 This is Think Tech Hawaii. Community matters here. Be Black Friday. But here in the Think Tech Hawaii studio, we see a bright beacon of light spreading in communities impacted by homelessness. It's a downloadable app called Samaritan. I'm Kaui Lucas, host of Hawaii Is My Main Land. And joining us via Skype is the founder of this remarkable program, Jonathan Kumar, his sister Abigail Kumar. Welcome to Think Tech. Thanks for having us. Thank you. Thank you. And this has been sort of a whirlwind getting this together. I saw a read about you on Aussie and I thought, oh my gosh, this is the best thing ever for dealing with homelessness in a way that people can individually do something and feel really good about it. And it's not, and it's actually doing good. You just won an award in Seattle for impact, greatest community impact. What else is happening? Yeah. Well, in Seattle today, we're going to have 11,000 people sleeping outdoors, experiencing homelessness. But the good news is we have, you know, 600, 700,000 people around them passing by them on a daily basis that all have housing, that all have resources, and many of them care. And so we are starting this movement in Seattle that's growing where hundreds or even thousands of people are downloading this app to be able to team up and invest in those people who are on the screen. So right now Seattle is our pilot for 2017. And yeah, we're just seeing hope brought to people. Let's see the video that you guys made. It gives a good overall feel for what this program is, the app is, and how it works. And then we'll get into some of the details and the stories. That's so beautiful. How did this happen? Did you start it together? Did you start at Jonathan and then Abigail jumped on? With your design talents, how did this happen? Yeah, I mean, I think it's an idea that many people have had in the last five, 10 years, how do we better help the homeless? How do we, you know, create a. Active and simple way to help those that we see on a daily basis. I had the same idea that many people had five years ago, 2012. What I thought, you know, in downtown Chicago, passing by a guy in particular need, you know, just thinking later that night, gosh, I would have loved for this person to just have a credit card terminal because I don't carry cash. I often don't know if cash is the best way to help someone. But if they have a credit card terminal, I would have been happy to swipe it as long as I knew that, you know, my money would help that person in some way and at the time, the technology didn't exist. It gave credit card terminals to every homeless person in Chicago, which was a ridiculous idea. But, you know, past four or three years to the summer of 2015, I had moved to Seattle for another startup. That startup was actually closing doors. And I was in the city and I thought, you know, I'm in the right place at the right time. I think I know how to create something that could really help thousands of people start to invest in these individuals who they see on the street. So I'm going to give it a shot. So, you know, I started interviewing people on the street experiencing homelessness. I started interviewing people who have passed by these guys on a daily basis. You know, start putting some prototypes together, talk to some investors, go to hackathon and find developers. And, you know, it's just sort of snowballed forward in the last year or two. I've been full-time now for about two years and we launched last August in Seattle. And Abigail, what's your story? How did you become part of this? Yeah, I only came on this past summer, actually, as an intern. And, well, they had gone through a lot of changes before I was found. But you had this whole brain evolution and I came on and just sort of headed here and there and was doing a little bit of design work, a little bit of just a brand I'm just trying to help out, I guess. But yeah, it was just a really great blessing to be able to come. I've read some of the stories that you have posted on your journal. Can you tell us what the URL is for that? Yeah, honestly, I wish there was a better URL. But if you go to our main website, Samaritan.city, S-A-M-A-R-I-T-A-N, .-C-I-T-Y, cityinsteadof.com. We have a link to our journal on there and you can read different stories of impacts that are happening through, you know, you saw the beacon, you saw the app, you see these people being affected. I try and write the things that I'm seeing out there as a founder and I'll post it to our journal. So that's just on our website, Samaritan.city. You also have a Facebook page and Twitter account, although they're not under Samaritan exactly. Yeah. Well, that's, you know, we were really intentional about that. The Facebook page and our Instagram page is it's like at city of Samaritans. And the Twitter handle is at you are Samaritan because, you know, Samaritan is so much more about like the individual that every day city door is walking to work or, you know, traveling in the bus home than it is about an organization. We might be creating some pretty cool technology, but it, you know, it doesn't go anywhere. It doesn't help anyone unless it's equipped and used by people who want to help. So we do everything to highlight the city doors who are actually equipping this as a new personal response to homelessness. And we share some of those stories on those outlets. Yeah. What would you share your favorite story with us now? Sure. Yeah. I mean, man, there's so many, but I know one that jumps to mind immediately is the story of Lamar. Lamar was a he was a convicted criminal and he actually had like a