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In some ways, the seed was planted on a cold late-November evening in 2019.
That’s when greater than 300 Cisco workers swapped their comfy beds for the chilly, arduous pavement of the corporate’s San Jose, California headquarters car parking zone.
The Sleep Out occasion was designed to boost each consciousness and significant funds to make sure Covenant Home can present meals, shelter, clothes, and important companies to homeless younger folks. Youth homelessness is very acute proper in Cisco’s yard — Santa Clara County suffers from the third-highest fee of persistent homelessness in the USA.
Lower than two years later, on a heat, sunny, late-spring day, the seed reached full bloom.
On Might 20, 2021, Covenant Home formally opened a brand new facility within the metropolis of Santa Clara, with Cisco offering operational funding, connectivity, and help with their expertise implementation.
Occupying a former motel, Covenant Home Santa Clara gives housing for 18- to 24-year-olds for as much as two years, or till they’re prepared to maneuver into their very own houses. Companies embody three nutritious meals per day, onsite case administration, psychological well being counseling, training and employment assist, and entry to long-term housing alternatives.
“Our journey to Santa Clara began 5 years in the past,” mentioned Invoice Bedrossian, CEO of Covenant Home California. “We knew we wanted to be right here, however we didn’t know easy methods to do it as a result of they saved telling me there isn’t any cash. However the momentum actually took off on that chilly evening in November 2019 when tons of of Cisco workers slept with us in a car parking zone and wished to do one thing of their neighborhood for younger folks.”
Buyer Zero begins “California Dreaming” to make a distinction
Cisco has dedicated to enhancing the lives of 1 billion folks globally by 2025 (and we’re already at 716 million!). One option to meet that purpose is by working with the non-public and public sectors to scale back homelessness world wide. “The ability of public/non-public partnerships is astounding,” mentioned Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins. “The power for us to actually work collectively is the way in which we’ll clear up issues.”
That extremely collaborative spirit was on full show as a number of organizations – inside and out of doors Cisco – raced to make Covenant Home Santa Clara a actuality.
Cisco’s Buyer Zero group solid partnerships throughout a number of inner and exterior groups to ship success in simply two quick months. Inside Cisco alone, greater than 30 volunteers from wide-ranging organizations – Buyer Zero, Digital Enterprise Options, Gross sales, Company Affairs, Folks and Communities, Meraki, and Accomplice EOS – generously contributed their time throughout off-hours to speed up the Covenant Home Santa Clara mission.
This “California Dreaming” staff carried out all duties required to ship safe connectivity and wi-fi entry to Covenant Home Santa Clara, together with:
Defining the mission scope and managing the implementation plan
Conducting a feasibility research and website survey to find out access-point density
Putting in and configuring networking gear, together with 9 Meraki Wi-Fi 6 entry factors (each indoor MR76 and outside MR46 fashions), one Meraki MS210-48FP swap, and one Meraki MX84 router and safety equipment
Contracting and coordinating exterior distributors for cabling and community set up
Connecting and testing all gear to make sure high-speed community connectivity with no blind spots
This profitable engagement framework and the “blueprint” of the community design are actually being replicated throughout Covenant Home’s different California websites. Amongst different issues, these applied sciences will assist younger residents develop their digital expertise. There are even plans to coach younger folks to grow to be the primary line of IT assist for every of their services.
“That is an incredible, sacred area that shall be residence for younger individuals who have been going through and are actually overcoming homelessness,” mentioned Kevin Ryan, President & CEO of Covenant Home Worldwide, on the opening of Covenant Home Santa Clara. “Cisco made extraordinary presents in order that younger folks have a secure place to be.”
The Buyer Zero staff’s present and future influence on the Covenant Home as a corporation — and all these it serves — is an instance of how IT really can and must be used for good. We’re pleased with the assist we’ve supplied for homeless youth in Santa Clara County, and excited to proceed our efforts. We’d love to listen to about how you might be utilizing IT for good — share your experiences and concepts within the feedback!
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