Homelessness, And How We Can Help
James Mack, Emma Thompson, Alyssa Clark, Brooke McGee
Mission Statement
Our mission for this assignment was to find a current issue that we could help alleviate or bring awareness to. As a group we decided that we should focus on the local poverty level and the lack of help in the Rock Hill area for many homeless civilians. Our first steps were to develop a concept, questions, and ideas to scope out the situation and deal with it in a manner that would be beneficial for the community. We decided to create an after-school program that would be available to homeless students receiving primary or secondary education in the Rock Hill area.
We started very broadly on the topic of homelessness and explored options such as soup kitchen events, or events that provide medical aid such as free clinics. We decided to try and shoot for something closer to home that could help assist the younger individuals in the homeless community. We wanted to branch into an idea that could benefit children and teens and give them the chance for a better future. In a map published in 2018 by Eviction Lab, it is recorded that York County is responsible for 8.3k eviction filings in a year. This information is important because evictions are one of the direct factors that contribute to homelessness. Other potential services that will be offered include children science and art programs. The intent of this will be to inspire creativity and critical thinking. Perhaps spark some interest in a subject that could eventually grow into a career path. The youth can benefit from the program by receiving emotional, social, and academic support that is crucial to their development.
Prototyping
We came up with the idea for an after-school program aimed at providing meals and programs or courses that would be helpful to the development of these young adults. This program would provide a location for the students to get help with homework, or develop skills such as art, writing, or music. The expectation of the program is to provide a comfortable after school environment for children who are experiencing homelessness. We are aware that this does not solve the overall problem of child homelessness but this is a small start to finding a large solution. The services offered at this program are intended to influence children to focus on skills that may be valuable in the future. Perhaps the skills that are learned here can be continued once they leave elementary school students as they progress throughout school.
This program would offer students:
-Financial literacy courses (grades 7-12)
-Mental health information and therapy sessions
-Tutoring Services and recreational activities
-Meals
-Transportation
This program would benefit the Rock Hill community because it will also require more people to help maintain the program. So, more job opportunities are brought to this community.
We plan to create a flier that will be hung in the main office of participating schools as well as a logo and a general floor plan of the gym. This flier is a rough idea of the layout and visuals that will be used to introduce the information to viewers. This friendly design should catch the eye of anyone who walks past the traditional bulletin board in the office. Students who require transportation services will be accommodated, within a 10 mile radius. We believe that radius is within the general area of the audience that we are promoting this to.
We plan to make this program grant and community funded in order to minimize out of pocket cost for the families. We believe that this program would be eligible for a Title one grant considering that the location we chose will have a high concentration of impoverished students. This grant would be a good jumpstart but in order to make this program long term we would also need to find other means of acquiring funds so we can expand.
Meals will be served in these containers. We believe the design should be kid friendly, durable, and spill proof. The slit seal provides a strong lid for the box and the curated cardboard film box makes it easy to hold messy foods efficiently.
Giving a helping hand
