"...raise funds for SIFA Fireside and Reach the People Charity Birmingham-based homeless services as well as offer homeless service users the opportunity to gain work experience and support into employment within the fashion-retail sector."

And the Reality Check [1.11]

"Han: Look, two parties of cool hipsters are sitting at tables near wall. [Referring to a group of four hipsters sitting next to two homeless men]
Max: You think those are six hipsters? Okay, let's go over this one more time. Hipster or homeless pop quiz, ready?
Han: Ready.
Max: Hipsters wear?
Han: Skinny jeans.
Max: Homeless wear?
Han: Dirty jeans.
Max: Hipsters listen to?
Han: Radiohead.
Max: Homeless listen to?
Han: The voices in their head.
Max: Hipsters have?
Han: Beard and a blog.
Max: Homeless have?
Han: Beard and so much sadness. I see sadness, there and there.
Max: I'll handle this. [Walks toward the group of hipsters] I told you before, I don't want your kind in here. Take a trendy hike. Better step it up. The Apple Store closes at ten.
Han: Max, why did you kick out the hipsters?
Max: 'Cause I could not be in the background of another Instagram photo."

"accredited interior design training, DIY workshops and upcycling courses to people who have experienced homelessnes"

Homeless people have paved the way for the Occupy Wall Street movement. In this essay I argue that homeless people’s Tent Cities, always subject to violent police destruction, represent a mode of taking space and transforming it from abstract space suitable to the law of value in capitalism into differentiated space adequate to the needs of people. In doing so, and against all odds, they establish new grounds for class struggle against the abstracting and violent forces of global capitalism. The Occupy movement, I argue, has much to learn, and much to gain, by joining forces with the armies of homeless people who have preceded it in learning to take and remake city space.

“The nightmare that comes to mind is a busted ATM that’s been graffitied and peed on,”

"This article explores aspects of a homeless man's everyday life and his use of material objects to maintain a sense of place in the city. We are interested in the complex functions of walking, listening and reading as social practices central to how this man forges a life as a mobile hermit across physical and imagined locales. This highlights connections between physical place, use of material objects, imagination, and sense of self. Our analysis illustrates the value of paying attention to geographical locations and objects in social psychological research on homelessness."

The City of Sydney is the only local council in Australia with a dedicated Homelessness team and has been providing a direct response to people who are homeless.

The City of Sydney is seeking a highly qualified, dynamic and innovative individual with a passion for working with communities and on the issue of homelessness to join our Homelessness team as Project Coordinator on a temporary 12 month basis.

The successful candidate will join an energetic and dedicated team working to coordinate and implement homelessness projects and initiatives within a global capital city.

Santiago Sierra

if I could write a prescription for keys to an apartment that that was going to do more to improve the health of the patient

From Andrew Cribb, 3Space: "It is worth highlighting where re-use of empty commercial buildings is helping the homeless and that is as spaces for education and training. For example 3Space has a unit in Cardiff which was used by the Big Issue for a week of training for their vendors. We also have other examples of spaces being used for training of the homeless leading to employment. Another example is every year at Christmas the charity Crisis takes over several vacant office spaces for a few weeks in London to provide a place where the homeless can visit a dentist, a podiatrist, get access to basic healthcare and have a hot meal. It is worth reading about the types of spaces they take on to deliver this project http://www.crisis.org.uk/pages... Architects also get involved and design temporary furniture to make it more comfortable. Then there are also examples of where art and creativity has been used to engage and help the disabled, such as art workshops run by Smiths Row in a 3Space shop.

The economic and social benefits that come with all types of re-use and pop ups should not be underestimated and you have highlighted some brilliant examples. However there no harm in us all working towards more of a mix - where the creative and the uncreative, the community and not so community work side by side and help each other along the way."

Free WiFi in the Parklands to increase their use by people during lunch, uni students, and others needing a connection. Couple the WiFi connections with more sheltered and shady spots and the parklands can attract more than the athletic or homeless.

Young women are overrepresented in homelessness however, most new projects focus on rough sleepers. The Australian Government?s White Paper 'The Road Home? identifies the target of halving rough sleeping by 2020. However, women and especially young women are often not sleeping and as such, are at risk of being overlooked in the broader solutions offered to end homelessness.

"If you do not wake up, I don't want to have to push your around.. you're committing an offence by sleeping in Martin Place under LGA 632 - offense to sleep here, sleeping bag=camping."
...
"this is not why we joined the police force..."
...
dictionary definition of camping: "tents and tent like structures in holiday type situation"
...
no definition of camping under law
...

Local Government Act s.536... sleeping bag=camping...

Arrest for breach of bail.

Changing Surfaces

Connor McGarry & Aimee Rozier

The focus of this photo diary is to bring attention to people’s ability to repurpose a space; whether it is intentional or not. Do It Yourself (DIY) Urbanism is about people’s perception and alteration of spaces to meet their needs.

Simply taping the word “love” over a conventional “way” on a one way sign can alter the meaning of the sign entirely (1/11/11). This sign, on 47th and 19th, exemplifies how a single word can change a person’s entire outlook of a space/progression of space. Easy as it is to discern that the sign has been altered, it is the next step that changes the way people think about this ordinary sign they normally see all over the city. Do you trust the sign and proceed as usual? Or do you discount the signs reputability and proceed in another fashion with caution. A simple change in surface calls into question the validity of something normally taken for granted.

The graffiti on the old TUBS building, at 50th and Roosevelt, expands further than the actual structure, marking the trees and mailbox on the street as well as the external utilities (1/11/11). The entire area has been transformed into a medium for graffiti artists. Here the change in surface is remarkable, the many layers of paint exhibit the personalities of numerous taggers. It is interesting to note that a sort of “critical mass” has been established here, where the surrounding buildings are left relatively “untarnished”, this is most likely due to a de jure ruling, labeling the TUBS building as set aside as a graffiti canvas.

The negative spaces between the painted pipes and wheels at Gasworks Park transition from children’s play area during the day into makeshift bedrooms and safe storage areas for the homeless at night(1/18/11).

Incl. analysis from Canada and UK

Marginal Residents of Caravan Parks
By Associate Professor Chris Chamberlain, Director of the Centre for Applied Social Research, RMIT University.

"The location is strategic on two levels. It houses residents in an area with access to transit and grocery stores, and it is a statement to Los Angeles: Affordable housing is not a blight that needs to be hidden away."

“It is a controversial concept. When we first showed [Maltzan’s design] to the investors, they wondered why we were making such a dramatic building,” says Molly Rysman, the Trust’s director of special projects and external affairs. “We had to convince them that it doesn’t need to be bland. Affordable housing improves the neighborhood and creates an anchor in the community. It’s not about blending in, but about having an impact.”

"The image above was created in the fall of 2008, right as the financial meltdown was getting white-hot. The idea that the wizards of Wall Street should share their posh financial district with a Rio-style favela seemed fitting, given the number of people who were suddenly finding themselves homeless."