Running head: COMMUNITY ACTION PROJECT - OPEN DOOR MISSION 1

Community Action Project - Open Door Mission

Ryan C. Chapman, Ottilie J. Cooper-Ohm, Jonah B. Letak, Tyler D. Pester, Lilia N. Selenke,
Nathan M. Taylor, Makayla A. Thompson, Lavanya V. K. Uppala, and Zach E. Wullenwaber

University of Nebraska at Omaha

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Our group has had the wonderful opportunity of working with the Open Door Mission

over the past few months. During our time with them, we have been able to form stronger bonds

with the volunteers, with the homeless, and with our community. Because of the volunteer work

we have done and the preparations we have made, it feels as though we are already making an

impact on our non-profit organization. In this essay, the issue present at the Open Door Mission

will be discussed and our solution will be detailed. This paper will also review background

information on the Open Door Mission, the anticipated impact of our solution, and our plan to

implement said solution.

Open Door Mission Background:

Open Door Mission is a Gospel Rescue Mission that was founded in 1954. In its early

years, the Mission provided shelter for the working men that migrated to Omaha to obtain a job

working on one of the city’s 10 railroads. As time progressed, the Mission received tremendous

support from the Omaha community and was able to open new programs, expand its shelters,

and evolve into the organization that it is today. Now, its vision is to break the cycle of

homelessness and poverty through faith, hope, and love. Open Door Mission welcomes people

with the utmost respect and strives to provide them with a place where they can feel safe and

cared for. By affirming the value and worth of each and every human being that walks through

its doors, the Open Door Mission is committed to living out grace and speaking the truth while

making sure to keep its focus on doing Christ’s work on Earth.

The main campus of Open Door Mission is located in East Omaha near Eppley Airfield.

The center provides its residents with a variety of programs to help them develop personally and

to teach them the skills necessary to get a job or to be self-sufficient. In just this past year, the

Open Door Mission graduated 47 men and women from life-changing programs. Each day, Open
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Door Mission's campus offers 917 safe, shelter beds to homeless men, women and children,

serves over 3,500 hot, nutritious meals and provides preventive measures to more than 1,000

people living in poverty. In addition, the Mission received help from nearly 20,000 volunteers

during last year alone. All in all, the Open Door Mission gives their all to improve the lives of

others and is a crucial piece of the Omaha community (Open Door Mission, 2018).

Problem Statement:

Representatives of the Open Door Mission met with our group at the beginning of the

semester. At this time, they provided us with two issues they would like addressed. The first

issue was that a number of their guests were missing their mandatory appointments, which could

be anything from medical appointments to classes from an external organization. The

representatives of Open Door Mission asked that, for this issue, we build a kiosk that would

display a scrolling list of appointments with the names of their associated residents. This kiosk

would be accessible in any shelter in the metro area. The second issue was that there was no

good system of attendance for classes that were offered by the organization. Open Door Mission

wanted us to create an accountability system to resolve this issue. This system would use either

identification cards or barcodes to scan residents into a class. During the class itself, the scanner

would be turned off so that if a participant leaves, the system would note their absence. The

shelter offers many opportunities for guests during their times of struggle, but if the residents are

unwilling to be accountable for their appointments and classes, they will not be able to learn the

skills necessary to become self-sustainable.

After visiting the Open Door Mission’s main campus for the first time, we found that one

of the biggest problems facing the organization was being able to bridge the gap between living

at the shelter with benefits and rising above the poverty line into self-sustainability. We saw that
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they have made efforts to bridge that gap. As an example, the Open Door Mission has lowered

the prices of renting their apartments and they have offered general education degree

opportunities. However, one fact that stuck out to our group was that, once a family of four

makes over $24,860, all of their benefits from being below the poverty line are relinquished

instantly. According to CNBC, a sustainable income for a family in Nebraska is approximately

$48,000, so any family or any individuals that make an income of below that number and above

the poverty line are thrown out into the world to fend for themselves. Because of this huge gap

between poverty benefits and self-sustainability, many of those who get out of financial poverty

fall back into it. This is another issue that the Open Door Mission wishes to address.

A Review of the Design Thinking Process:

In order to begin the design thinking process and to learn about how other shelters were

reacting to similar situations, our group contacted homeless shelters in the two cities in the

United States that had the highest homelessness rates in 2018: New York City and Los Angeles

(McCarthy, 2018). In shelters like the Covenant House in New York City and the Union Rescue

Mission in Los Angeles, there is no system in which their residents and guests are able to

schedule or view their own appointments. Although they did not have their own system in place,

the Covenant House provided us with advice on databases that are capable of storing information

on residents. One of these databases, EffortsToOutcomes, is a comprehensive outcome and case

management tool for large non-profit organizations, government agencies, and community

collaboratives. The Bowery Mission, another shelter located in New York City, advised us to use

Oasis, another management tool which makes resident databases private. As some general

advice, the shelters we contacted warned us of the different state regulations on information that

can or cannot be given out. It will be vital for us to look into Nebraska’s privacy laws regarding
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the information of homeless and impoverished individuals.

