ADA Token to Combat Homelessness

Combating homelessness is undoubtedly the issue that I am most passionate about. In fact, I've spent 5 years as a homeless shelter counselor and I'm currently pursuing a Master's in Psychology so that I can better assist this community. Read more about my journey on my website jrlewis.co. 

My time as a homeless shelter counselor taught me that chronic homelessness is primarily caused by a loss of autonomy. Making those suffering from housing insecurity reliant on the shelter system and government programs is not only a tedious process, but it also guarantees that they will most likely remain reliant on government programs indefinitely. After the chaos of the pandemic left hundreds of thousands of families facing eviction, it is clear that the government cannot and will not solve this issue.

Initially, my plan was to start a nonprofit, however, after recently learning about cryptocurrency, I quickly realized that it can revolutionize the way that we combat homelessness. 

This token that I am proposing will allow donors to give back to those in need while also investing in an asset. We will be promoting this token to landlords to accept as a payment method and will also encourage them to invest. Here is the roadmap:

Month 1: Token Creation: I plan to use https://cardano-native-token.com/ to create this token to be introduced to the market by February 1, 2022. I plan to invest $10,000 in the token initially. There will only ever be 15 million tokens in existence and they will be released gradually over time.

I plan to create a website that clearly explains how these tokens work and the benefits of investing. The plan is to utilize a mascot to make outreach easier. During this time I will create a pre-recorded online course that tells investors and or landlords everything they need to know including why it is a smart investment and how to convert it into USD for bill payment, if necessary. This course will be available for free on the token's website. I also plan to start creating a community using social media to start raising awareness. Successfully setting up the website, mascot, social media handles, and creation of the token itself will make for a successful first month.

Month 3: Community Creation: By this time, I plan to use social media including Facebook, Tik Tok, Instagram, and YouTube to reach out to landlords and potential investors. I also plan to run social media ad campaigns. Our primary means of outreach will be word of mouth. I would like to hire 2 additional part-time outreach coordinators whose job is to help set up virtual events to bring in quality leads for landlords and potential investors. Successfully acquiring 500 social media followers across all handles, reaching 50 landlords who are willing to accept the token as a payment form, and finding at least 20 investors will equate to success by this time. 

Month 6: Fine-tuning the System & Process: I do not want to grow too quickly because I would like to learn how to create the most effective and efficient system. My experience working with a nonprofit has taught me that the worst mistake that an organization can make is growing before they have perfected their process. By this time, the plan is to be able to begin offering 2 grants per month. The grants should be less than or equal to $3700, the national average of back rent that Americans owe. I will also be conducting an extensive survey on all grant recipients and landlords; this will also assist with developing a better system.

Month 12: Sustainability: By this time I would like to have at least 1200 social media followers across all platforms that we use. I should have at least 200 landlords that accept us as a form of payment and at least 75 investors. I will also like to be able to offer at least 4 grants per month by this time. Fast growth is not the goal, consistent growth is. 

Budget:

Initial Token Investment: 10,000

Token/Website/Online Course Creation: 5,000

Hire 2 Part-time Outreach Coordinators for Events: 20,000

Social Media Ad Campaigns/Influencer Hires: 5,000

References:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/us/politics/eviction-rental-assistance.html

https://fortune.com/2021/08/30/goldman-sachs-eviction-estimate/

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