Lurein Perera ’21: Hope in a Card
Lurein Perera ’21 grew up wanting to lift up people living in poverty. In February, the friendly, self-effacing double major in computer science and economics fulfilled his dream when he launched GiveCard, a nonprofit that harnesses technology to give hope to the homeless.
Getting to that point took two years of clearing one hurdle after another. What kept Perera lifted up? Passion, creativity and a dedicated team of BC students all onboard with the mission and rowing in the same direction.
Developmental economics
In 2019, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development counted more than 18,000 homeless people in Massachusetts, two-thirds of whom have children. Closer to home, 4,500 students in the Boston Public School system are homeless, with another 900 at risk. The 2019 HUD report ranked homelessness and housing instability in Massachusetts “very high”—and that was pre-COVID.
Perera has witnessed homelessness and poverty all his life. A native of a small sub-Sarahan African country the IFPRI ranks as one of the world’s poorest, he grew up seeing abject poverty all around him.
“There’s a very stark difference in wealth in Malawi, and people who were in absolute poverty were very visible,” he said.
When Perera came to BC in 2017 to study developmental economics, his long-term vision was to go back someday to Malawi to help alleviate poverty and achieve his “life outcome ideal.”
Going back home after freshman year from the “BC bubble” served as a wakeup call to scratch his entrepreneurial itch and tap back into the social consciousness side he said was “very imprinted on me.” GiveCard took shape soon after.
Hoops, luck, and liftoff
Originally launched as a climate change initiative, Perera’s GiveCard journey started in his sophomore year with a post on a BC Facebook page seeking fellow student advocates. He invited all three people who applied to meet weekly in his dorm room “just to talk, do research, and see where it goes.”
The night before one of the meetings, he'd dreamed up the idea behind GiveCard and decided to float it to the team. Two of the three, Natalie Dryja ’22 and Zier Wang ’22, agreed to change course and help move it forward.
Perera was so passionate about the idea that he put skin in the game, pulling $400 out of his own tiny student bank account to register GiveCard as a 501(c)(3). A nail-biting yet critical step, it also raised the many hoops they’d have to jump through.
First, they’d need to get approved to accept donations, then find a bank to issue debit cards, then find a way to fund them. In a lucky twist of fate, attorney and BC Law School alum David Mawhinney ’11 read a BCSSW News article about GiveCard and offered to take them on as a pro bono client.
Two years later, they finally found a bank—FiCentive, a fintech specializing in prepaid cards. Then came another hoop: FiCentive wouldn’t assume the risk of cardholder verification. Debit card issuers always ask for three things—a social security number, a state or government ID, and an address. Homeless people meet only two of those requirements.
The solution to that issue: GiveCard assumes the risk. The solution to card funding: Perera won a $7,500 Social Impact Award in the 2019 Strakosch Venture Competition. They had liftoff.
Spreading the word
“Nobody actually interviewed for GiveCard,” said Perera. “We just kind of grew it.” Nine more BC students eventually joined the team, all of them driven not by a paycheck but by passion.
Anna Peterson ’21 was an early joiner and a pivotal player in the nonprofit’s growth. The computer science major took Perera’s original “dark and mysterious” website, holed up in a café for two days, and not only rebuilt it but created a brand. Light and engaging, the new website radiates the GiveCard mission and dignifies the people they serve.
Inspired by Peterson’s design, the team took a nuanced approach to messaging, making thoughtful choices about words. Clients are “partners.” Core values are “truth” and “dignity.” GiveCard “uplifts” and “gives hope, one debit card at a time.”
In February 2021, they made it all official with another considered choice—a thick black MasterCard that Perera calls “very powerful looking yet discreet.” The GiveCard debit card provides built-in wireless payments and tracks spending to help partners stay within their limits.
With a fresh website and a real card, Perera and his team started prospecting. They used a classic guerilla marketing strategy, putting up posters all over Boston Common simply stating: “This is GiveCard. We give $250 a month to people who are homeless every month. No questions asked. Apply at this link.”
Within an hour, GiveCard had found its first six “partners,” and word was already spreading. “People facing homelessness are very networked,” said Perera. “They all talk to each other. And if something excites them, they share that.”
Funding scrappy
Perera seemed surprised at how easily they found partners—or partners found them. “We didn’t expect to be this effective at reaching people facing homelessness,” he said. “But because 72% of homeless people have phones, we’re entirely digital. You can apply right through our website.”
While they’ve had no trouble finding partners, fundraising has proven trickier. They’re “very scrappy,” Perera said, soliciting donations here and there—customers of local businesses or BC alumni startups that pledge donations for every GiveCard “Like.”
GiveCard currently has a funding balance of $19,000, 100 percent of which goes to cards. Perera says they’ve “yet to figure out where salary funding will come from, but it won’t come from these funds.”
It likely won’t come from grants either. Perera notes the high barrier to entry, since grants typically tie to an operating budget. With most award formulas based on 10 percent of your budget, “that’s not going to take us very far on a budget of $2,000.”
Perera says GiveCard is at an inflection point, where they need a big financial boost—roughly $50,000—to scale. “That’s what it will take to bridge the gap between lifting a dozen people out of homelessness and moving hundreds of people into permanent housing and financial independence by 2025.”
Rewards for good behavior
The financial advising services they’d planned may have to wait too, in part because COVID made it impossible to do in-person sit-downs. Perera says they’re looking into third-party financial resource organizations. And they have career coaches signed on to offer free coaching for people facing homelessness.
Meanwhile, they’re getting innovative with the data they’re collecting on spending patterns. The big idea: Reward good behavior like saving money with financial incentives to keep saving. If, for example, a partner saves 10% of their GiveCard credit one week, they might get a $200 bonus to save 15 percent the next week.
“They’re actively saving and being rewarded for it,” said Perera. “It’s all learning and practice.”
Upstream solution
So far, GiveCard can’t afford to lift people from homelessness. But they’re making strides. In 2020, they did a study with the BC School of Social Work to find a solution.
The study’s conclusion: Focus ongoing efforts on two populations—people on the fringe of homelessness and those who’ve secured housing but lack the stability to overcome an unexpected setback.
Perera believes succeeding with these two populations will help provide proof that GiveCard is lifting people out of homelessness or providing an upstream solution that “seals the entry point into homelessness.”
One early success story: A partner now living in low-rent transitional housing at Boston’s St. Francis House pays a portion of his rent with his GiveCard.
Perera has had an “amazing team” to take them this far. While most will move on after graduating, Diksha Thach ’21 will stay on as head of partnerships and advocacy.
The culture they’ve created is something Perera says he will miss. “We get along on a deep level together,” Perera said. “I mean, we put the word ‘give’ before everything.”