Make-Good Sleep
I have another idea.
What if the Brisbane 2032 Olympics were to showcase an innovative solution to the homeless problem?
This is an extension of an idea I posted a few weeks ago about the Make-Do Olympics: This was the Make-Good Sleep project, BNE Bed Nightly Everyone.
The initial spark for the idea came from a conversation that Chris Meredith and I had with Norm McGillivray and Natalie Rayment on The Common Creative Podcast about the homeless initiative he founded called Beddown - Putting blow-up mattresses in carparks overnight to give homeless people a safe place to sleep.
Norms' inspiring story is best heard in his own words (you can listen here), but he said one thing during the interview that really stuck with me. At the end of the first two-week trial, one of the guests told him that he had secured a bed each night, and as a result of finally getting some proper sleep, he had managed to get a job and was in the process of finding permanent housing. He explained to Norm that he was not on the streets because he took drugs, but he took drugs because he was on the street. He said it was the only way he could get any sleep at all, to get over both the discomfort and the fear of sleeping rough. But after two weeks of solid sleep, he was able to get off the drugs and start to put his life back together.
I did some volunteering for Norm, and I noticed something else. Some of the guests didn't like having to congregate with others. Whatever the reason, whether they are distrustful, embarrassed or just loners (a reason why I suspect some of them are on the streets), as soon as they could, they were out of there.
The last thing I noticed was that Beddown could not take anyone under 18, a group that probably needed the security of a safe place to sleep the most.
My idea is small, self-contained pods with a bed, a shower and a toilet. Solar-powered and air-conditioned. Relocatable and sited in parks, on-street or off-street parking or on the boundaries of private properties. There may be half a dozen different internal layouts and built forms. But every one of them is skinned by a different artwork, not to camouflage, but to draw attention to say this is how much we care as a city about those who find themselves with a permanent, safe place to live. And to say we care about art and our artists, not just our sportspeople.
Make Good Sleep.
Businesses, individuals, sporting or community groups, and schools could sponsor the funding and the upkeep, cleaning and changing the linen daily. There might be an employment opportunity for some guests to do the cleaning, etc.
They could be booked online, geolocated (I noticed that most homeless people have mobile phones), and accessed by codes. They could be a hotel: check out by 10:00 and check in later in the day. Limit the stay to a couple of nights and find another.
There will be lots of resistance - not in my front yard, and it won't solve the homeless pandemic. Still, it provides a safe place for some people to shower and sleep, and they might be able to put their lives back together.
It would require changes or relaxations of local government ordinances that don't allow sleeping in cars (camping in a public space) or a sleeping pod in the carpark of a commercial building (residential use not allowed).
However, it is an idea to promote thinking differently about a problem that is not going away.
I am curious: what do you think of this idea?
You can see a PDF of the idea here. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/s5dup4esu6qcnxtruiu2c/BNE-Bed-Nightly-Everybody-v3.pdf?rlkey=jp6c8dyix5drraei5udh1tamm&dl=0
I am on a mission* to reignite the creativity that people and teams have lost, buried or inadvertently misplaced with ideas, stories, a gentle nudge or a swift kick up the creativity pants.
*via keynotes, workshops, one-on-one coaching/mentoring and visual
Thanks for James Foley and the team at FOLAR Studio for doing a plan of the concept for me.
#speaking #storytelling. #Thecommoncreative #homelessbrisbane #brisbane2032 #brisbaneolympics #innovation #homelessness