Respectful, responsive and community-driven design
For years, housing developers have often failed to amplify the voices of low-income and unhoused community members. VCH seeks to fundamentally change this approach and collaborate with neighbors, leaders, and organizations throughout the housing development process to ensure that each project reflects lower income communities’ visions, prevents displacement, and builds community capacity and decision-making power.
As such, community-led design is a core aspect of VCH’s housing development process. This approach involves collaborating with historically underrepresented community members, primarily BIPOC and low-income people, and incorporating their expertise and feedback throughout each phase of a building’s design.
Community-led design happens throughout the life cycle of a project. While processes vary depending on the neighborhood and development type, they generally involve community listening sessions, design charrettes with the architecture team, surveys, and public site activations.
The participatory design process aligns diverse perspectives, combats polarization, produces creative solutions that come directly from community members, provides community ownership, builds trusting relationships, and increases the community’s capacity to grow.
