OUR PROJECT
Discover where it all started:
Most of us take a good night's sleep for granted: Climb into bed, pull up the covers and settle in for eight hours of rest. But for thousands of Orange County's homeless citizens who lack food, clothing and shelter, this is not an option.
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Project SIX aims to address this need by challenging a select team of UC Irvine engineering and arts students to conceptualize and design a lightweight, highly portable, durable bed that can be manufactured inexpensively and distributed widely, initially to homeless Orange County residents and ultimately on a larger scale. Ideally the bed will also have applications for emergency and/or refugee situations where large numbers of people have been displaced and require basic comforts.
BACKGROUND​
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Last year, I provided disposable cameras to homeless residents at Santa Ana Civic Center. The goal of the project, “Inside/Out,” was to obtain a view of their lives that most of us never see from a passing car, and to humanize them in a unique way that would attract compassion and support from community members and organizations. The project was an unexpected success, earning a month-long exhibit in Santa Ana's
AvantGarden Gallery and significant media coverage of the accomplishment. Even more compelling was an eye-opening perspective on the grim reality of homelessness, including the daily challenge of simply finding a warm, dry place to sleep.
To view a slideshow of selected photos, please visit: The Inside/Out Slideshow on Youtube.
TODAY​
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Recent statistics show OC's homeless totaling about 4,500 on one night, and 15,000 (unduplicated) annually. The vast majority sleep on the ground, perhaps buffered from the cold and damp by a cardboard box or two, often, just newspaper or an old blanket. An added insult is exposure to many life-threatening diseases, including hantavirus, trench mouth, roundworms and tularemia, all of which are transmitted via ground- and dirt-based elements.
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Local efforts to develop permanent housing solutions for the homeless are hampered by political, funding and NIMBY issues complicate the process. And it is unlikely that such housing could be created on a scale that would eliminate homelessness altogether.
"Project SIX not only provides students an unparalleled opportunity to address a pressing social
issue, it will be a significant step in elevating comfort and reducing health risks for thousands of homeless citizens in Orange County and beyond."
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Susan Menning, Founder