GiveSafe is now Samaritan
I want to let you know about a decision that’s been on my heart since last fall. After mulling it over with many, we’ve decided to shift GiveSafe into Samaritan.
GiveSafe was born from the belief that we don’t have to turn away when we see someone in need. It’s a great name. But I didn’t ask anyone — no one experiencing homelessness, not long-serving nonprofits, nor really any citygoers — it was the first thing I thought of at a hackathon and we needed something for the beta.
What I’ve learned about this project since is that it is bigger than financial giving. Immeasurable value comes from starting conversations between people who otherwise might never had the chance. This includes beacon holders and citygoers with the app, and also beacon holders and nonprofit counselors they’re meeting with each month.
GiveSafe seemed to convey that if you tap a few buttons on your phone, the problem in front of you goes away. Samaritan invites us to step into someone’s storm and walk with them —
— sort of like that ancient story… It wasn’t money that saved that beaten-down man; it was the Samaritan giving up his time, transportation, TODO list & more. GiveSafe was a draft. Samaritan is a guiding philosophy. Our new name brings better mission alignment now, and better enables us to help 100 cities in the next five years.
Samaritan represents growth towards helping people walk together; in walking together, lives change.
Thank you for your early support. The next entry will welcome a key product update and several volunteer opportunities.
— Jonathan
ps. I credit heavily conversations with Jonathan Gerig (DESC), Ryan Likes (UGM), and Michael in helping me think through this.
pps. Marc Williams runs an ad agency in belltown that we let in early on this process. As they confront homelessness everyday, they volunteered for over 3 months to help us launch the transition to Samaritan. Happy to share our new site samaritan.city — and many more beautiful things to come.
ppps. Samaritan in Hebrew is Shamerim, which roughly translates to Guardians/Caretakers/Watchers. Can’t think of a better name with which to move forward.
