Care-a-Van

A group project by Elif Erez, Geráud Bablon, Maggie Chen, & Snow Xu

In Cambridge, the city government and local nonprofits offer a range of services to meet the needs of older adults, which include social programming and volunteer opportunities that build communal connection and trust. Yet as the city ages, isolation becomes a greater challenge. We live in a fast-paced culture that devalues the wisdom and perspectives of elders with rich life experiences and fails to recognize the meanings of intergenerational engagement.

Care-a-Van approaches social infrastructure from both a needs-based and an assets-based perspective. First, the project aims to build stronger networks of intergenerational connection that help older adults meet the basic needs they need assistance with and age in place. Furthermore, we hope to center older adults as integral parts of our social infrastructure. The project thus provides platforms for their life experiences and wisdom to shine as pillars of the community.

Care-a-Van features a converted bus that serves as a mobile dining room and community hub. It breaks social programming out of the walls of existing institutions and makes it more accessible to local communities. The Care-a-Van sets up pre-scheduled events in different neighborhoods of the city, focusing on meal sharing and cooking as the core programs. Through sharing the taste and stories of different dishes, Care-a-Van brings people together and highlights the action of passing down cultural and social lineage as well as building intergenerational kinship. The Care-a-Van event calendar also features skills exchange craft workshops, personal care programs, and social activities with the support of local volunteers. 

Care-a-Van was featured as a distinguished student project on the website of Harvard Graduate School of Design.

We envision 2 activation modes of the Care-a-Van. The first is to be parked standalone in public spaces such as in parks or by the river, etc. The second hybrid mode features the Care-a-Van parked near a public building, such as the senior center, the community library, the grocery store, or someone’s residential home.

Overall, Care-a-Van offers activities such as communal cooking, recipe sharing, nail care, hair brushing, knitting and crocheting skill share classes. These activities facilitated by volunteers serve as opportunities to bring elders together with younger people in their neighbborhoods to share life stories, advices, and exchange small acts of care.

Below, we provide some examples of where Care-a-Van can park and what types of activities it can host to promote intergenrational engagement.

When the Care-a-Van is not activated for community events, it can work as a service van that delivers grocery and prescription medication to elders in need.

A sample schedule of Care-a-Van demonstrates how it would mobilize in different locations of Cambridge, MA to provide array of services.

For more in-depth documentation about our research, developmental process, and the financial logistics of Care-a-Van, please see the PDF slide deck here.