The recommendations from these shelters led our group to perform further research on

potential databases to manage the information of the residents and guests of the Open Door

Mission. During this research phase, Open Door Mission introduced us to MACCH, the Metro

Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless. MACCH is an organization that links all of the

homeless shelters in the city of Omaha; it is also the Omaha metro area’s only ‘Collective Impact

Homeless Services Organization’, which means that it is comprised of multiple diverse

organizations that came together with the intent of solving a complex social problem. All of the

registered homeless in Omaha have an ID through MACCH which helps to streamline their

experiences with shelters like the Open Door Mission. For our group’s project to work, our

accountability system must be compatible with MACCH and adhere to any rules and regulations

on information privacy in Nebraska.

Our Proposed Prototype Solution:

At present, our group is focusing on creating a functioning product that can be used by

the Open Door Mission both as a test for its development and also as an example to the other

organizations within MACCH. The first functioning product will be a display for their public

gathering space or community hub. This setup will consist of three screens; each screen will

display a different set of appointments that need to be fulfilled. The first two screens will be for

the ‘A.M.’ and ‘P.M.’ appointments of the current day. The third screen will display the

appointments for the following day. Appointments will be sorted in the display by resident

Service-Point IDs (which are given by MACCH) and the first three characters of a resident’s last

name will be provided on the display so that they will be able to confirm their appointments.

Ideally, this will be a web-based application so that an organization will only need a computer
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with internet connectivity to access the display and projecting equipment to enlarge the display.

In the final form of our project, we hope to go above and beyond the expectations of the

organizations of MACCH. Ideally, the implemented features of our display will ease its use for

both the employees and the residents of homeless shelters. As an example, we plan to add a

user-specific visibility element to our display. We envision doing this by providing a kiosk with

scanning capabilities in which residents may scan their cards or barcodes to view their

appointments in detail.

Our initial implementation and ideal product differ in complexity. In the initial phases of

our project, we will only have a database containing specific appointments; this means that the

data we will have stored will be static and not tied to a specific account or ID. Consequently,

two appointments for the same individual would be considered two separate entities. In the final

phases of our project, we will need a relational database that allows shelter residents to access

their appointments from across all of the shelters in the Omaha metro area. This will require

creating individual accounts for users. When a new appointment is created in the final database,

that appointment will be tied to the user’s account. Two appointments for the same individual

would still be two separate entities; however, those two appointments would be connected

through an individual’s account.

The Prototype Description:

Our prototype includes a webpage that allows shelter employees and residents to input

appointments, their times, and their descriptions. A corresponding webpage will show those

appointments continuously scrolling on a screen. In future versions of our system, appointments

will “fall off” of the screen around one to two hours before they occur. This will be implemented

because many residents of Open Door Mission use public transportation, and will thus require a
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few hours’ notice to plan their method of transport to their appointments. Ideally, a login page

for computer access points would also be created so that users would be able to retrieve only

their own appointment schedules for the sake of privacy and security. In other cases, kiosks with

ID scanners may also provide the same service, as aforementioned.

The Anticipated Impact:

Implementing an appointment display system will change the way daily tasks are

accomplished at the Open Door Mission and surrounding services. Residents will be able to

better manage their appointments, and the overall number of missed appointments will decrease.

We suspect that this project will include short-term and long-term impacts, which will be

discussed below.

A major and immediate impact of implementing the appointment system is resident

interest in the system. According to Open Door Mission Senior Program Director Steve Frazee,

many residents are fascinated by observing seemingly mundane things. As Mr. Frazee put it,

“T.V. is magical.” As an example, Mr. Frazee described to us how residents at the shelter will

watch the live video camera footage of Open Door Mission’s laundry room for hours. Because of

this fact, he expects that the new television appointment display system will garner a lot of

attention. This will only increase the effectiveness of the system as it will help keep residents

become more aware of their appointments. Another immediate impact for shelter residents is

that they will need to learn their Service-Point ID number if they do not know it already.

Because this will be the number used for each entry in the appointment display system, it will be

vital for residents to have access to this number at all times.

In the long-term, the implementation of an appointment display system will have a

significant and positive impact. This system will provide Open Door Mission residents with a
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way to remember important appointments so that they can plan their schedules accordingly. As

aforementioned, for a homeless person, it is difficult to attend an appointment that they did not

know was scheduled to be in two hours; at the point of realization, it would be too late to make it

to the meeting. By giving residents a time frame for their appointments, it is anticipated that

they will be much more likely to avoid such situations. The residents’ appointments are vital to

achieving self-sufficiency and learning the skills that they need to provide for their families

against a system that is designed to keep them dependent on government services. This is the

overall goal of the Open Door Mission: to break the cycle of homelessness, for the over 1,000

people that it affects in Omaha. This appointment display system will streamline the rescue

mission’s ability to reach that goal by improving the attendance of resident appointments.

The Next Steps to Implementation:

Once the database is completed, we plan to place the appointment boards in each of the

many different shelters that are associated with MACCH. The displays will be placed in the

most frequently visited buildings on each shelter campus. By doing this, appointments will be

easily accessible to residents, which will give them enough time to reach their destinations. As

we continue to develop this web-based program, we would like to continue implementing more

elements to refine our system and make it user-friendly. We would like to implement features

that introduce accessibility to personal appointment schedules and that improve the privacy of

the system.

