Designing with Compassion: M4 Students Learn About Homelessness from HOME Bermuda
On Friday, September 27, Ms. Denise Carey taught our M4 Design students about the realities of homelessness and providing shelter to the unhoused in Bermuda. Ms. Denise Carey is the Executive Director from HOME Bermuda, and was joined by Mr. Devray Denwiddie, HOME Case Manager and Mr. Oral Barnett, HOME Renting Ready Coordinator.
Ms. Carey brought nuance and humanity to a community of people that is largely invisible in Bermuda, educating our students on the variety of people who experience homelessness, how they cope with their circumstances, and what it takes to help our neighbours get their needs met and make the transition from homelessness to a sheltered and safe housing situation. Students in M4 Design will use the lessons of this visit to inform how they design shelters for vulnerable communities, understanding that people who experience homelessness are neither a monolith nor without the desire or capacity to change their circumstances. The designs of our students will be exhibited at an upcoming event, with details to be announced shortly.
We thank Ms. Carey, Mr. Denwiddie, and Mr. Barnett for joining us at Somersfield to help raise the social consciousness of our students, providing an example of compassion in action to positively impact our local community.
Additionally, our Interact service club will be collecting comforters later this fall for donation to HOME as part of their annual drive. Please put aside any used and useful comforters that you might like to donate to the cause; details on this drive will be forthcoming. In December, our Interact club members will be visiting the Black Circle complex at HOME’s headquarters in Hamilton to participate in refreshing the facility ahead of a new cohort of residents, where they will learn first hand about the needs of the unhoused in Bermuda, and the types of assistance that HOME provides as part of its Housing First initiative, including a variety of life skills that can help transition people out of homelessness.
For more information about HOME Bermuda or to make a donation please visit https://home.bm.