Imagine this: In the midst of the current global pandemic, you have lost everything. You have lost your job, your car, and even your home. You have been stripped down to nothing when just a few months ago everything in life seemed to be going great. This is the reality of many Americans today; it was the reality for them prior to the pandemic and this trend will surely continue even after the pandemic has subsided. In fact, according to End Homelessness, “Seventeen out of every 10,000 people in the United States were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2019.” (End homelessness, 2020)

Although the issue above of the pandemic, generalized homelessness, and the economic state is a much broader issue to discuss at another time, there is one much more immediate issue that we hope to change: hostile architecture aka anti-homeless architecture. This social issue immediately affects those that are experiencing such traumatic experiences in life by limiting those that are experiencing homelessness with where they can go. Hostile architecture commonly places spikes on benches, bolts installed on steps, as well as other similar measures to keep those that are experiencing homelessness away from places where they can find shelter or refugee. With the above in mind, we are forming the social change group People Against Hostile Architecture.

People Against Hostile Architecture (PAHA) will use social media to begin a conversation with ourselves and the public about the detrimental use of hostile architecture. PAHA will then petition to stop the development of further hostile architecture and work toward removing the currently existing architecture by spreading awareness.