One idea that was discussed in our group was the development of a kiosk. This would

allow residents to access their own personal appointment times and locations using a PIN

number specific to our system. The kiosk would be located near the display in an easily-

accessible area. The development of the kiosk, however, introduces a few challenges to the
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group. Because this kiosk would be run with a web-based program, we would need to develop

measures to ensure that the web page is secure. We would also need to make sure that the page

is only accessible from the kiosk. In order to maintain information privacy, a four-digit PIN

number will be created for each resident and will be required to access appointment information

through the kiosk. Currently, we have a basic outline and some code written for what we would

like the web page to look like. As we continue to develop this program, we will work to

optimize our system and create a user-friendly interface.

In regards to data entry, we plan on transitioning our database into a relational database.

Ideally, all of the residents will enter their information on a separate basis from the appointments.

This will allow us to connect the appointments to the residents while avoiding errors such as

misspelling names or appointment mismatches. Creating the system in this manner will allow

for easier access to the appointments from a user standpoint as well. Our end goal will be to

have a basic version of the program running and the displays in place. Once they are in use, we

will begin the troubleshooting process to better the functionality of the system.

A Summary of the Group Process:

Although all of our group members have known each other through various Scott Scholar

activities and developing friend groups, working together on our Open Door Mission project has

established a very interesting group process and dynamic.

The group has had various leaders in the first few months, and all of the group members

have shown their committance to the project. During our group work times, Ryan and Lavanya

dominated the conversation with their technical insight and computer prowess. Ryan has also

been leading the group’s contact with organizations besides the Open Door Mission under

MACCH. Tyler has shown his leadership ability by always keeping group work meetings on
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track and by making sure that what needed to be done during the meeting gets done. Zach has

been able to hone his empathy skills during his time with our group, and his development shows.

His specialty is thinking about the solution from the eyes of the residents of the Open Door

Mission and from the eyes of its employees. Ottilie has been a very inclusive team member; she

has made sure, on multiple occasions, that every single member of the team provided feedback

on the work that was done during meetings and get-togethers. Natie has led the development of

the problem statement for the group, and she has ensured that all group members remain

accountable for their work. Makayla has a knack for small details, and she always makes sure to

speak up when she disagrees with a statement or solution. She has been showing her dedication

to the group through her effort. Jonah has shown himself to be a hard-working and dedicated

team member; he always uses honest communication during team discussions and meetings so as

to facilitate productive changes and positive conflict.

The members of our group are a very productive and effective combination altogether. It

seems as though the group has an excellent sense of social awareness and relationship

management, which facilitates the team dynamic. Communication between group members is

always fluid and honest. This communication allows for healthy conflict in the group process

and prevents artificial harmony. All members have shown excellent emotional intelligence in

group meetings and meetings with Open Door Mission representatives.

The group process that brought this team to develop a solution for Open Door Mission

relied heavily on empathy and emotional intelligence. The team connected and empathized with

volunteers, residents, and workers to create a proposal to chip away at a large overarching goal:

breaking the cycle of homelessness and poverty in Omaha. Team members volunteered at Open

Door Mission, as well as spoke with members of the organization in order to understand all
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possible perspectives surrounding this project.

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References

Leadership Team. (n.d.). Retrieved April 4, 2019, from

https://www.opendoormission.org/about-us/leadership-team/

Martin, E. (2018, February 05). Here's how much you have to earn to live comfortably in

every US state. Retrieved April 5, 2019, from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/05/what-a-

living-wage-would-be-in-every-us-state.html

Nebraska Report - 2018. (n.d.). Retrieved April 5, 2019, from

https://talkpoverty.org/state-year-report/nebraska-2018-report/

Our History. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2019, from https://www.opendoormission.org/about-

us/our-history/

McCarthy, N. (2018, December 20). The U.S. Cities With The Most Homeless People In 2018

[Infographic]. Retrieved April 5, 2019, from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/12/20/the-u-s-cities-with-the-most-

homeless-people-in-2018-infographic/#613803771178
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Appendix

Anticipated Project Timeline

January 2019 March 2019 December 2020 February 2021 August 2021 October 2021 December 2021 February 2022 April 2022

DEVELOPMENT & TESTING PERIOD

Received our problem Apply website Gather reviews from Display website at Incorporate kiosk Receive feedback Implement kiosk
statement from the Began designing website Complete website prototype on a
residents and all locations at Thompson and improve the at all locations
Open Door Mission prototype prototype screen at Thompson workers, make Men’s Center product
Men’s Center necessary changes

Meet the Directors

Steve Frazee - Steve is the Senior Program Director of Open Door Mission. He came up with

the idea of building a kiosk and setting up a scanner for class attendance. Steve has been a great

resource for us to bounce ideas off, and has really helped us get an idea of what will be most

beneficial for the residents.

Jason Green - Jason is the IT Manager of Open Door Mission. He is important to our project

because he can advise us on what we can or cannot do. He is a great resource for us to ask any

technical questions about the project and whether or not something will be safe and secure on a

computer.