Formerly homeless maker reengineering the homeless shelter



Over at Institute for the Future's Future Now blog, my colleague Rebecca Chesney writes:

Marc Roth moved to San Francisco to make a better life for his family, but he soon became ill and unable to work. After six months living in a homeless shelter, he used assistance money to take classes at TechShop, a makerspace that provides tools and training for members. Marc learned new skills that led to starting his own laser cutting business, and, more importantly, he found support in an active and engaged community. Now Marc wants to help others who have fallen on hard times and don't have the skills needed to enter today's technology-driven economy. He founded The Learning Shelter, a 90-day program that provides housing, training, and mentorship for obtaining a job. A true extreme learner, Marc is teaching others what he learned: that the "permission to fail and encouragement to break through the walls you run into [are] absolutely necessary."


The Indiegogo campaign is over but Marc's work has just begun: The Learning Shelter (Thanks, Gever Tulley!)