Let’s Put People Over Paperwork
September 2020 Newsletter
👋 Welcome
Hello civic tech friends! We welcome you to our September 2020 newsletter. Please take our survey by October 2nd to share your volunteer interests. We’re also looking for new leadership team members next year.
Money, Power, and Respect
Did you know the 2020 Census determines federal funding for our communities for the next 10 years? Stronger schools, safer neighborhoods, affordable housing, and better affordable healthcare counts. Take 10 minutes to respond to the Census to make sure our community has the resources we need.
Already responded? Call your family and neighbors and remind them to respond to the Census by September 30! Check out our informational website to learn more about the Census.
A Stronger Social Safety Net: People Over Paperwork
On Saturday September 12, 2020, 39 volunteers joined us for a day of collective action to make a stronger safety net. We conducted 25 usability tests for Tenants Together’s SMS helpline for tenants. We also audited California WIC, Medicaid, Unemployment and TANF benefit applications. Our design audits will be added to Code for America’s 50 States Assessment. Volunteers built a scraper for Santa Clara County’s social distancing protocol application site and a geocoder to turn those addresses into mappable data.
Join us to continue the work at our October 1st civic hack night! And join Code for America brigades for virtual Brigade Congress on October 13–18, 2020. (You don’t have attend everyday; you can select which workshops or talks you want to attend)
🎉 Code for San José Civic Hack & Map Night
At our August 20th civic hack night, Shivani Bose-Varela, the Grants Informational Act Program Manager for the California State Library, shared their user-centered approach to developing the California Grants Portal. They facilitated virtual co-design sessions with 119 grantseekers.
At our September 3rd civic hack and map night, we had an informal conversation with the new CEO of Code for America, Amanda Renteria. Amanda envisions Code for America using technology to bend the arc of the universe towards justice. Brigades play a critical role in transforming and scaling technology services for people in need.
Omar Arauza also shared the impact and services of the SJSU Record Clearance Project. We learned that the criminal justice system is racially biased and disproportionally affects people, families and communities. Through free legal aid and support to help ex-inmates expunge their records, RCP takes a step towards healing some of this harm.
Project Highlights
- Open Disclosure updated its UI for better user experience. We need QA and frontend support; for more information check out our GitHub issues.
- E-Immigrate completed the filtering tool website for the CET organization to use at their Citizenship workshop. The workshop was a success — with registration exceeding capacity! We will work on expanding language capability for the tool.
- Ballot Dropoff Navigator is a new project with Hack for LA. The website will be an interactive map of ballot drop off locations. We need immediate data entry help!
For more project updates, view our civic hack night slide deck.
Wildfires & Resources
Our thoughts are with the victims and all who were affected by the west coast wildfires. We are grateful for the brave firefighters and first responders who have worked tirelessly to keep our community and home safe. If you have been affected by the wildfires or are seeking resources, please visit the California Statewide Wildfire Recovery Resources website.
Free COVID-19 Testing in Santa Clara County
Get tested for COVID-19 in Santa Clara County for free.
Find out what is open in your country, and learn more about COVID-19 in the State of California.
For local updates, go to Santa Clara County Department of Public Health’s website.
🐰 That’s all, folks!
Join us for our virtual meetups on October 1 and October 15 and join Code for America brigades for Brigade Congress on October 13–18, 2020!
Until next month, take care, and let’s keep up the good work!
Code for San José Leadership Team: Yan-Yin Choy, Captain; Joseph Richardson, Captain; Annie Steenson, Captain; Minh Nguyen, Leadership Team Member; Dane Olsen, Leadership Team Member; Lena Tran, Leadership Team Member; Diane Labenz, Leadership Team Member; Cesar Arellano, Leadership Team Member; Kate Valdes, Leadership Team Member; Lorin Camargo, Advisory Board Member; Namrata Challa, Advisory Board Member; Michelle Thong, Advisory Board Member; Emily Ramos, Advisory Board Member; Erika Hudiono, Advisory Board Member; Darren Pham, Advisory Board Member; and Sunny Mui, Advisory Board Member
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