Elders deserve more than shelter. They need housing that supports access, agency, and belonging. Designing for aging means planning for everyone. It’s not charity — it’s architecture for equity.
Typography Hierarchy
My name is Veronica Tijerina, this is my dog Valentina. I guess in my lifetime I worked with helicopters for the United States Coast Guard, but I’m not enlisted, I was never enlisted, I was a civilian. I’m 62, I’m homeless.
I chose Austin, I’m originally from Dallas, Fort Worth, but I came here because I like Austin. And I wanted to make this my home, but being here and the prices of the apartments and stuff, it’s ridiculous. There’s, it’s not for just ordinary people to come here. I don’t think it’s for retirement. You need to be working to stay in Austin, I believe. I can’t find nothing. I have to go out of Austin, which is okay with me, but because I’m homeless, I stay in Austin.
You know, safe like mouse. The more people, the safer you are, more or less. But here in Austin, sometimes it’s not, because somebody will get hurt. Sometimes at night, people get drunk out here and they do drugs, you know. And somebody’s going to get hurt. Some people have gotten hurt.
Most of all, together, we all take care of each other. Some outsiders come in and they’re the ones that do all the stupid shit. Yeah. Other than that, you get all kinds of people from all kinds of walks of life, I guess. Some people have, over 700 people have died in the past two years, homeless people, but of all things, but the police have told me that there’s been more than that, but there’s been some body harvesting and they don’t let mainstream society know that, like the newspapers and the media. It just, it just happens, right.
Visual Hierarchy
I’ve only been here for a year and a half. And a couple of hours while I had a two bedroom, two, a home, a town home in Abilene. Okay. I’m from Dallas and from Fort Worth, I had a nice home. Okay. But my boyfriend died. Okay. In 2017, so, by myself. Okay. And that’s where everything started to change. And then, but I’m trying to, I’m not looking for nobody to take care of me. No. I’m trying to do it on my own. Yeah. But the atmosphere here in Austin makes me want to go back to work.
- Create the table lines here
- Organize everything early thoroughly
- Development
- Shopify Development
And like in New York, you go to Brooklyn and stuff, the atmosphere there, or downtown New York, it just makes you want to be part of mainstream again. Right.
Well, I’m part of the homeless group, but I’m in the transitions. Right. It’s my choice. I’d rather not stay in shelters here because they’re.
The conditions in the shelters are. As much as being in jail. Okay. And I’ve spent some time in jail, not necessarily prison, but in jail cell. Okay.
UX Principal
And you, as an outsider, as a worker, mainstream society comes out here and you want to give money away. You just, you want to do it. There are some homeless people that demand that. Some of the mainstream society, give me, give me coffee, buy me, you’re going to buy me some coffee or give me $20. Yeah. I feel like they changed the stigma of homelessness and they make it like something you’re like, oh no, like don’t speak to them or don’t approach them.
If you’re making good money for many years and retirement, and you’re really retired, but if you’ve worked for 20 years and it’s just like your first retirement, to me, I don’t think you can make it here. Well, maybe they can, I don’t know. I know I can’t just work on my regular shift. Yeah. But I know Abilene’s a good place, but it’s a bad place for homeless people. Okay, yeah, you mentioned that. And, um, I don’t know. Yeah. There’s bad apples in every… Everything. Everything. From A to Z. Like, it’s unfortunate.
I have your information [Luniemére]. Now you got me.
I’ll remember you.
