Jordy van den Boom

A contactless payment jacket to help the homeless

When you see a homeless person beg for money, you often think 'well, it's probably their own fault, and they will probably buy beer or drugs with the money I give them'. However, in The Netherlands there are also a lot of people that became homeless because they got for instance abused or needed to work as sex workers. These people deserve a helping hand to return in modern society. For these people we created the world's first connected jacket with wireless payment technology. By simply holding your credit card to the chest of the homeless person, an amount of €1,00 will be transferred to a local shelter. The money can only be used to rend a bed for the night, a hot warm shower or a meal. When the person collected enough money, the shelter will help the homeless person to reintegrate in modern society.

Challenge

Encourage people to donate money that actually helps the homeless to reintegrate in modern society.

Outcome

The world's first connected jacket with wireless payment technology sewn into its chest pocket. Enabling homeless people to receive money wirelessly. Simply hold your wallet to the Helping Heart, donate €1,- and receive a personal thank-you in your transaction details from the person you helped.