Designing SafeBed to Help the Homeless Access Empty Hotel Rooms
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50-80% of hotel rooms in Boulder, Colorado are empty each night. The city houses its homeless population in 5 local hotels that would otherwise be unused. The designers researched this model and interviewed those experiencing homelessness, like Julia and John, to design SafeBed, a concept for temporary housing that makes use of empty hotel and shelter space to help address the social issue of homelessness.
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Designing SafeBed to Help the Homeless Access Empty Hotel Rooms
- 1. SafeBedKat Davis and Ruby Ku | Austin Center for Design | Feb 12, 2011
- 2. We believe interaction design can be used to address complex social problems.
- 3. Austin Resource Center for the Homeless
- 5. Things we learned in Boulder: 50%-80% of hotel rooms are empty
- 6. Things we learned in Boulder: 50%-80% of hotel rooms are empty 5 hotels in Boulder currently house the homeless
- 7. Things we learned in Boulder: 50%-80% of hotel rooms are empty 5 hotels in Boulder currently house the homeless People are bombarded with social issues
- 8. How can people use space without owning it?
- 11. Meet Julia
- 13. Meet John
- 18. SafeBed
- 19. Thank you.
Notas del editor
- We did a lot of design research on homelessness in Austin. And the biggest problem that we found is that there are just not enough beds.
- We want to continue this research here in Boulder because we know Austin and Boulder are 2 different cities. We talked to a bunch of hotels – and here’s what we found.
- 50-80% of the hotel rooms are empty during the low season, which is also during the winter. So there’s a lot of empty space.
- To our surprise, 5 of the hotels in Boulder actually house the homeless when there’s an emergency overflow, and it’s paid by the shelters.
- People in Boulder are very conscious of social issues, but are overwhelmed by the amount of issues and causes and don’t know how to help.
- So we thought, how can we build on the existing behavior of what hotels are already doing, and use the empty space that they have to house the homeless?
- And how can we use design to connect the hotels, the shelters, and the wider community?
- Now let’s imagine a future where this is actually happening:
- Meet Julia. She was just kicked out of her boyfriend. She has no where to stay. It’s full but we can put you on a waiting list and we’ll check and see if any of the local hotels have vacancy.Meet Julia. Kicked out of boyfriendGoes to Shelter, enters the lotteryDoesn’t have anywhere to go, so she goes to the boulder county care shelter and stands in line for the lottery. Unfortunatley her number is not pulled, and she’ll probably have to sleep outside. The shelter puts julia on a waitlist and tells her they’ll check to see if any of the local hotels have vacancy
- Imagine for a second… if there was a website for the hotels to post their vacant rooms, and the shelter can request it when they are full. Name slide safe bedThe shelter staff goes to a looks at the an website, SAFE BED, built for shelters that connects them with local hotels who have empty room and are willing to take people experiencing homelessness at the cost of a discounted room. lists all the local hotels The shelter sees that quality inn has a hotel room and informs JuliaJulia has a safe place to stay. But it’s important to make this data public so that they know how people in their community are contributing and see a very tangible way where they can help.Data from this website shouldn’t be kept secret, but should be made public
- John is walking down pearl street, when something catches his eye.Or imagine when you walk down Pearl St.. You see a kiosk.. And it says..
- Jon sees 113 people that are without a bed. And a lot of them are women. He’s overwhelmed by this number. He sees the temperature is going down to 28 degrees tonight. But then he sees that there are actually 20 empty hotel rooms tonight. So he’s intrigued and walks around the kiosk. It’s a kiosk. The first thing he notices is the temperature. He notices a large number. 113. 113 people are without a bed to sleep in at night. He notices that 45 of those without a bed are women and children. He feels overwhelmed by the number, and powerless to act. But then, he notices another side of the kioskThe opportunity:Empower the community to helpRecognize all the progress being madeHave incentive – local businesses giving us free muffins
- On the other side, he sees a chart and a number of people that have contributing to fund a bed that night. He notices a number where he text and donate.He sees that he can help the shelter pay for a bed in a hotel for someone that night by texting in a number and donation amount
- So he texts in and donates 15, enough to give someone a bed for the night.
- On the other side, he sees a chart and a number of people that have contributing to fund a bed that night. He notices a number where he text and donate.He sees that he can help the shelter pay for a bed in a hotel for someone that night by texting in a number and donation amount
- And becasefo the safe bed system, another person like julia doesn’t have to sleep out in the cold tonight. Like juliia, they can get a good, safe night’s rest and, and in the mornign be able to contrate on the things that will get them off the street more permanently.Then, another person like julia has a safe place to stay at night and doesn’t have to worry about a place to sleep. And with a good, safe night’s rest, she can concentrate on looking for work the next day.Design can help fight homelessnAndbecasefo the safe bed system, another person like julia doesn’t have to sleep out in the cold tonight. Like juliia, they can get a good, safe night’s rest and, and in the mornign be able to contrate on the things that will get them off the street more permanently.Then, another person like julia has a safe place to stay at night and doesn’t have to worry about a place to sleep. And with a good, safe night’s rest, she can concentrate on looking for work the next day.Design can help fight homelessness. Safe Bed can help. ess. Safe Bed can help.
- Boulder has a good start, but there is an opportunity not only in boulder, but in other cities, to better utilize empty spaces to provide shelter for those without homes.support our communities.Isafe Bed has not only bridged the community between hotels and shelter, but creats an environment that engage the wider community in a taniglbe, actionable way. Boulder seems to be doing a good job. What if more hotels in Boulder are aware and participate? What if more cities adopt model?So the homeless shelters can use the space without owning it. And focus on what they are truly there on – long term.