USC Graduate Starts Charity to Give IPads to Homeless
by Axel Hellman and Jori Barash
photo by deadly sirius edited by jori barash
Homelessnessless LA is a new nonprofit headed by Glenn Pivacs, a 2012 graduate of the University of Southern California.
Homelessnessless LA is an antipoverty initiative that will place more than 5,000 iPad tablets in the hands of Los Angeles’s homeless population. The charity will be funded by Apple Computers and the USC Community Programs.
Pivacs is confident that iPads will allow homeless citizens to better access education, social services, and job opportunities. “Information technology helps homeless Angelenos succeed in the Digital Age,” he said. Pivacs plans to eliminate Skid Row and the need for all its massive non-profits by 2018.
“If a housing-disadvantaged person can Instagram plastic bottles, he or she can surely become an artist on the forefront of the avant-garde. And when they all get into college, the ipad is the perfect device for efficient note taking. ”
“And once they graduate and have their own social media startups,” he continued, “They can be productive at all the modern hubs of LA – Starbucks, mustache-themed hipster bars, Prius dealerships- Literally anywhere.”
The business model is flawless. Pivacs estimates that purchasing the iPads from Apple Inc. will channel about $10 million per year into that company’s coffers. “We’ll be helping the indigent and creating jobs at the same time.”
Charles Miyaki is a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur who is on the board of the nonprofit. Miyaki says his group of venture capitalists target startups like Pivacs’.
“When I heard that a USC graduate had figured out how to use technology to finally eradicate poverty, my company pledged him a $30 million tax deduction- I mean, donation,” he said, “That’s how much we care about the needy.”
“It’s so much more about the brand than the idea. We want models that inspire this generation of thinkers. Details are very ‘20th century’.”