Open Source Business

Dr. Tomislav Svoboda spends a lot of time working to improve the plight of the homeless in Toronto. He began his residency by working at the Seaton House, Canada’s largest homeless shelter, which cares for about 700 men. Svoboda and Seaton House director Art Manuel are transforming the way the homeless receive services in this city. In their quest to provide the best care possible and to fulfill their vision to end the problem of homelessness in Toronto, Svoboda and Manuel aren’t afraid to challenge paradigms by using non-traditional tools, like a small glass of wine and a full-blown open source development project.The homeless in Toronto are mostly single men from 20 to 70, and the vast majority of them suffer from alcoholism, mental illness, and all the other medical issues one might expect to go along with the condition. In the throes of their illnesses, they tend to be devoted to one thing: the bottle. Many homeless outreach programs have failed because potential clients were unwilling or unable to leave the alcohol behind long enough to enter the doors of treatment programs and overnight shelters in a sober condition. In a well-publicized 1996 case that spurred many grassroots reform efforts, three homeless men froze to death on the streets of downtown Toronto because a shelter turned them away. (more…)