etc, or
> should we just aggregate a ton of good content? Do crime researchers
> prefer a mailing list or a forum, or both? Who should we recruit to
> write content, or promote their existing content / research through
> either of these sites? Is there value in building organic groups (a
> la Yahoo groups) for visitors to organize around?
>
> Technologically, these sites will probably live on a Drupal multisite
> platform, with functionality being added gradually as we identify
> needs and match them with relevant Drupal coolness.
>
> We're geeks, not experts on crime or homelessness. What do you guys
> think? How should these projects grow into something useful?
>
> I'd like to see at least part of the discussion develop on this list,
> since I think building these resources transparently is the best long-
> term strategy.
>
> Thanks!
>
>    Dave.
>
> P.S. I swear I haven't abandoned the can of nonprofit sustainability
> worms I opened earlier; just need some time to play catchup on DDN.
>
> ------------------------
> Dave Chakrabarti
> Director of Programs
> Grassroots.org
>
>
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