In continuing our exploration of social design projects, I thought I’d tell y’all about HourSchool (which, sadly, doesn’t seem to be in existence anymore).
HourSchool started as a project at the Austin Center for Design (AC4D) and was developed by Ruby Ku and Alex Pappas, who were interested in alleviating homelessness in the Austin area. They met with many homeless people to understand their lives and needs. Pappas and Ku found that,
“Over and over, homeless people told us that the best part of their day was when they could help others and share what they know,” (HourSchool).
Consequently, they realized that social interaction could mean the difference between living on and off the streets; in fact, this discovery is in direct opposition to most homeless programs in which basic needs are met, but people continue to be homeless. Pappas and Ku argue that this happens because people need to feel needed to want to live and improve their situation. Through this revelatio, they created HourSchool, a program that allows all people (including and especially the homeless) to share their skills via classes.
[source]
Again, because of social immersion the AC4D team was able to create something relevant and ultimately helpful to the homeless and the community in which they dwell.
I’ve got one more social design case study coming at you tomorrow. It involves PIE. 
