For the past few months, Entourage and Solinum have been piloting a data-sharing initiative in the Ile-de-France region. Using an API, it is now possible to access real-time information on the support services listed on Soliguide. Both organizations have decided to expand and formalize their partnership to maximize their social impact. Moving forward, the Entourage network will be able to leverage Soliguide’s data across all of France and feature it on its own solidarity map.
"We all know that homeless people need to eat, but above all, they need to talk," says Elina Dumont, who formerly experienced homelessness. This is the core insight behind Entourage. To address this, founder Jean-Marc Potdevin created an organization with three main goals:
1 – Raise public awareness about life on the streets and how to overcome barriers to reach out and connect.
2 – Build social connections through local initiatives facilitated by an app.
3 – Create professional opportunities by reconnecting people in need through the Linkedoutnetwork.
In practice, the Entourage Networkfocuses on four key daily actions:
1 – Raise awareness and provide guidance:
The Entourage network develops educational content to change how people view extreme poverty and remove the barriers that prevent us from reaching out to homeless individuals.
They also distribute their educational resources via the Simple comme bonjourplatform, throughawareness workshops and via their network of partners.
Finally, the Entourage team conducts mass-media awareness campaigns, such as the April 2017 campaign, “ Les sans abris vous écrivent .”
2 – Taking action and mobilizing together!
Entourage has developed a mobile social network, the Entourage app, which allows everyone to take action at their own level. On the network, residents, organizations, and people experiencing homelessness can connect to get to know each other, exchange, and carry out solidarity actions together. Entourage already has over 90,000 supportive neighbors who have already carried out more than 8,300 solidarity actions!
3 – Fostering connections!
Sharing moments together, between neighbors, with and without shelter: Entourage is present in neighborhoods through theorganization of social activities to bring local residents together: happy hours, picnics, sports meetups, lectures, film screenings, and discussions…
4 – A tool for professionals!
Entourage provides organizations with digital tools to facilitate their fieldwork. The mobile app Entourage Pro, aimed at outreach organizations, makes it possible to create simplified reports during their rounds and coordinate more effectively in the field.
Thanks to this collaboration, members of the Entourage community will be able to access Soliguide data and:
1 – Access Soliguide in real time from the Entourage app. Entourage users will be able to find various services, such as a community laundromat, and provide referrals to the right resources,
2 – Benefit from high-quality, verified information. Soliguide ensures you have access to quality, up-to-date information, as it guarantees that all data is less than 6 months old.
3 – More easily refer the people they meet to nearby professionals and focus on building an equal relationship with the person in need.
All of this is made possible by an API (Solidarity API) developed by Solinum to share Soliguide data directly with other databases. This API is available to any solidarity initiative that wishes to integrate a map into its own database without having to redo the work!
This partnership demonstrates how networks can coordinate to work effectively toward greater social impact.
For more information about the Solidarité API, contact us!
