Xzibit probably did not have the homeless population in mind when he pimped rides, but pimpthisbum.com has managed to use the idea of pimping to transform lives instead of rides and get people off the streets.

Pimpthisbum.com, a website based in Houston, has garnered almost $75,000 in donations and helped take two homeless men off the street since its launch Feb 17. The website, which began as a case study for Kevin Dolan and his son Sean’s marketing company Ascendgence LLC, has received more than 600,000 hits to date. The site features live video feeds and interviews with homeless alcoholics Tim Edwards and John Boguki while they hold cardboard signs saying pimpthisbum.com.

‘The homeless are this group that no one likes to think about,’ Dolan said. ‘A starving puppy dog gets more attention than the homeless do. We try to humanize them.’

Dolan said he and his son have filed paperwork to receive nonprofit status and plan to expand the website to include 10 cities across the United States. Boston is one city under consideration.

‘[They’ll be] wherever we can find the leadership,’ Dolan said.

The website has already reformed the lives of Edwards and Boguki. One sponsor, Sunray Treatment and Recovery, donated two 35-day alcohol treatment programs to the men free of charge. They are currently completing the program in Seattle.

The site’s publicity also helped reunite Edwards with his family. Edwards found out that the father he thought had abandoned him at the age of 2 had actually paid child support until Edwards was in his 40s. Edward’s father had hoped it would lead him to his sons, Dolan said.

‘Tim thought [his father] didn’t care, but he did,’ Dolan said.

Edwards will be moving to Nashville, Tenn. after he completes treatment at a sober living facility, and Dolan said he hopes Edwards, a former office manager, will find work as a restaurant manager after treatment.

A Florida businessman who used to be homeless also offered Bogucki a year of housing and work at his building maintenance company, Dolan said.

Still, many criticize the site for what some see as a crude name and exploitation. Dolan, however, said the ends justify the means.

‘You have to shock people or irritate them,’ he said.

Boston University social welfare policy professor Deanne Bonnar said although the website is innovative, it is not a solution.

‘I don’t think homelessness is going to be solved through individual efforts,’ she said.

Permanent housing is the solution to homelessness, but there is not enough political force backing massive housing projects, Bonnar said. She said the lack of support stems from prejudices against the homeless.

‘They’re not considered what we would call ‘the worthy poor,” she said.

Boston Rescue Mission spokesman Eric Grenfell-Muir said the shelter uses client stories to urge donators, which is similar to the idea behind pimpthisbum.com.

‘People give out of emotion,’ he said. ‘They want to connect.’

The Boston Rescue Mission helps about 1,000 people every year by providing food, shelter, drug and substance recovery programs and a re-entry program for women on parole.

College of Arts and Sciences junior Hannah Leone said although she thinks the site gives the homeless a face, she would not make a donation to the site.

‘The word ‘bum’ is kind of off-putting,’ Leone, who is the Student Union’s director of environmental affairs,’ said. ‘You’re not really solving any problem that way.’

College of General Studies sophomore Melissa Hui said the website would draw people in, but she did not like name.

‘I feel for [bums]. I don’t like them though,’ she said.