You Can Help Homeless Youth with Google Maps

[AshleySundquist]

Hey Local Guides,

It's hard to pinpoint an exact number, but local leaders estimate there are 5,000 homeless teenagers who live on the streets here in Los Angeles. It's a disturbing reality and sadly, this is true for an estimated 100 million youth who live on the street around the world. 

What can we do to help as Local Guides? I recently attended a city meeting called Community Dialogues on Homelessness that discussed ways to help homeless youth. I had the opportunity to meet people who had experienced homelessness themselves as teens, as well as hear from directors at non-profit organizations that help them. One of these agencies is called Safe Place for Youth in Venice, which works tirelessly to get these teens the  resources they need. During her remarks, the Director of Innovation Nicole Wainwright said, "We're rubbing two pennies together to make magic happen."

How can we use Google Maps to amplify the efforts of everyday heroes like Nicole? How can we help these pennies go further? During the meeting I took notes of different homeless shelters that they recommend to their clients and I added them to a Google Maps list called Youth Resources in Los Angeles.

Here's where you can find all of the homeless shelters for youth in Los Angeles, California.

This "Youth Resources in Los Angeles" list on Google Maps now highlights 24 locations across Los Angeles that help youth experiencing homelessness. Everything is streamlined on a single list with contact information. In the "List Description", I decided to list two free, confidential 24-hour hotline numbers, which I found from a simple Google search. In the open field for each location, I also added a brief description of the organization's mission, as well as their phone number or email address. Everything is about making the information easier to find and reduce the number of steps it takes to get help.

 Here's a map with resources for youth experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles, California.

It was very easy to create. If there are people experiencing homelessness in your community, I highly recommend partnering with a local non-profit organization to better understand what you can do to help. Making a Google Maps list is an easy, free and impactful way to better organize resources. 

You can view all of my Google Maps lists here that highlight resources for the hungry and homeless in Los Angeles, California. My only challenge was that you can't add more than 280 places to a map, which I discovered when I was making "LA Restaurants with EBT Eligibility." I could only add 15% of all the restaurants that accept food stamps.

1. LA Restaurants with EBT Eligibility 
2. Youth Resources in Los Angeles
3. Los Angeles Winter Shelter Program
4. Food Banks in Los Angeles

Have you created anything like this in your community? If so, what kind of feedback are you getting on your Google Maps lists? I'd love to learn more from you, so I can make my lists better!

[JustineE]

What a great initiative @AshleySundquist and very pertinent for me. A few nights back my husband and daughter met a man at McDonalds who was homeless. My husband offered him food, but really, he just wanted someone to talk to. He had ended up out of the city centre- as that area can get a bit full on at night- and was in the suburbs and was literally just wanting to know where he could sleep safely. I'm going to talk with my husband about creating a list of safe places to sleep. Thank you so much for highlighting this. Sometimes, you can feel powerless when issues seem so overwhelming, but this is something I can definitely do to help. Hopefully your lists will be a huge help to the homeless youth in LA. Take care.

[AshleySundquist]

Thanks so much for reading, @JustineE ! It was awesome to meet you at Connect Live. Thanks for sharing the story about your husband and daughter - loneliness (along with hunger!) is a big side effect of homelessness. It’s nice they could have a chat with him 🙂 I dropped off some muffins this morning for a few homeless gents in the parking lot at our local library and they were just happy to chat for a while. 

[TraciC]

Hi @AshleySundquist. I agree with @JustineE; this is terrific. I think there are so many ways to use lists and love that you went beyond the traditional lists to think about Google Maps can be further used for good. What's interesting about this is it's great for folks who need to find help (and we hope they have access to the resources at a library at the least) but for someone who wishes to make donations (monetary or goods), this is also a fantastic resource. I think of this as I collect items like toiletries and bras for organizations like Free the Girls and Immigrant Families together but I also send donations locally to CHiPS which helps homeless women and children in my own city. 

Thanks for doing this and for starting this conversation!

[AshleySundquist]

Love this, @TraciC!! Thanks for all you do collecting toiletries and essentials for women!!! 

Great idea. It sounds like I’ll be making another list soon 🙂 “My Favorite Nonprofits in LA” with a brief description of who they are and why I love them. As a former fundraiser, I also think Google Maps’ lists are a really easy and free tool for assigning local businesses to committee members for fundraising calls and pipeline management. I would have LOVED to use this when I was asking supporters to “smile and dial” to raise funds for our local children’s hospital. 

[JustineE]

You have such a beautiful heart @AshleySundquist . It's not often you meet someone whose insides are as beautiful as their outsides. I love @TraciC 's take on these lists as also being helpful resources for people who wish to donate or contribute goods. My husband even suggested we do a list of local soup kitchens as we know one of the street chaplains in Cairns. Lots of research to do now!

[Sharad007]

I agree with you.

Humanity

There should be another column that's Humanity.

Photo, local stories, travel,food are incomplete without Humanity.lets post something that strengthen human relationships.

[OmarBD]

Hi @AshleySundquist I really appreciate your work. There are also many places in Bangladesh where many people are living in homeless and foodless condition. Thank you so much for your story sharing with us. 

[Preshja]

Wow

This is great,that's why I always invest in google,the are now helping the homeless and the poor,

is a thing of joy.

[Fragusan]

@AshleySundquist A very ingenious way to use the lists. what you did was a very altruistic work on your part, you put your grain of sand to contribute from your position with a social problem like the one you expose. I do not know similar activities in my area, what is more like it, are the treatment centers for addicts and helps people with suicidal tendencies. My respects and you have my support, excellent work.