A call to action! (Attention angel investors/venture capitalists)

Tonight my wife and I went out for dinner at Little India in downtown Denver. We were headed back to the car with our leftovers and were approached by one young adult asking if we would give them our leftovers; we did. My wife had a brief conversation with the young lady who asked for the food about  "what her story was."

This evening, I continued thinking about that group sitting there on the corner. I think there were about 10 young adults and two or three babies. I had a thought about what that group could do to get themselves off the street --

If each of the young adults could earn $500 month, they could pool their resources and have $5000 per month. They could rent a small house for $1000 per month and use the remaining $4000 per month to pay for food, clothing, utilities, etc.

To me it seems reasonable that they could each earn $500/month. At $7/hour and 20 hours/week, they would each earn $140/week. This would total $560/month.

So, I began thinking about how reasonable it was that they could find a small place that they could rent for $1000/month and the potential problems they could face finding somebody who would be willing to rent the place to them (and allow ten young adults and three babies live there).

Here is the call to action:

Are any of you interested in pooling investments to buy and/or put down-payments on properties? Or, do you know anyone who would be interested? I thought about bringing this idea to SCORE, but then thought that it was worth trying it out on this site first.

I would do the leg work to seek out street people renters and talk with them about my ideas for seeking employment, pooling their resources, managing their finances, and getting themselves off the streets. I would also seek out the properties and deal with the lenders to acquire the properties. I would even consider getting involved in renovating distressed properties. We could discuss how I would draw my salary and what my salary would be. If this were a one-property deal, then I would consider doing it as a volunteer. If it were an ongoing venture, building into a large number of properties, then it is possible that we could structure it so that the difference between the mortgage payment and the rent we charged would be my salary. Maybe we could set up a corporation (for profit or non-profit) that would hire me as a property manager.

I am sure that with the current terrible housing market there are so many properties that are available at relatively low prices. I know that there is an ample supply of street people. I also believe that even with this terrible economy that there are still a lot of minimum wage jobs available. I'll bet that I could find enough street people who would have a real interest in improving their situation, given the guidance on how to do it.

This proposal would help put vacant properties to use and get homeless people off the street, while producing a return on investment. I am not asking you to treat this as a charity; I see it as socially responsible investing.

I realize that this is just a rough outline. But, I honestly believe in my heart that this could work; check my assumptions and the figures I've provided and see if they make sense to you. I am totally serious about this pursuit and I welcome your input and inquiries. Let's talk more to work through the details to make this a viable plan. This could be a direct way that we can get involved in making this world a better place. Habitat for Humanity is a success; this idea could be, too.

Please reach out to your friends on this site and ask them to read this blog. We CAN work together to make a difference.

Peace,
Marc

Update: more details in A call to action! (Part 2 - More specifics)