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Oliven

A modular housing community that help young adults overcome homelessness and live up to their full potential

Fall 2021

Client

Government Counseling Agency Center for Housing

Industry

Public service

Services

User Research, Product Design, UX Design

A genuine, supportive, safe and respectful community for young adults experiencing homelessness, Oliven guides and supports residents' transition to a long term stable employment and housing.

In 2020, 4,775 youths were experiencing homelessness within LA County, a 19% increase over the previous year. Reasons for youth homelessness are diverse and can include family conflict, abuse or neglect, poverty, aging out of foster care, and rejection over sexual orientation. The pain points from this age group are unique. The TAY (Transition-age youth, age 18-24) are often rebellious and distrustful towards institutions. Their past relationships with adults are generally turbulent, which leave them vulnerable to unhealthy street habits and toxic relationships. Most importantly, they are more unwilling to receive help due to all the above characteristics. There are opportunities that go alongside the needs of TAY. They have higher potential to be influenced due to less years of being on the street. They long for a safe environment, sense of belonging, stable and loving relationships, and guidance from ones they trust. Oliven provides genuine guided support for TAY facing homelessness, and guarantees a measurable outcome if the clients could commit to the program. Oliven is a place that our clients, eventually can call home, and feel proud to be a member of this community.

Vision

We offer a genuine, supportive, safe and respectful community for young adults facing homelessness. This transitional housing program aims to guide and support residents to secure long term stable employment and housing.

How It Works

Oliven

Community. A supportive and loving place to help residents explore their true self, their potential, and eventually be able to call it their home. Modular housing. The fundamental safe space to help residents gain confidence and focus to achieve their individual milestones. The App. Guides residents to succeed through each learning stages, tracks progress and bridge them with buckets of resources.

The Model

We have three learning outcome including personal growth, social connections and professional development. The mentorship model ties these learning outcomes together by leveraging success stories from past graduated residents to motivate and inspire current residents.

Modular housing

A place where everyone can call home. Where they can make friends, feel safe, and closely involved We have two unit options: 520 sq.ft 4-person shared unit 325 sq.ft 2-person shared unit When resident achieve seniority, they can move from a 4-person shared unit to 2-person shared unit.

Oliven App

The main goal of this app is to assist residents to acquire skills and connections necessary for long-term success. The progression tracker and milestone stages help residents stay focused and motivated. Community feed connects graduated residents with current residents, and cheers residents up with warm messages and fun events to join.

"Our company was looking for a unique and thoughtful approach to simplifying the world through the eyes of a child. We are throughly impressed with the Nuri concept and look forward to introducing this new product to the world." -Jini Zopf

Length and size

Oliven is a small community where everyone can get to know each other. It feels like one big family. We tell our residents that they do not need to feel pressured about moving out within a certain time frame. As long as they are showing progress and reaching milestones on their own schedules, they should feel comfortable and in control of their time here. Generally, residents could complete the entire program around 2 years.

Journey at Oliven

Pilot location

This pilot location is the selected unused land shown below, at the freeway entrance beside the LA Convention Center. It is close to LA Trade Tech College, and the Grand/LATTC metro station. The walking distance is only 13 minutes. The area is relatively large - around 1.32 acre.

What’s next

For our targeted age group (the TAY), we can expand on the variety of educational paths tailored for individuals with different aspirations. The current pilot focuses on education in the trades industry. In the future, each location can have different educational goals such as the completion of high-school diploma, 4-year degree programs, and even graduate programs. For other age groups and demographics, this housing model needs to be motified in order to best fit the needs and characteristics of that specific group. For TAY, ample sunlight, big windows and greenery in their living space is important to their mental health. These elements uplift the general mood, making it a cozy place for residents to focus while maintaining their well-being. Below shows the timelapse of how windows on opposite sides of the unit allows sunlight to steep through both in the morning and in the afternoon.

The Team

Nancy Tsai

Product Design

Carina Geng

Interaction Design

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