Addressing The Homeless Community Of Chicago - Xavier Pacheco

Xavier Pacheco is the winner of the Service Design category. Xavier is an Industrial Design BDes graduate from UIC College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and based in Chicago, USA. Xavier’s work AllY deals with homelessness in Chicago. The City of Chicago is home to approximately 2.7 million people. According to the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services, roughly 4,500 people were homeless in 2021. In a city that takes pride in the close-knit nature of its communities, why is it that the homeless community is largely overlooked by its citizens? Fueled by the misconception that the homeless are somehow responsible for their plight, due to substance abuse or laziness, the norm is to ignore the homeless asking for support on the street. Worse, there is no public service messaging targeting the homeless to assist them in finding the help they need.

Xavier’s project AllY is a user-centred support system designed for Chicago's homeless community. The system provides information about nearby resources through infographic support maps and connects them to service locations via the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). AllY puts an ally on the streets of Chicago to assist homeless individuals in getting back to where they want to be.