News

This page contains recent updates and accomplishments, based on our initial focus area of Food Insecurity.

October 20, 2025: Constituent Manager Proof of Concept

We delivered a working prototype web application that is designed to allow any service organization to check in clients, issue line numbers, and manage the line in real time. This application embodies the concepts learned in our research on queue management, and it uses a paradigm similar to the way airline passengers are boarded. Clients can be checked in, validated, and issued a line number in one step. Clients can even use their own device with realtime notifications to know when they will be served, thus freeing them from queueing for hours.

The prototype is built using highly scalable open source technology that is designed to simultaneously support thousands of events simultaneously. While the initial version is focused on clients, the solution is architected to also handle volunteer check in/out processes in the future. We are actively evolving the solution and have identified several sites for real world beta testing.

You can access the app here.

October 3, 2025: Queue Management Whitepaper

We delivered a whitepaper on queue management practices at social service organizations to the principals of Love The City Center and Food Cycle LA, based on their interest in better managing client check in and lines. This qualitative study included a comparative analysis across organizations and documented the better practices that are in use in the field. It suggested a comprehensive process that could address many line management problems.

The tendency of many social service organizations is to simply expect clients to line up for service. We found that this approach can result in myriad problems and negative ripple effects in service delivery, while fundamentally failing to respect the dignity of clients. These issues will only grow as needs increase and resources become scarce.

As part of this study, we identified aspects of a shared technical solution that could address many of the issues observed.

September 20, 2025: Comparative Volunteering Study

We delivered an exhaustive study of volunteer operations for one of the largest food banks in Los Angeles. The work included qualitative analysis and interviews at the food bank's pantries and comparative analysis of volunteer operations at peer agencies. Findings were delivered in a 25 page report, with analysis and recommendations for the short and long term.

Our study found a wide range of approaches to engaging volunteers when looking across organizations. We found that experienced and consistent volunteers are a priceless source of flexible capacity for addressing the inevitable upsets that occur in this space. We also found that volunteers fall into different segments, each with different goals. Despite this, many organizations do not intentionally manage their volunteer pool to consider these factors. We also confirmed the potential value of shared solutions for volunteer operations, from training, to check in/out.

We will present a summary of our findings at an upcoming Westside Coalition meeting, and hope to run a full volunteer-focused workshop at a meeting in 2026, in collaboration with the Volunteer Collective.

July 31, 2025: Resource Listing Proof of Concept

We completed a technical proof of concept of a shared solution in which any service provider could list and manage their own services, with locations and service schedules. The goal of the work was to determine how a common platform might be built, using leading edge open source tools, to provide robust and rich functionality at low total cost, using industry standard data formats.

The proof of concept was built using Drupal 11, the latest version of a widely adopted free content management system (CMS). Location mapping functionality was provided through the Google Maps API. The data was structured to align to the Open Referral data standard.

This work demonstrated the value of open source CMS for rapidly building robust solutions. However, it was also determined that bringing this particular solution to production at this point of time is hampered by systemic problems that would take significant resources to overcome. The success of any resource listing site depends on critical mass, and achieving that requires buy-in from many organizations. In a market where social service organizations already struggle to serve their existing clients, the unfortunate reality is that there is low interest in bringing in more.

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