#ADW21: Co-Creating Opportunities for People Experiencing Homelessness

Co-Creating a Storage Space and Employment Opportunities for People Experiencing Homelessness

After housing, healthcare and nutrition, storage is one of the most critical needs for people experiencing homelessness. When identification documents and personal possessions are lost, stolen or thrown away, a person must start over at zero on the difficult process of replacing them - prolonging their experience of homelessness. Providing storage for people is an emerging best practice for helping people transition out of homelessness, while creating jobs to help them along their way.

Service Designers Kelsey Willard and Mark Janchar conducted user research, held Design Jam ideation sessions and tested prototypes for a storage center that was co-created with people experiencing homelessness to find a model that would best meet Austin's specific needs. Violet KeepSafe Storage is now open in downtown Austin and has the capacity to provide storage for up to 500 people, and employs 4 full time attendants who are currently or have recently experienced homelessness themselves.

This workshop is open to anyone interested in civic design, including service designers, social workers, researchers, and public service providers.

Speakers:

Kelsey Willard | Service Designer, City of Austin

Kelsey has been working as a Service Designer for the past five years. She has focused her skills as a designer and practiced mainly on social good projects including topics like affordable housing data, homelessness, library services, and food access.

Mark Janchar | Service Designer, City of Austin

Mark Janchar is a Service Designer with the City of Austin. Mark began working in homelessness as a Paramedic, where he would frequently run calls on people in encampments and saw the limited treatment he could provide as insufficient attempts to treat a larger systemic problem. He became a Service Designer to understand complex social problems and figure out how to solve them.

Parking & Transportation:

There is paid street parking and back lot parking available onsite/near by. Be sure to check out our sustainable transportation recommendations. This venue is ADA accessible.

ADW21 Event Information:

The health and safety of our attendees, participants, and greater community is extremely important to us. Please be sure to check out our Health & Safety at ADW21 page for the latest safety updates and policies surrounding in-person events.

You’ll be emailed any additional instructions for how to join the event at least 24-hours prior to the event start time. The information will be sent via Eventbrite so please check your spam if you don't see it in your inbox.

Austin Design Week is committed to a harassment-free event experience for everyone. Our Code of Conduct can be found here. We are also committed to creating an inclusive, accessible space. All virtual events will have automated captioning. If you need additional accommodations, please email us at info@austindesignweek.org as soon as possible to let us know.

For the full Austin Design Week schedule, check out austindesignweek.org.