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Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales

According to the Hillsborough County Homeless Coalition, as there are over 9,000 homeless people in the County

Attempts by the Board of County Commissioners to address the problem foundered earlier this fall, after they rejected a proposed tent-city plan that would have housed up to 250 people on East Hillsborough Avenue.  A subsequent attempt to use space at strip mall off of Florida Avenue later went by the wayside as well.

Now the Coalition for the Homeless intend to band with Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia fame to create a Tampa Bay Homeless Resource wiki (http:tampabayhomeless.wikia.com).

The launch of the website will take place this Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. at Teatro on Seventh in Ybor City.  Organizers are asking for “social media enthusiasts, homeless advocates & anyone who wants to volunteer” to appear at the event, though it will cost you $25 to register.

In a press release,  Wales says he came up with the idea after local digital strategist Julia Gorzka reached out to him because she knew he lived in the Tampa Bay area.  “When she had the idea to put together a homeless resource wiki for Tampa Bay, I got very excited because I knew we could draw on the examples of successful projects in San Francisco and Los Angeles……People have a vague idea they want to help, don’t know where to start.  They feel they need permission.  But the wiki spirit is you just dig in and start doing stuff.”

Rayme Nuckles, the CEO of the Homeless Coalition says “We are thrilled to be able to offer this new resource to the community, specifically for our homeless neighbors and those working to improve the quality of their lives.”

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