At the end of this project, one thing was abundantly clear. There is still much more work to be done. In an effort to see what strides are being made towards the progressive future many homeless residents need, we visited GRACE Marketplace to see what new strategies they've implemented. From this visit, we were able to brainstorm ideas on what else can be done to help work towards an end to homelessness.
Leon Scott, an employee of GRACE Marketplace showed us around new areas that were built to empower residents. There's an old saying in China that says "Give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you've fed him for a lifetime”. The goal of this specific shelter now is to not only offer basic physical needs to the homeless, but also motivate them to better their lives in order to end homelessness.
Leon explained how GRACE Marketplace is devoted to expressing a more humane reaction to homelessness in terms of housing. He showed us their newest “women house” where women can rest, take a shower and even get a manicure. We saw that the designers poured their love into the shelter from little details, such as the warm tone of the wallpaper and colorful candles. All of them coming together to give the homeless a sense of respect and a feeling of home.
Leon explained how GRACE Marketplace is devoted to expressing a more humane reaction to homelessness in terms of housing. He showed us their newest “women house” where women can rest, take a shower and even get a manicure. We saw that the designers poured their love into the shelter from little details, such as the warm tone of the wallpaper and colorful candles. All of them coming together to give the homeless a sense of respect and a feeling of home.
Next, we went to the bunkroom where the homeless sleep everyday. Although belongings like luggage were stacked around the beds, the environment as a whole was cleaner than we imagined. As we walked past the hall, we saw posters advertising affordable housing offsite to help the homeless people. Leon believes GRACE Marketplace works to help the homeless find their own stable housing.
The clothing closet is another new place. It has clothes for adult men and women of all sizes, as well as warmer items and winter accessories for cold weather. The clothes are not only available to the residents within GRACE Marketplace, but also to other homeless who do not live there. Appearance can boost confidence, which increases chances for residents to get jobs.
Leon showed us their new computer lab where the homeless can get access to the Internet at certain times of the day. For some residents, the hardest thing about being homeless is the social isolation. Homeless people experience social isolation for a variety of reasons such as discrimination or lack of employment. The computer lab connects the homeless with the rest of our society. With the Internet, they have access to more job and housing information and can learn more skills for those future jobs.
When Leon introduced the dorms in GRACE Marketplace, he emphasized that the dorms do not allow couples to live together. “If a couple comes to the GRACE Marketplace, they need to separate and live in a different dorm.” he said. If shelters in the future could provide some dorms specifically for families, homeless couples might go to shelters and not have to worry about being separated.
In the end, we found not too many homeless people knew these new facilities were now accessible to them. Not all homeless people have a mobile device, which makes access to this information limited to word of mouth. One consideration for the future is how we can deliver time sensitive messages to homeless people. This would be most helpful during severe weather to get them to safe places.
It was nice to see that this specific shelter is making a shift from offering basic needs to more long-term solutions. Even so, we cannot deny that there are many homeless people still living out on the streets and the future of shelters is still uncertain. For now, some ideas for improvement include:
Leon showed us their new computer lab where the homeless can get access to the Internet at certain times of the day. For some residents, the hardest thing about being homeless is the social isolation. Homeless people experience social isolation for a variety of reasons such as discrimination or lack of employment. The computer lab connects the homeless with the rest of our society. With the Internet, they have access to more job and housing information and can learn more skills for those future jobs.
When Leon introduced the dorms in GRACE Marketplace, he emphasized that the dorms do not allow couples to live together. “If a couple comes to the GRACE Marketplace, they need to separate and live in a different dorm.” he said. If shelters in the future could provide some dorms specifically for families, homeless couples might go to shelters and not have to worry about being separated.
In the end, we found not too many homeless people knew these new facilities were now accessible to them. Not all homeless people have a mobile device, which makes access to this information limited to word of mouth. One consideration for the future is how we can deliver time sensitive messages to homeless people. This would be most helpful during severe weather to get them to safe places.
It was nice to see that this specific shelter is making a shift from offering basic needs to more long-term solutions. Even so, we cannot deny that there are many homeless people still living out on the streets and the future of shelters is still uncertain. For now, some ideas for improvement include:
- Creating sleeping spaces where residents don't have to share beds
- Creating open spaces where residents can partake in everyday activities. These spaces can be:
- Computer labs
- Nail salons
- Gyms
- Showers
- Clothing stores
- Creating shelters specifically for families so they can remain together
- Implementing new technologies that can deliver messages to the homeless in a timely manner