Creating safe spaces: designing day shelters for people experiencing homelessness

ABSTRACT

Day shelter programs are an important resource for people experiencing homelessness, offering respite from inclement weather, social stigma, victimization, and access to essential services and resources. Creating functional day shelter spaces requires that staff, services, and facilities support the needs of this vulnerable and marginalized population. Little guidance, however, is available regarding the design of day shelter spaces that support service engagement and positive service outcomes. This systematic review was conducted to support the development of a new day shelter in Fort Worth, Texas, identifying and reviewing interdisciplinary resources relevant to the design of these facilities. Based on the review, a preliminary taxonomy emphasizing day shelter client safety, security, dignity and health and well-being is proposed. Additional discussion identifies practical considerations affecting the implementation of the taxonomy, design priorities, and how the taxonomy was applied to the design of the Fort Worth day shelter.

KEYWORDS:

• Homelessness
• day shelter
• facility design
• drop-in
• service environment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr. James Petrovich is an Associate Professor in the TCU Department of Social Work.

Erin Roarke-Murphy, LMSW, is a doctoral student at the University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work.

Laura Hardin, LMSW, is a safety analyst for Praesidium, Inc.

Brooke Koch, LMSW, is a social worker for the Richardson Independent School District.

ORCID

Laura K. Hardin http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5017-1105

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fort Worth Foundation: [Grant Number RP0191].