murder charge that was dropped. He had been through some pretty difficult times. And, you know, when we met him on the street, we weren't sure if he would really benefit from the weekend. But we gave one to him anyways. And, you know, I kind of lost track with him a couple months. But then, you know, we saw him on the street one day and he's like, man, I got this story for you. And so he ends up telling me about how it was raining in Seattle one night, typical, and he was actually ducking into this like Denny's restaurant just to like stay, like to get out of the rain for a second. And he's kind of hanging out there. And then like someone like from one of the booths, the table was like calls his name and he like thought he was hearing things or he like ignores it. And then the guy like calls his name again. And then he's like, man, I don't know you. Like, what is this? And then the guy who's with his family actually out the dinner, like shows Lamar like his phone. And like Lamar's profile is like on his phone. And then and then Lamar's like, oh, yeah, the beacon. OK. And, you know, he's like he's a little bit calmed down at that point. And the guy is like, hey, listen, like, come join my family. I bought you a meal. And then like so he like sits down with him. And, you know, that's just such a meaningful experience for both sides. And Lamar is like he concludes and he's like, you know, so I asked him, like, you know, what does that mean to you for someone to like off the like just buy you a meal like that? Have you sit down with his wife and his kids and talk with them? And then he's like, you know, even when you don't believe in yourself, like I was I'm reminded that other people can believe in me. And, you know, that's that's so cool to see. And that's not something that I did at all. It was just like you download the app, you carry this necklace around and, you know, sometimes good things happen like that. Oh, Jonathan, that so well puts together the the the side of this that is just magnificent of the human side, the humanitarian side of this technology so often gets the bad rap of isolating people. But you're you're proving that when done well, it doesn't have to. We're going to take a one minute break and then be back and talk more about Samaritan and the beacon. This is Think Tech Hawaii, raising public awareness. Greetings, I'm Martin Despang, the longtime host of human human architecture here on Think Tech Hawaii. Think Tech is important to our community because think about how awesome our natural environment is here in Hawaii and we need to make our built environment equally awesome, exotically and inclusively. So because of that, for the first time, Think Tech Hawaii is participating in an online web based fundraising campaign to raise $40,000. If thanks to Think Tech will run only during the month of November and you can help. Please donate what you can so that Think Tech Hawaii can continue to raise public awareness and promote civic engagement through free programming like mine. I've already made my donation and look forward to yours. Please send in your tax deductible contribution by going to this website. Thanks for thinktech.causevox.com. On behalf of the Think Tech community and rich by Think Tech Hawaii 30 plus weekly shows. Thank you so much for your generosity. Welcome back to Think Tech Hawaii. I'm Coy Lucas. This is Hawaii is my mainland. And today we are Skyping with Jonathan and Abigail Kumar, who are have put together this incredible app Samaritan. So let's get into some of the technical details on this. Um, you've made it so that, um, that show us the beacon. Oh yeah, but I don't know if you'll be able to see it too well. But it's a tiny necklace right now with a chain. Pretty simple. So you hand these out, but there's more to it than just handing them out. These beacons emit a Bluetooth signal about 20 to 30 yards in every direction. Uh, they're pretty cheap. They're about $5 a unit. They run on a little watch battery and, and yeah, it's basically admits a little signal a couple of times a second and we partner with volunteers as well as a couple nonprofits in the city to use this beacon as an outreach tool to connect with the homeless. A lot of individuals who are on the streets are not willing to come in to shelter or, um, you know, other opportunities because of bad experiences that they had, um, but they are willing to take the beacon because it, it often can mean, you know, hard financial resources for, they really need to buy gloves or to get coffee or to get a haircut, bus fare, that sort of thing. So yeah, when you start to distribute these through nonprofit partners. So there's some sort of screening process that you have not, it can just anyone get one, you know, it's funny. We don't have, you know, there's no way we can really verify anyone's homelessness or income level or what have you, their level of suffering. Um, but I guess the, the screening, if you, if you call it, there's a couple, uh, things that you need to know when you, when you take a beacon first, obviously you can't get cash with it. It's only good to spend at, uh, like any of the approved merchants and nonprofits that are working with Samaritan. So there's a limitation there. And also once a month, there was a responsibility, an opportunity, but also a responsibility to have what we call a one-on-one with a counselor at a nonprofit to keep the beacon active. So that I think is a key, I just want to go into that a little more. That, that I thought that was a really key part that they once a month they meet. So who, who does all that sort of project