The 2011 College Social Innovator Contest was hosted by Harvard College Social Innovation and Forbes. The three award winners are Dalumuzi Mhlanga, who founded Lead Us Today, Nicollette Lewis who founded Partnered for Success, and Jessica Choi who founded Beyond the Cardboard. Beyond the Cardboard is an organization that helps the homeless in the United States by doing two things: 1) to give them a voice and 2) to provide them with concrete resources to get off the streets for good.
Statistics say that roughly 3.5 million people in the United States are homeless. While some homeless people are substance abusers, others were victims of domestic abuse, veterans, and people with economic instability or mental illness. The insight for giving a voice to the homeless came with the idea that there is disconnect between the perception of homeless people and the reason they are on the streets. “At the end of the day, we just need someone to listen.” From talking to the homeless, those were the words that Beyond the Cardboard clearly remembers and fuels their mission today.
The website will serve as a platform to share the stories of the homeless using videos and articles. In regards to concrete resources, Beyond the Cardboard plans to deliver prescription eyeglasses to the homeless and eventually establish a microcredit program that will help the homeless lift themselves out of homelessness. The website is set to launch next month with opportunity to inspire other social entrepreneurs to understand and take action on a similar issue in their communities.