Proposal talk:Charity
- there are many animal welfare societies which should be covered by this proposal as well - and many of these have multiple buildings on their grounds --Cohort 14:58, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
Charity what, exactly?
I think you need to specify more clearly what exactly you're trying to map. If it's a charity shop, then it should be shop=charity, which is already in use. If it's a soup kitchen or hostel, then a more specific tag for the type of services available at the location would probably be better. If it's the head office of a charity (where the public don't generally visit) then it doesn't belong in amenity=* since there are no public services available at that location.
A charity is an organisation, rather than a particular location -- this would be a bit like saying amenity=company for a location operated by a company. You wouldn't say "I'm just going to the charity" in the same way you'd say "I'm just going to the pub".
Jonathan Bennett 15:12, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
Like Jonathan said
My old college was, I think, also a registered charity. Presumably this proposed tag wasn't intended for such places. -- EdLoach 15:17, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
All sorts of organisations are charities, yet already get tagged, sports clubs, scout huts, some veterinary clinics, some churches. This needs more thought. Chillly 15:51, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
I did not mean sports clubs, scout huts, some veterinary clinics. Is there a better English word than "charity" to limit it to organisations like the Red Cross? --Lulu-Ann 16:24, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
- "Humanitarian organisations", maybe, but that's missing the point of what everyone has said: That you need to be more specific about what you mean. The organisation's head office? Some kind of facility, and if so what services does that facility provide? The tag has to reflect what people can expect to find there, rather than just the type of organisation that runs it. Again, think of how little use a feature tagged as amenity=company or amenity=government would be. Jonathan Bennett 16:33, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
- I mean the place you can go when you are in trouble. Not the head office, but the place where the helping hand is. The idea was to put it into the map for the blind, as the railway missions offer help for blind persons that need to change trains. --Lulu-Ann 16:38, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
- It seems that what you're trying to tag is places where you can receive assistance. This isn't always provided by charities -- at most UK stations the staff (who work for the railway) will provide assistance for blind and/or mobility-impaired people. Similarly airports have staff dedicated to providing help for the less able. Create a tag for those services, but don't assume that only charities provide them. Jonathan Bennett 17:27, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
- Sounds good to me - But I am not a native speaker. How would you call it? --Lulu-Ann 17:42, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
- The "assistance" suggestion in one of the sections below might be a start, particularly if it's just a matter of simple, trained assistance for the blind or mobility-impaired. Someone is there to assist you, to help you do (something specific) more easily. --achadwick 13:07, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
Scope: please clarify more. Is the proposal just about places where blind or disabled people can receive physical assistance of some sort from trained people, or should it be applied more broadly to places such as soup kitchens, women's shelters, support groups/counselling, or homeless shelters? Forgive any misunderstanding, the term "charity" is quite broad. --achadwick 13:07, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
from the mailinglist
ok here is my mail: Could you specify a bit more in detail for what you want to use this?
As far as I see it is a bit to generic and you add a sub key.
For example if you compare a "Bahnhofsmission" with a "Sozialshop" both are charity organisation, but the aims of these places are different. The first one offers warm drinks and food and maybe (but not always) also a place to sleep. But the other one is selling stuff for people in need for a very low price (just to cover their own expensive). AssetBurned 19:44, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
Community service?
Sounds like you want a tag that represents a "community service" or "social service" or something. There's definitely a need for this. Near me there is a Salvation Army "crisis centre" which provides all kinds of services to people who need it, and I can't think of any way to tag it yet.
As others have commented, the fact that it's charity run rather than government or even commercial seems less important than what it does. Maybe something like:
- social_service=soup_kitchen
- social_service=unemployment
- social_service=medical
- ...
Stevage 21:31, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
- So, you're proposing amenity=social_service + social_service=*? Sounds ok to me. --Waldo000000 23:46, 16 December 2009 (UTC)
- Ah, we are getting closer to it. I would rather use:
with
because there might be several services in one place.
- +1 on starting with amenity=$SOMETHING, and to refining the definition with attribute-prefix tags such as $SOMETHING:homeless_shelter=yes. It's a good pattern, and allows tagging of places that provide more than one service. --achadwick 12:47, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
- "Social service" is a bit ambiguous. In Britain, for example, it'd generally mean government staff who provide care particularly to children and older people. I'd suggest "assistance". --Richard 12:31, 17 December 2009 (UTC)
- "assistance" is quite good. Some other broad categories of terminology to consider when naming: --achadwick 12:47, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
- "welfare", "social welfare", "social service" etc.: pretty much imply that this is a state-funded operation. Not all of the kinds of provision we're talking about are state-funded, though some might be.
- "philanthropy", "charity", "altruism": all imply that the primary motivation is moral or ethical. Don't necessarily imply state funding: I'd expect something tagged thus to be mostly a non-profit operation.
- "aid", "assistance", "relief": all imply a rather practical and unsentimental approach to the do-goodism, and possibly that it's merely a temporary or emergency endeavour. Might need a "social" slapping on the front of the tag-name for clarity.
- The proposal should be clearer about which sort of thing we're talking about. Right now I'm assuming that it's somewhere between 2 and 3 above. --achadwick 12:47, 18 December 2009 (UTC)
- FWIW, I like ‘assistance’ too. As the first commenter noted, it’s best if this tag is broad enough to also include things like animal shelters and animal sanctuaries. --huftis 19:50, 19 May 2010 (UTC)
Have a look at the social_facility-proposal. Maybe we could share our ideas? Thanks - Kerosin 09:50, 15 September 2010 (BST)