Information for the homeless can be found everywhere on the web, the trouble is that it is everywhere on the web. There are very few web sites which attempt to bring together all of the information. There are several reasons for this and most of them are very good reasons. The first, and most daunting, is that the information is constantly changing: New studies, new shelters, existing shelters closing down due to lack of funding, winter and emergency shelters being created due to heavy weather or disaster. New studies are always being published, and new books as well. If there ever was a dynamic, ever changing collection of information, information on the homeless is certainly in the top 10 on that list.

Eddiecat.org is an attempt to bring together all of this variant information (homeless shelters, food banks, soup kitchens, funding programs, books, studies, etc) into a single collection, and maintain that information so that it is viable and current.

The project is designed to use both current technology and human intervention. We are using Google maps and News, for example, in an attempt to keep the listings for shelter and food banks current. At the same time, we are sending out emails to the contacts for these places, in the hopes that someone will verify that the shelter or food bank is still up and running, and also hoping that they will take a moment out of their busy day to update the records we have for them. In return for this time we hope to provide a resource for them, as well, by listing the current studies, and funding programs available, so that each of these places can acquire the information they are looking for in one place.

There are thousands of homeless people in the United States, and the reasons for their current situation are various. Some are homeless due to natural disaster, some from criminal activity, some from personal decisions or mental health issues. Some are too young to provide for themselves, some simply do not have the knowledge to find a way off the streets, others are habitually homeless. We do not measure the value or worth of the information we provide by these differences. If you are homeless, then there are answers for you on this web site, places to find shelter, places to find food, and answers for improving your situation, no matter what event or situation brought you to the streets.

Our funding is completely reliant on our advertisements, though most of our work is obviously reliant on volunteer efforts. For the most part Eddiecat.org is run by the homeless, for the homeless and those who support the efforts and services for the homeless.