management? How does that happen? Um, yeah. So, so like I said, we partner with nonprofits whose mission is to build relationships and help navigate the homeless, awards, recovery, employment, housing, um, and so we'll, we'll work with the guys who are doing the, the truly heroic work and we'll say, Hey, these beacons are a way for, for you to build relationships in a more consistent and stronger, uh, in a stronger way. So, you know, from, you know, a counselor or staff person or a case manager, a nonprofit, you know, the beacon is a way for them to meet more consistently and provide financial resources to people they're trying to help. So do they have to do some sort of an intake interview and agree to come in before they ever get one? Or do they get one and then come in? I mean, is there typically do street outreach or we'll go to like two kitchens and different meals and we'll just have a conversation with someone who's holding a sign or was outside. Uh, I said, Hey, like, we know often have like socks or water bottles. And we'll just give those and be like, Hey, you know, we've also got this thing called a beacon and it basically lets you accept credit card donations from people who want to help. Would you be interested in one? And if they're interested in, and I would say, you know, seven or eight out of 10 of them are, then we just do like a five question interview with them on the spot, using our phones, questions like, you know, how to get to the streets, where are you trying to go? What do you feel you need to get there? What are your job skills or what are interesting facts about you that most people don't know? Stuff like that. And then we'll take a photo and that information gets loaded onto our app for any Samaritan with the app to see. Okay, so let's go into the, the other side of that. So, uh, somebody signed up, they've got their beacon and they're doing their thing, walking down the street and, um, someone who has downloaded the app gets, gets a notification. Um, I think we have some, uh, screenshots about what that kind of looks like, but where, where does it go from there? I mean, how you've talked to different merchants and services, but are they restricted in what they can buy or how does it work? Yeah. So, you know, your, your, your question before was like, are, are there's a screening process? So, um, the beacon can only be used at, uh, participating businesses. We have places like a big grocery store or like a goodwill rip store that accepts a beacon as a form of payment. It's a pretty simple process. Uh, those merchants and we also part with some nonprofits, uh, have the same app that you and I would have on their end, but, uh, as a retailer or as a nonprofit, uh, instead of just being able to give financially to a beacon holder, they can see the person's balance, they see the person's photo and they can charge that balance for a good insert or good or service. So, you know, a barber will have the app and we'll have the ability to charge $15 for a haircut or what have you. Um, but the beacon can't just be used anywhere. How does the beacon holder know that they have a balance? Yeah, great question. So, we find that, so we, we basically will send a text and an email or an email, uh, to a beacon holder. If someone gives to them, um, we actually find that about two out of three beacon holders will have either an email address or phone number that we can text, uh, they'll get an alert that way. If they don't have either of those, uh, it's pretty easy for, for that person to go into a nonprofit and ask, Hey, what's my balance or any of the merchants? Hey, do I have enough money for this? Um, that sort of thing. We always ask the Samaritan with the app to sort of make some sort of indication. Hey, you know, I gave you five bucks or, hey, I, I, I hate for your meal, um, you know, something, something like that, but that's not always possible. Uh, but yeah, that's how they would know. And where is, uh, is it just in Seattle right now? Uh, yes, yes, uh, we, it's funny. Like we've tried to create the simplest way to get a dollar ever created. Um, and behind that is, is, you know, a fairly complex, complex layer of operations between, uh, our homeless beacon holders and, uh, our non-profit partners and some of our retailers. There's a lot of data that's going back and forth. So we really want to get the system down working well. Um, and so we're focused on just downtown Seattle right now, uh, getting the technology to a place where we can provide it to a nonprofit in another city to, to use on our own. So how many beacon holders do you have now currently? Uh, I think it's over 400. We're trying to get to 500 by the end of the year. I think we're about 450 right now. And how many people have, have, uh, donated? Uh, I don't know how many people have given off hand, but we have the, let me just see the app always shows us, uh, how many people, we have 5,256 people who have downloaded the app in Seattle. Well, one of them's in Honolulu. Oh yeah. That's all right. So 500, 5,225 something like that. I'm an early adapter, um, waiting for you guys to get here. And so there's, I, there have been some preliminary talks with, with people in Honolulu. Jonathan, have there? Um, yeah. I mean, like I said, we're really, we're really focused on Seattle, but we do look at 2018 as our, our, our year to share this with other communities. Um, our vision is to really be able to give this to any city and see 100 cities adopt this in the next five years. Um, so for that to happen, uh, we need to find sort of an implementation partner, uh, that's on the ground. So a