Two years ago I passed by the dumpsters to the side of Brighton Hall. A tall, thin man was sorting the recyclables into an ingeniously made system of bags hanging off his bicycle. I stopped to ask him if he was taking bottles to recycle them. We chatted. He told me how much each type went per pound or per piece and then we parted our ways.

This homeless man probably has no recollection of me, but I have never forgotten him. In that brief conversation, the homeless problem turned into a human interaction. I learned from him, a body normally shamefully ignored suddenly filled with personality and understanding.

The students and teachers of Sacramento State had a similar experience recently while working for the Salvation Army center. Interior design assistant professor Jill Pable devised a collaboration between the Salvation Army center and Sac State students.

Assistant Professor Johanna Latty, who is overseeing the photographic element of the collaboration thinks that the work has benefited the Salvation Army center and the students. Students have created designs to refurbish the space and built a Hope Wall to add to the existing structure.

“It’s almost as if everyone is bringing each other gifts,” Latty told me over her laptop, showing me the student’s digital images. Faces of intelligent, weary, sweet people filled her files.

Latty is amazed by the diversity of means that people arrive in the shelter. “Homeless isn’t all what you think it is, it’s a complicated situation. It makes people think of their own lives, what it takes to have a house with all the stuff. If you don’t have the ability to orchestrate all those elements”, she trails off, musing on the frailty of our situations.

The Public Policy Institute reports that California’s homeless problem has more to do with falling incomes and higher rents than personal disabilities. The National Low Income Housing Coalition cites that the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit is $816 per month, but that a resident on minimum wage can generally afford no more than $351 per month.

The students have worked incredibly hard on the collaborative project. Interior design student Robert Sinclair spoke to me, describing it as very challenging. He says, “Usually we get a paper project. This is a real building, with real parameters. It’s more challenging in that aspect, a lot more issues to consider.” Sinclair has been working primarily on the ADA requirements within his group. The social significance was not lost on Sinclair in the least. He hopes that the bar of awareness about homeless issues will be raised after this project, mirroring some of San Francisco’s programs. His personal perspective has changed as well. “These are regular people– you see how tenuous it is for people,” Sinclair told me.

An August 2003 report by the California Research Bureau gives an estimate of 361,000 homeless at any one point in our state. About a third are veterans, 40 percent are families and many are single men. The majority of the homeless are transitional, those who are unable to pay for housing for six months or less, but then leave homelessness. From 10 to 30 percent of the population is long term, where one has no permanent address over six months of the year.

The students are wrapping up the project. The final results, their drawings, and photographs of the project will be shown on December 7 at the Salvation Army on H Street.

Latty’s photography students will have a multimedia show on the fourth floor of Mariposa Hall from Dec. 7 to Dec. 15 and plan to create the documentary elements into a limited edition book (pending funding) to be published next spring. Latty is thrilled with the entire thing.

“We have so many students eager to put resources to help people,” she said. Sinclair is equally positive about Sac State, very happy that he is enrolled in one of the best design programs accredited by the Foundation for Interior Design Education Research (FIDER). I’m thrilled too. Sac State has a huge amount of resources available to the community, but we rarely use them.

This time we are, for the good of all involved. This season, go visit your design students and congratulate them on a job well done.