projectFIND - Open Doors Project
There is no one path to homelessness. There are different situations and reasons that influence how someone can become homeless, and it affects many communities and people from all backgrounds. Based on our research and conversations with individuals experiencing homelessness and the organizations that serve them, we realized that there is a gap between the stable
housing community and the homeless community of Cleveland. A majority of the stable housing community doesn’t know, or chooses not to know, the extent of the homeless problem in Cleveland. This disconnect leads to misunderstanding, divisions between the communities, and the continuation of homelessness. Currently, there are few effective ways for the homeless and the stable housing communities to connect and communicate. As socially engaged artists, we identified an opportunity to create these connections by exposing the stable housing community to the reality of homelessness through a series of collaborative and interactive installations. These installations are free-standing doors, specifically placed in public locations of importance to the homeless community. Each door will be donated by people in stable housing, and then altered by the homeless community prior to installation. What we aim to achieve with this project includes:
- Develop a stronger relationship between those experiencing homelessness and those in stable housing.
- Give a voice to the homeless community.
- Raise awareness of the current condition of homelessness to the stable housing community.
- Set the groundwork for future dialogue and inspiration for the communities support for each other. Doors contain several metaphors that speak to both communities. They represent separation and connection, as well as the ideas of safety, ownership, and domesticity. The stable housing community often takes doors for granted, unlike the homeless community that lives in awareness of not having access to their own door. When participants go through the door, they find themselves in the same public space, lacking the warmth and safety of a home that they expect to find on the other side. As of today, the project is ongoing and continuously evolving. Each meeting with the homeless community is bringing us closer to our goal. We are currently asking the stable housing community to help with the process by make donations or getting further involved.
