Interview with Rick Mitchell

What does the Homeless ID Project do?

The Homeless ID Project’s mission is to end homelessness. It’s a huge challenge. There are a lot of reasons why people are homeless and a lot of things that keep people homeless. Getting an ID or a birth certificate is just one little piece, but it’s the first piece – it’s like pulling the string that starts to unravel the whole problem.

How did you get connected to the Homeless ID project?

In 1987, a Presbyterian minister named Gerald Roseberry looked around Phoenix and wondered where all the homelessness had suddenly come from, so he went and lived on the street for 30 days. He wondered if they were there by choice – that they didn’t want the responsibility or that they chose to be homeless for some other reason. But he found that many lacked an ID and without an ID, they were stuck. They couldn’t get a job, an apartment, or other basic services. So he founded the Ecumenical Chaplaincy for the Homeless. Thirteen years ago, my wife was volunteering for that organization, which is how I came to learn about it. And in 2014, they changed their name to the Homeless ID Project. Shortly after that, I became involved as a board member.

What are the most difficult challenges for your business?

We want to expand our services, maybe even nationally, but as a non-profit with a small staff, we have a lot to do – applying for IDs, filing birth certificates, identity verification, responding to emails, and pretty much everything that we do is one way or another on the computer. Before Botco.ai came along, it was near impossible to keep up with the volume of phone calls, messages, and inquiries, while also focusing on our core mission of helping people obtain IDs.

How does Botco.ai help you address these challenges?

Botco.ai directs web inquiries to the right place. It’s reduced the time our staff spends on the phone, allowing us to serve more clients and focus on our mission. It has also helped us gather valuable data about the need for our services in different areas, which helps inform our plans for expansion. And because Botco.ai keeps data secure and private, we don’t need to be concerned about confidentiality or privacy issues.

What would you say to people facing similar challenges?

Nonprofits are always up against a budget, so saving an hour of someone’s time is pretty important. These types of technologies can help streamline processes and ultimately allow us to better serve our communities. I think that other organizations might even save more time than the Homeless ID Project does because a lot of what we do is in person.

What results have you been able to achieve since implementing a chatbot?

We’ve been able to double the number of documents we process annually, going from 7,500 pre-pandemic to 15,600 in 2023, with pretty much the same staff. One reason is because we’re not spending an hour or two at the end of every day answering and returning phone calls. The chatbot does a lot of this, helping us to serve more people while maintaining the same operation. It’s a game-changer for our organization and the people we serve.

Do you have any future plans or ideas for GenAI?

Right now we’re located on a 13-acre campus with 15 other non-profits. When people come to us, we can direct them to those other services, because we’re in the same place. Botco.ai could really connect those even further, through something like a virtual campus, directing clients from one service to another. Chatbots or data exchange with other non-profit services could also help further streamline our processes.

When you’re not working on the Homeless ID Project, how do you like to spend your free time?

You could say my work is my hobby. Ever since I retired, I’ve been keeping myself pretty busy with the Homeless ID Project. When I was younger I raised kids in lieu of a hobby and now I’m helping grow the nonprofit in lieu of a hobby. I do like to relax, watch baseball, read, and unplug when I can.