Purchasing Group – Fall 2023

CMST&230 Small Group Communication, Green River College

Group Members: Ash Gray, Jameson Farmer, Matthew Renner, Juliana Bozhko, Keidra Robinson, Hangamah Alimi, Blaire Callueng

Problem Identification

In January 2023, 2,148 homeless individuals were counted during the Point-in-Time count by Pierce County Human Services. By comparison, approximately 6,500 homeless individuals received services during the same period (Homeless Crisis, n.d.). Because of transient populations, it is difficult for government organizations and volunteers to adequately estimate the total number of homeless individuals. The difficulty in accurately counting homeless or inadequately housed individuals makes it difficult for county governments to make justifications to allocate adequate funding for homeless services and hunger relief organizations. Just last year, Pierce County has spent 28.5 million dollars to combat homelessness, and the number continues to rise each year (Homeless Crisis, n.d.). Soon, the numbers of inadequately housed or hungry people could be expected to increase, as the Congressional Budget Committee released a report in July of 2023 predicting that economic slowdown will result in a more than 1% unemployment rate increase between 2023 to 2024 (Congressional Budget Office, 2023, p.5). These layoffs may contribute to many people losing their homes and or being forced to choose between rent and feeding their family.

Problem Analysis

Financial issues may continue to worsen in the short run, as the Congressional Budget Office also reported that bank loan offices have been raising minimum credit score requirements and lowering credit limits (p.2). This will further limit credit access for many low-income individuals, which could lead to many difficult situations as people will be forced to choose between necessities and emergency expenditures. Other emergency support resources, such as SNAP, can often only be applied to food or utilities payments and will not pay for many necessary non-food items. For example, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, combs, and toothbrushes are not covered by SNAP.  A study published in Reproductive Health found in a survey that many people struggle to get pads or tampons even in places such as New York City where initiatives exist to provide these products for free (Gruer et al., 2021, p. 2). While our group may not be able to provide housing or financial support, it may be possible to provide these smaller day-to-day necessities such as hygiene items and food.

Solution Criteria

The solution criteria for the Small Wins group project is that it must be the achievement of a goal or task consistent with the definition of a group from our text. That is, the project includes three or more persons interacting who both influence and are influenced by one another. (Rothwell, 2019, p. 24). The Small Wins project must include a community service component, with our group determining what is both our “community” and who is being “served.” However, the project must have an actionable activity that is conducted by all the members. Further, the project must be accomplished within the provided timeline of four weeks, along with the required documentation and support as described in the assignment. Lastly, the project needs to be consistent with Green River College’s guidelines for the safety and security of students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Solution Suggestions

Possible solutions to implement within the given timeline were brainstormed, with the overlying idea that it was not within our grasp to relieve or solve homelessness. Some of the ideas the Purchasing group brainstormed included donating money or goods to a food pantry, operating a food drive, or volunteering our time to a local community organization or shelter. We also discussed participating in an “Angel Tree” donation drive for a needy family, as the Christmas season is fast approaching.

Solution Evaluation and Selection

It was determined that what we wanted to focus on was providing food, hygiene supplies, and small clothing items, such as gloves and socks, to needy individuals as this would allow us to help more people. We wanted this project to be in the hometown of one of our members, so that we would have someone familiar with the area. We identified groups we could work with and got in contact with Good Samaritan Outreach Ministries (GSOM for short). This organization was in the process of organizing a  monthly drive to provide meals, hygiene bags, warm clothing, and blankets to people in Tacoma experiencing homelessness.

Solution Implementation

GSOM provided a flier with the list of necessary supplies, and the group individually went out to purchase or request donations from friends and family in order not to interfere with local organizations’ holiday donation drives. On November 28^th, the group met to pool donations and prepare bags containing hygiene items, including menstrual supplies, as well as socks and warm gloves to be donated. On December 2nd, our group carpooled to Tacoma to deliver our donations to GSOM and help with assembling and packing donations and hot meals in preparation for delivering those to the community.

Conclusions

Though the problems of poverty and homelessness will continue, it is possible to help provide for those with inadequate access to food and hygiene products. Though inefficiencies exist when considering the impact of individual donations, it is not reasonable to rely wholly on government funding to provide for daily necessities of an ever shifting and changing population. The safety-net systems currently in place are unable to keep up with the frequently changing needs of the population. Charity organizations, with the support of donors and volunteers, are better able to quickly adapt to the needs and circumstances of the community. In reflection, our group could have improved our participation rates on the project and raised additional donations. Despite setbacks, the execution of our project went well overall. We were able to reach many people with our donations, and most of our group were able to meet in-person at least once on- or off-campus.

References

Congressional Budget Office. (2023, July). An Update to the Economic Outlook: 2023 to 2025. Government Publishing Office. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59431

Gruer, C., Hopper, K., Smith, R. C., Kelly, E., Maroko, A., & Sommer, M. (2021). Seeking menstrual products: A qualitative exploration of the unmet menstrual needs of individuals experiencing homelessness in New York City. Reproductive Health, 18(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-021-01133-8

Homeless point-in-time (PIT) count [Fact sheet]. (n.d.). Homeless Point-in-Time (PIT) Count. https://www.piercecountywa.gov/4719/Homeless-Point-in-Time-PIT-Count

Rothwell, J.D. (2019). In mixed company: Communicating in small groups and teams (10th ed.). Oxford University Press.