nonprofit rescue mission that's doing a lot of work with the homeless that is looking for, uh, deeper ways to gather resources for the people they serve or to leverage, um, the city's compassion for the people that they serve. Um, so we'll work with one of them. We'll give them the hardware and the software, all the training. And honestly, it is, it is a complex and thoughtful and time consuming project. And so what we do is we also build in a budget that can potentially pay for one or two staff positions at the local nonprofit to help carry it out. So that budget, uh, we will look to take to a funder, uh, you know, a philanthropist or a group of business owners, even a private insurance company that, uh, is looking to help reduce homelessness in a city who had a insurance company in Philadelphia have some interest in a pilot, uh, which is awesome. But, uh, so we basically have an implementation partner, what we would call a life insert, someone that's paying the bill for it to be carried out. Um, though, in the next year, we'll be starting to have this conversation. Well, I have to compliment you. The interface, you just, I just downloaded it and was playing around with it. I mean, it's got it, it's made it, it really is simple and, um, no problems from the, from the user side. I think you've achieved the goal of making giving a dollar as, as easy as it can possibly be. Um, there, uh, it's, uh, I was thinking, gosh, I, I don't know what else he does, but, um, I, there's few other people who should hire him to redesign their, redesign their apps when it comes to money. So, so hats off to you for, for really bringing top quality, um, uh, technology where it's desperately needed. Um, Abigail, I wanted to ask you about what your, your favorite story has been so far, um, in working, uh, with Samaritan. What, what is one of the things that has really, um, got you excited? Yeah. Um, so one of the things that I got to work on this past summer was the apparel brand, which we're wearing right now, as you can see. Um, and like very, very recently, so we just sort of launched this apparel brand and like we're getting, it's designed for the weekend holders. It's not, you know, for our city goers. Um, and like we just recently had a photo shoot with a lot of our weekend holders wearing this year, and they were just so like gracious about receiving it because we get it to them for free. Um, our city goers provide the money, they pay for the apparel and then we get it to our weekend holders. Um, and they're just so like grateful for and they just, it's such a simple thing, you know, like a hat or a hoodie, but like to them, it's just so like being going, um, they were just really pumped up about it. And I got me really excited because like I worked on summer on this and I like to see it actually shipped out and like, you know, actually have an impact on people. It's just really exciting. So we've designed a functional clothing brand for our weekend holders. Uh, you know, most startups will have t-shirts and what have you, but what we have designed in terms of clothing is all stuff for our weekend holders, rain jackets, sleeping bags, hats, hoodies, and you know, we'll, you know, produce them at a cost and we'll just multiply that cost by two and sell them to our consumers and to our app users. And so if app user buys one for $40, uh, it provides one to them and then, you know, one for a weekend holder for free. So that's what she's worked on sensibly, which is great. And so the next part of, um, uh, after you, you, uh, have created these communities, really, it's a community. Do you have sort of gatherings with, um, uh, weekend holders or? Yeah, yeah, you know, I mean, that's, that's, that's, that's the vision, right? Uh, like the story of the good Samaritan, if you know the story so much more about relationship and connection and just giving to someone financially. And so, you know, you might give, if you have the Samaritan app and see how we might give the 50 to 100 people, and that's awesome. I mean, that's provided real needed resources to people who don't have anything. Um, but, you know, our, our, our big picture is that, you know, maybe from those hundred people, there's like five of them that you end up building a connection with over time and you take out the lunch. And, you know, and maybe there's one person who you're just like, Hey, listen, I have a guest bedroom or I have a car or I'm just going to pay, you know, your first and last month's rent or, you know, I have 19 other friends that want to come and, uh, help you whatever it is that you need. Um, so like to that end, we are looking to build capacity for ourselves and organization, but in Seattle, we want to have like three or four just hangouts, like, uh, opportunities for beacon holders and app users to come together and group environment. Just chill. We had a all you can eat taco feet in May. That was really fun. Uh, I wish we could have done another one over the summer, but we just had 50 beacon holders, 50 app users in the same room. It wasn't a fundraiser. It was just like, get to eat with people, um, know their story and hang out. Wow, that is so beautiful. Oh, Jonathan and Abigail, thank you so much for putting the energy and your creativity to such good use. I don't know that that that word Samaritan has ever been quite so, so fully, um, expressed. Um, thank you. And I look forward to welcoming you in Honolulu. Yeah, time you'll be in the studio instead of via Skype. How's that for a vision? Yeah, yeah, that's that's that's a great vision. We'll see we'll see over there soon. Mahalo, right? Thanks.