Great responses to ‘anti-homeless spikes’: Benches that double as shelters, buses converted into showers

When a London, England, apartment complex installed metal spikes on the ground near its entrance to deter homeless people from sleeping there, the public response — and social media response — was one of outrage.

Similar studs were installed outside a Tesco supermarket to prevent people from loitering outside the store. Again, they were "denounced for their cruelty." The supermarket agreed to remove them.

Then we learned that "anti-homeless spikes" aren't unique to London: they've even popped up in Canadian cities.

A Vancouver charity, RainCity Housing, is now making headlines for its innovative response to the recent increase of "hostile architecture" in urban centres: Pop-up shelters to shield the homeless from the rain.

Last fall, the nonprofit converted city benches into solar-powered usable shelters.

By day, a bench's backboard read, "This is a bench." At night, glow-in-the-dark text appeared: "This is a bedroom."

Another bench read, "Find shelter here." When the backboard was propped up to create a roof and provide temporary shelter, it read, "Find a home here," and included the address of RainCity's shelter.

Bill Briscall, the communications manager for RainCity Housing, told CBC News that Vancouver creative agency Spring Advertising proposed the PR campaign to the charity at no cost.

The benches were in place for two months last fall, but are only getting major media attention now — after they have been removed. Still, Briscall said he's happy the issue of homeless is getting more attention.

"Yes, it's the opposite of what's happening in the U.K. and even in Montreal, but we still have so much to do to provide housing so that people aren't looking at benches as an option to sleep on," said Briscall.

Briscall added that, despite the buzz about the benches, RainCity Housing has no intentions of putting the pop-up shelters back on Vancouver sidewalks:

"We wouldn't put money into something like that. We would put money into real, actual housing. We would want to put money into something a little more permanent, than a bench."

Another innovative approach to caring for the homeless is about to change lives in California.

In San Francisco, the nonprofit LavaMae is taking old unused city buses and retrofitting them with showers for homeless people to use. One bus can provide up to 30 showers a day. Four buses should be running by the spring of 2015.

"What we are about is providing hygiene, because we believe that hygiene brings dignity and dignity opens up opportunity," said LavaMae founder Doniece Sandoval.

"This is bigger than showers, this is community change through action," Zordel told ThinkProgress. "Sandoval serves as a role model that inspires me daily. One person can make radical change."