On 6th September 2024, we changed the name of our Community Interest Company from Kanndoo Digital to Innate Needs. The project has evolved significantly from its earlier incarnations and we wanted to launch into public awareness with a name that more clearly indicates the service we intend to provide for people on low incomes and those who are supporting them.
Humble beginnings
The project started out looking at ways the homeless population could be supported by digital services. We took our online map of local service provision for homeless people to various parties we thought might be interested in promoting or assisting our efforts. Almost to a person, everybody’s response was: Can this be bigger? Can we use this tool you’ve created to help more people - not just the homeless - but everyone affected by the Cost of Living Crisis?
Scaling provision
Right from the beginning, we’d sought to help those at the very margins of society. Once we spoke to the actual people on the frontline receiving and providing support services, we began to appreciate just how wide those margins are, the sheer numbers of people whose innate needs are not being met in some capacity, and the benefits a comprehensive and up-to-date map of service provision could potentially bring. Such a map helps people suffering because they don’t know where to seek help locally, and it helps organisations already connected to people in need signpost additional support in related areas.
Map filters
This focus on innate needs that are not being met is baked into the core of our project. The interactive map that we have designed and populated is filterable by categories derived from these innate needs:
- Advice
- Clothing
- Employment
- Food
- Healthcare
- Shelter
- Social Interaction
- Warmth
- Miscellaneous/Other
We’re approaching a point where we will be focussing on increasing the public awareness of our project, initially amongst the organisations that we are listing and ultimately to its intended end users. It felt like a ‘now or never’ moment to take the plunge and select a name that better reflects what our project has evolved into.
So since the beginning of this month, we are now known as Innate Needs.
