Log in

View Full Version : Small business


Hearts and Hands
Aug 7, 2007, 10:06 PM
I am interested in starting a business for low income individuals.

I want a building where I cam have many different offices to help the homeless or low income families. Such as:
FREE CLOTHING
FREE FOOD
FREE HELP WITH FILING OUT FORMS
FREE RESUME SERVICE
ECT.

This is a Social Service type business that one can come to with respect and get help with what they need to maybe go on and turn their life around.

How does one go about starting one of these in Oregon?

Thank you for information JUDY
[

Wondergirl
Aug 7, 2007, 10:16 PM
Do you have any kind of degree or credentials or networking that you will be able to pull in not only donations but also volunteers? If you are starting from scratch, you will need grant money or a foundation to build on. Just finding offices to rent cheaply or to get free use of will be a huge effort. You will want to keep expenses extremely low.

You didn't say where you are in Oregon. Can you find a social service agency or a doctor or a hospital that might be willing to be the base for an effort like this? Can you find enough volunteers to keep something going 24/7? How do you know there are people who need this kind of service and help?

An interesting effort in the Chicago suburbs is the Peoples Resource Center (for low-income people). Doctors, psychiatrists, nurses, dentists etc. volunteer their time for the medical part. There is a food pantry and a clothes closet. There are counselors and social workers to help with finding temporary and transitional housing, to help with paperwork, to counsel for mental and emotional problems, to help with job hunting.