The view from the trenches: organization, power, and technology at two nonprofit homeless outreach centers

Nonprofit social service organizations provide the backbone of social support infrastructure in the U.S. and around the world. As the ecology of information exchange moves evermore digital, nonprofit organizations with limited resources and expertise struggle to keep pace. We present a qualitative investigation of two nonprofit outreach centers providing service to the homeless in a U.S. metropolitan city. Despite similar goals shared by these organizations, apparent differences in levels of computerization, volunteerism, and organizational structure demonstrate the challenges in attempting to adopt technology systems when resources and technical expertise are highly constrained.

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