Students at the University of Oregon and volunteers with Opportunity Village are unveiling a new mobile workspace Saturday (today). This weekend, it will be parked at the transitional housing community to allow residents to maintain dwellings and fix bicycles.
The custom modified trailer is a tool shop for production, maintenance, and repair of personal items. It's the result of a grant-funded initiative from the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics to see how design can aid homeless people. Project Manager Alexander Froehlich says their research showed a need for more than just shelter and food.
Froehlich: "There's little to no opportunity for the learning, production and pedagogy maybe that lets a citizen take their future into their own hands. And so it was through this process of collaborating with all these individuals that we realized the need for a space that provides tools and programs for individuals to learn and practice the skills that they need to make their own future."
This weekend's activities coincide with the unofficial one-year anniversary of the completion of Opportunity Village. The Eugene City Council voted Wednesday to extend the agreement for the community on Garfield Street until 2016.
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