**Please note: ALL workshops, summits & tours require official registration through the main unConference registration page. There is an additional charge to attend (unless you've purchased a VIP conference pass). You can sign up for individual workshops, summits and tours A La Carte (without a conference pass) OR if you've already purchased your conference pass, you can log back in and add any workshops, summits or tours to your registration** COST: $30 per person**A portion of this cost will be donated to the BLOCK Project + Facing HomelessnessSTARTING LOCATION & TRANSPORTATION: Attendees will meet at the Beacon Hill light rail station. Attendees are responsible for getting to the light rail station on their own.
Click here to buy lightrail tickets, view schedules or download the King County Transportation App for your phone. Each attendee will be given a lightrail ticket for transportation between the BLOCK Project sites during the tour and will travel with their group and tour guide.
Attendees are responsible for their own transportation after the tour.
TOUR:Attendees will meet Jenn LaFreniere, BLOCK architect-owner who co-designed the home, at the Beacon Hill light rail station. Each group will tour a local BLOCK Project home and explore the surrounding neighborhood, following in the footsteps of the home's resident who commutes from that very same light rail stop. The groups will reconvene for lunch at a local eatery (or picnic, weather permitting). Next, the group will ride the light rail and walk a short distance to the Facing Homelessness office to continue the conversation. To conclude, attendees will visit the Window of Kindness and are encouraged to stick around for as long as their hearts desire.
The BLOCK Project invites community into the task of ending homelessness by placing a BLOCK Home in the backyard of one single-family lot on every residentially zoned block within the City of Seattle. Each 125 sq ft home is beautifully designed to be off-grid, self-sufficient, and amenity-rich (featuring a kitchen, bathroom, sleeping area, solar-panels, greywater system, composting toilet, etc.). The BLOCK Project represents an innovative leap forward on the issues of homelessness, cross-class integration, social inclusion, and architectural design.
The BLOCK Project is a housing initiative and a community building project. Through its integrated design, this project will not only offer opportunities for healing and advancement to those formerly living on the fringes of society, but it will also bring connection, relationship, and compassion to the center of our lives and communities. Many social injustices, including homelessness, are perpetuated through emotional and physical separation, which allows us to get stuck on the complexity of the issue. By literally saying, “Yes, in my backyard”, we will begin to see the person afflicted by the issue. We believe this will nurture the empathy needed to catalyze a global movement.
Detailed schedule/logistics:12:00pm | Attendees meet Jenn at the Beacon Hill light rail station
12:00 - 12:30 | Group A walks to Bobby's house and tours the space, group B explores the neighborhood with other tour leader
12:30 - 12:45 | Swap! Group A begins exploring the neighborhood, group B heads to Bobby's house
12:45 - 1:15 | Group A continues exploring the neighborhood, group B is at Bobby's house to tour the space
1:15 - 2:15 | Group A + group B meet up at a lunch spot in the area (TBD)
2:15 - 3:00 | Light rail and walking from Beacon Hill to Facing Homelessness office
3:00 - 4:00 | FH presentation + Q&A
4:00 | Onward WOK interactions, attendees welcome to stay as long as desired
4:30pm | Suggested departure time
