Team building

Last week all of us at Idealistics went to meet with two of our clients: Inland Valley Hope Partners and the City of Pomona Community Services Department. The purpose of the meetings was to get out of the office and have the whole team see our systems in action.

During our first visit, we met with Isaac Vega, Hope Partners's Program Manager at the Beta Center, one of Pomona’s only food distribution centers. We also met with Nicole Crigler, who works in Hope Partners's shelter, and Wytske Visser, the Executive Director of Hope Partners. Hope Partners uses our case management system to keep track of their client data and report their many successes to funding sources.

After meeting with Hope Partners, we sat down with Andrea Rico, Youth and Family Services Coordinator for the City of Pomona Community Services Department. Through the City's Youth and Family Master Plan (YFMP), we provide a community resources system that helps Pomona residents identify and access available community programs. The system is available online at pomonafamilyresources.org. It was inspiring meeting with Andrea and hearing her vision for the Youth Master Plan.

The site visits were a great way for all of us to see the work our partner agencies are doing. The visits helped our staff understand how what we do fits into the bigger picture of serving those in need. Thanks to all those who took the time to meet with us!

Community organizing for data-heads

A couple of days ago, I was invited by two of our customers, Reach Out West End and Mental Health Systems Inc, to a presentation by James Mosher, Director of the Center for the Study of Law and Enforcement Policy. Mr. Mosher comes from a community organizing background and had an interesting take on the use of data for social change. Most data-heads tend to think of themselves as scientists (the social kind), running experiments to see what works and what doesn't.

In his presentation, Mr. Mosher pointed out that data can be a great storytelling device and, as a result, a great mobilizer. Even if an organization identifies a problem in its community, looks at the data, and identifies a good solution to the problem, the organization still needs to mobilize support in the community to see a solution become a reality. Data can be used to paint compelling pictures of the problem and show the community that it needs to step up to help provide a solution. GIS Mapping allows one to literally create graphics showing, to use Mr. Mosher's example, the clustering of alcohol-related arrests near outlets that don't have adequate policies for dealing with intoxicated persons.

Thanks, James Mosher, for showing us that data shouldn't be left behind when it comes to mobilizing the community!

Emerging Markets - connecting neighborhoods with regional economies

I recently had the pleasure of meeting with Emerging Markets, Inc., a consulting company based in Hollywood that works with banks throughout Los Angles to help them establish branches in under banked communities. Like Idealistics, Emerging Markets is a double bottom line social enterprise. It was good hearing about their work and seeing that there are others like ourselves who see a role for the private sector in improving the lives of those less fortunate.

I know at first it may seem unintuitive to pursue social good by bringing profit seeking entities into poor areas to provide banking services. However, when you consider that credit is the bank bone of our society (something we are all the more reminded of as our financial sector struggles), it is almost impossible to escape poverty without access to affordable capital. Throughout Los Angeles pay-day lenders that charge high interest rates for small cash loans plague low-income communities. Families can quickly get caught in a trap of using each pay check just to pay off the interest from the last loan.

By bringing low-income families into the formal banking sector, Emerging Markets not only helps people get access to more reasonably priced credit, but introduces them to the banking sector where they can more safely deposit funds and earn interest on savings.

I want to thank Elwood Hopkins, Managing Director, and Rudy Espinoza, Associate at Emerging Markets for taking the time to tell me about their work. I look forward to hearing more about this exciting agency in the future!

Stretch your budget with installment plans

Tough economic times means difficulty raising funds for social services. The irony is that when the economy is rough, demand for services goes up, especially for basic needs programs. While I don't know of a way to raise more money in a downturn, I do have a suggestion as to how to make your money stretch.

Before looking at bank loans or other interest incurring strategies, ask your vendors if they would be willing to receive payment for their goods or services in installments. Lots of organizations, including Idealistics, would rather work with an agency and spread payment out over time than wait several months or even over a year before entering a contract.

So don't just assume you can't afford whatever it is you need to run your agency better. Vendors like mine would rather have your business and receive payment in installments. It's not only better for your agency and ours that way, but most importantly, it allows you to serve people severely impacted by the down turning economy more effectively in a time of great need.

August in Review

Wow, September already? First I'd like to congratulate my colleague Marco Ramirez on his one-year anniversary with Idealistics. Marco joined us from the Los Angeles Children's Planning Council, where he was the Earned Income Tax Credit coordinator one year ago in August of 2007.

August was a great month for us and we are lining up several projects with some outstanding organizations which we will be launching in the coming months. I don't like to announce anything until it's up and running, so be on the look out in coming entries as we update you on some of the exciting agencies we are privileged to be working with.

Back in the beginning of the summer, it was clear we were growing out of our old office (it was like a clown car in there!). As I was looking for new office space, I got to thinking that perhapsIdealistics was that special type of organization where we could actually benefit from having everyone work from home. Our employees are scattered across Southern California from Los Angeles to Highland, so there was no ideal place for an office. Plus, as we are fortunate to be growing so rapidly, I was afraid that we would quickly outgrow any new place we moved into.

So instead we went to a remote office model, and I'm pleased to report it has worked out really well! For any of you looking to possibly work remotely also, I recommend the following tool which we use at Idealisitcs to better facilitate communication:

• Skype (Voice chat)


• Mebeam (Video conferencing)


• Basecamp (Project management)


• Google Apps (Suite of hosted services for office collaboration)

Working remotely has offered another advantage. Since August I have been splitting my time between Southern California and the Bay Area in Northern California. Having a presence in Northern California gives us the opportunity to network and work with more organizations but also, as we grow our company, allows us to benefit from the technological innovation and vast software engineering talent that is ubiquitous in the Bay Area.

As we look forward to September, and the work we are lucky to have with our outstanding new community partners, it's important to all of us at Idealistics to keep ourselves focused on our core mission of enhancing the social service sector by building custom information systems that communities need to resolve crises. September looks to be a month in which we will have plenty opportunity to work with new and existing community partners to help improves the lives of people in various communities.

Have a great September!