Transition Projects, Inc.

Updated Technology Helps Break Cycle of Homelessness

The nonprofit organization Transition Projects, Inc. serves over 9,000 homeless people annually in the Portland, Oregon area not only by helping them meet their basic needs – clothing, food, showers, and a safe place to stay – but also by encouraging a transition in each person's life from homelessness to housing.

With donated software products from TechSoup Stock, Transition Projects was able to increase the efficiency of their operations. First, the organization set up a computer network to store and share
critical files on a central location. They requested additional user licenses of Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 through TechSoup Stock so they could add all staff computers to the network.

Now, all staff are able to access a critical document – the waitlist for transitional housing – from the network. This spreadsheet contains important information such as the client's name, medical information, and place in line. Before creating a network, the spreadsheet had to be regularly printed out and circulated, a time-consuming process with the potential for out-of-date data to be shared. Transition Projects moved the file into a central location on their new network, allowing staffers to update and retrieve the most current information, increasing efficiency while they're helping place people into housing.

Transition Projects faced another IT challenge: the organization's staff computers had a patchwork of different versions of Microsoft Office and Windows dating back to Windows 95, making sharing files and troubleshooting problems difficult. Through TechSoup Stock, they acquired Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 and Microsoft Windows XP Professional, giving employees' computers updated software that was uniform across the organization.

"There was no way we could have obtained this many copies of Office without TechSoup Stock," said Fern Elledge, Human Resource and Community Service Center Director. "The software upgrades have helped our staff work together more closely and, in the end have helped us serve our mission better."

"With our new network, our staff is now collaborating even better than before, sharing important information quickly and easily."

Fern Elledge

Human Resource and Community Service Center Director