From Texas to Mobile, Alabama, the Gulf Coast took a huge hit from hurricanes Katrina & Rita. In fact, 9 months after the worst natural disaster in US history (Hurricane Katrina), much of the New Orleans region remains a wasteland.
While a variety of public assistance and volunteer efforts streamed into the affected areas to help those in need, the assistance has begun to taper off even as the needs grow larger. Rents for available housing and premiums for homeowner's insurance have skyrocketed, pricing those in low wage jobs out of housing they could previously afford. The result is a crisis situation on the verge of exploding. Already, record numbers of homeless people can be seen shuffling about, panhandling, scrounging for food or seeking a place to sleep, not only in downtown New Orleans but even in the suburbs.
Although simple and clear answers regarding how to rebuild New Orleans are elusive, a current design competition could soon provide a wealth of practical, mobile shelter solutions. Known as Shelter In A Cart, the contest has already attracted over 4000 designers. Participation is open to applicants from around the world and an exhaustive report will be published when the results are compiled later this month.
I learned about the design competition by chance this afternoon while at the website of bicyclist Tony Hoar of Vancouver, Canada (the second Brit to ever finish the Tour de France). Tony makes specialty bike trailers of all sorts. I wanted to see if he was interested in providing me with some custom parts to convert a hard case I'm creating for the Mobiky Genius folding bicycle into a cargo trailer (so a traveler could take their Mobiky by plane to a destination, remove it from the hard case, then use the hard case as a trailer while they travel).
Tony had created a custom trailer to act as an rv of sorts for a cyclist. By eliminating some frills, Tony realized that his travel trailer would make an excellent mobile shelter for the homeless and for use after natural disasters. He approached non-profit agencies in his region. Since none were interested in deploying his trailer, Tony gave the prototype to a homeless guy. Word quickly spread and Tony was interviewed by media from around the world. Shortly thereafter, Tony was contacted about producing the winning designs of the Shelter In A Cart competition later this month. The folks at DesignBoom.com (runners of the competition) didn't even know about Tony's existing mobile shelter. Can you imagine their amazement when he told them that he already had one produced?
Tony and I were brainstorming on ways to cut the cost of the mobile shelters so they could be purchased with donations and distributed through grass roots organizations like ACORN or Common Ground that are on the front lines of efforts to help the poor reclaim their lives in New Orleans. Perhaps we can use discarded "Blue Roof" tarps for the tents; perhaps complex components of the mobile shelters (such as the joints and hitch) can be fabricated by Tony and the rest can be assembled on site in New Orleans. Regardless, the mobile shelter is certainly a product that could help people that are in desperate need of shelter that they can call their own.I'm going to contact DesignBoom and ask if they'll sponsor more competitions to help the homeless and others in need. If you'd like to help us produce shelters for the homeless, post a comment or give me a call at 504-324-2492.
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