Course: Managerial Economics
Semester: Fall 2017
For California Academy of Sciences: Nightlife -- Vibrant Cities event in November of 2017, Sarah Bahat’s Managerial Economics class developed an exhibit on behalf of St. Francis Homeless Challenge, a non-profit developing transitional housing for homeless residents.
Beginning with individual and small group research the class investigated stakeholders in the housing crisis in San Francisco and created early impact analysis reports on the potential of investing in alternative housing solutions, including tiny homes (like the St. Francis Homeless Challenge encourages. My personal research included attending several local meetings and events focused on the housing crisis, and interviewing local reporters covering homelessness in San Francisco.
After pitching and critiquing the individual project proposals, the class decided on the relevant themes and call to action that they wanted to address in the live exhibit. The class developed the “F!#ing Do Something” campaign and installation which helped to spotlight current conditions of San Francisco Homeless residents, illustrate potential improvements through alternate housing initiatives, and offered attendees the opportunity to fill out a postcard which would be delivered to the Mayor of San Francisco encouraging him to "F!#ing Do Something” about homelessness.
From there, the class created individual small project proposals which could be incorporated into a larger thematic exhibit. My small scale project, which I called “Comfort Crates,” was inspired in part by the Finnish ‘Baby Boxes’ and the United States ‘Welcome Wagons’’ which provide goods and information to individuals encountering major life events. By providing “comfort crates” to new residents of tiny homes and transitional villages, the provider could offer San Francisco’s homeless population with information and supplies that would benefit them as they settle into their new homes and communities and transition into more stable shelters. By lightly personalizing these ‘Comfort Crates’ for new residents, I hoped to address needs and barriers to success that are less often supported by broader social services, foster community and connection, and create neighbors instead of “nuisances.”
