LONDON, UK - 26/01/2023 - This week Spacestor has made their first donation to Depaul International assisting with accommodation in a global partnership aimed at helping people who don’t have a place to call home. As part of an agreement with the charity, Spacestor has committed to a ‘Get a Room, Give a Room’ initiative where every Verandas meeting room that is sold accommodates one homeless person. £100 ensures that a someone without a home can be given a place to sleep for multiple nights, which when intervention is early, can be the long-term difference between getting someone back on track again quickly or not.
Jason Eades, Senior Philanthropy Manager at Depaul International, explains ‘It is wonderful that a donation is being given to Depaul International to help support some of the most marginalised people in the world, each time a Verandas is purchased and installed. In turn each donation will help us realise our vision of a society in which everyone, across the world, has a place to call home and a stake in their community, and our mission to end homelessness and change the lives of those affected by it.”
Depaul International have subsidiaries that work all around the world, and it is because of their global reach, that Spacestor have chosen to form a partnership. This gives Spacestor’s clients who are looking to give back to the community, the confidence that every Verandas purchased is ending homelessness in their local region. The charity works within the US, running multiple notable projects including the Dax Program which addresses students’ immediate crises of homelessness and in the UK, Nightstop, an innovative project which provides emergency short term accommodation for homeless young people. The mobile shower van in France, wet shelters in Ireland, are examples of some, among many, of Depaul International projects on the ground which help people facing difficult times with no or inadequate accommodation.
Recently Depaul have been very active in Ukraine, working particularly effectively because of their existing pre-war presence in the country. “Before the full-scale conflict started in February 2022 Depaul was helping 8,500 people, we are now currently helping over 23,000 people a day.” Jason explains the effect of the war on Depaul International’s work saying, “we have reached people's basic needs by creating, in addition to our pre-war operating services in Kharkiv, Kyiv and Odesa, new one stop shops in many more Ukrainian cities so people can access medical care, psychosocial support, help with housing options, livelihood support and so much more.”
Fighting for longer-term change is the Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness (RIGH), which was co-founded by Depaul International in 2014 and, as Jason explains, “meets the gaping need for high-level advocacy and greater global collaboration and knowledge-sharing by agencies. In contrast to every other major social issue, homelessness was then marked by an absence of international coordination and representation and the RIGH, by working with the United Nations in partnership with the Vincentian Family delegation, aimed to define and measure homelessness globally.”
“The UN estimates that 1.6 billion people live in inadequate housing, and best data available suggests that between 100 and 160 million people have no housing at all.” These arresting statistics are serious, and it is mandatory that everyone plays their part to positively impact these figures, which in doing so will support those who need it most.
Spacestor is pleased to have made their first donation to help those who are homeless and is fulfilled in knowing that the money going to Depaul is expertly and considerately used to impact and aid communities and individuals. The influence of Verandas reaches far beyond the workplace and Spacestor’s donation as part of the ‘Get a Room, Give a Room’ initiative is the first of many more, the commencement of a long-term journey in support of a worthy cause. Verandas is not just a meeting space solution, it’s a way of giving back to the world around. This is because at the heart of everything Spacestor does, is a love for people. Not just for those at work but for all humankind.
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About Spacestor - Spacestor is the creator of architectural, space-defining furniture that seamlessly blends California cool with London Design. With a legacy spanning three decades, Spacestor first established themselves as a key innovator of workspace furniture and design thinking in the United Kingdom, but today, the company holds offices in London, Manchester, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City - giving them a unique position to observe and learn from some of the most creative and successful global companies. From their long-term engagements with clients like Google, JP Morgan, and Pfizer, Spacestor knows how a sustainable workspace environment drives organizational goals; whether building great team culture in a hybrid world or exciting people to be back in the office again.
