Streetscapes: The Meaning of Home

The City of Cape Town has not found a permanent, successful solution to accommodating the large chronically homeless population living there. The sponsoring organization, Streetscapes, employs the sector of the population that struggles with substance abuse. In this project, we interviewed Streetscapes’ employees about what are considered important physical and emotional elements of a home. Streetscapes can use this information to improve their therapeutic programs and housing application processes to better meet an individual’s needs. Personal safety and being able to accommodate family were the top-ranking elements of importance. The survey tool and database produced from this project can also be used by city NGOs to annually track improving or worsening scores.

Natalia Carvajal Erker, Kendall Pacheco, Margaret Terry, and Jack Sorenson with advisers and sponsors

The Meaning of Home Amongst the Homeless Population of Cape Town, South Africa