No, it's not a joke. I came up with this idea and my friends Jason Crouch ("heck ya, let's do it") and Jeremy Blanton ("I'm all over it") kind of kicked me into gear with it when they jumped on board so quickly.

Times are tough and there is no denying it. Sure we can have "positive thoughts" and "draw in good energy" and one way of doing that is by joining Jason, Jeremy and myself along with thousands of others to put this into motion.

Instead of completely rewriting the hundreds of words already written please take just a moment and read the Social Media House website. Here are some excerpts ...

(Updated) I WILL SHAVE MY HEAD! If we raise $10,000 by Sunday, June 21 I will shave my head on YouTube! (If we raise $15,000 I will shave my face, too). If we raise $25,000 I will do it wearing an orange diaper with the Twitter bird drawn on my very white chest!

Here is what we are doing - we are going to restore this home to good living conditions. Once the renovation is complete we are going to advertise for people to recommend a family or individual who they believe deserves the opportunity to live rent and utility free for a maximum of one year in the home. We, the Social Media Community are going to prove to the world that we believe in giving. We believe in “paying it forward”.

Not only will we provide the home rent free but, provided donations are high enough, we will also pay generously toward the utilities. Since there are no or very limited management fees all contributions after the rehab will go directly to covering the costs of the home.

The home is already in my possession, rehab has already begun and we three are already itching to do the next one. Essentially we'll be helping someone or a family of someones to have a respite from the damage they have endured in this collapsing economy.

Who Will Live There?

Someone one of you recommends perhaps. You may have a family member or friend who has been devastated financially because of circumstances which blindsided them. They may have recently experienced a personal tragedy or be in greater need for some reason truly outside of their control.

The selection process is quite simple and I will detail it in another post. Submissions will be screened and you will be allowed to vote for the final candidates. For this first project we will accept applicants from local community and faith organizations. Selection will be blind meaning you won’t know anything about the people except why they are in a hardship. Since it is NOT a charitable organization there are a lot of hoops we will not have to jump through until it becomes a charitable organization but for complete fairness sake you will only see a few paragraphs about the people excluding names, ages, etc.

Who Will Not Live There?

Drug abusers, people abusers and anyone who is in their situation because of abuse of the system, self or others.

When Does This Happen?

Now. Right now. We must have the home ready for the back to school season in the even you select a family with school children. Target date for selecting the occupants is August 1 which is approaching rapidly! Meanwhile the renovation must be completed. I have already started but there is much more work to be done. We already have volunteers standing by to get it done.

Partners and Friends

We are working together with the Georgia Coalition to End Homelessness and the many institutions they serve. We will also accept applications from local faith based organizations as well as individuals. The most important criteria is that we find applicants who are not and have not been abusers of the system. Help us raise $25,000 on Twitter, Facebook and others as you see fit. All we need is 1000 people to give $25 each and the house will be finished and ready for people of greater need. Feel free to give as little or as much as you can.

For underwriting this project you will receive the following:

• Donations of $10 will receive a text link back to your URL from the Social Media House web pages.
  
• Donations of $25 will receive a 200x200 graphical link.
  
• Donations of $50 will receive an editable entry with graphics and text.
  
• Donations of $100 will receive an editable page and a mention on Social Media Edge Radio.
  
• Donations of $250 will receive an editable page and a 5 minute guest appearance on Social Media Edge Radio.
  
• Donations of $500 will receive a 25 megabyte blog account for 12 months, an editable page on the Social Media House web pages, and a 5 minute guest appearance on Social Media Edge Radio.
  
• Contributors who donate more than $1000 each will be promoted during the 2 hours plus of video including selection of the first recipient of the 12 months free living grant.
  
• If you want to name the project a contribution of $25,000 will get that done (the Your Name Project). Call for details, we’re flexible. You also get everything mentioned above
  
• If you want to name the home for 3 years (the Your Name House) a contribution of $50,000 and it’s yours to name plus you get everything mentioned above: hosting, radio show, project name and exclusive Major Sponsor credits on the video.

Video post production is being handled by Robert Lewis of The NBA Channel.