A coffee company that is not for profit is behind a scheme to provide roving treatment and consultation rooms for homeless people and rough sleepers.
Social enterprise Change Please100 percent of coffee sales profits go to homelessness prevention, including support for employment, barista training, and housing.
Two London buses have been repurposed by the Change Please Foundation to allow homeless people to access potentially lifesaving services such as GP consultations and therapy assessment. They also offer showers, haircuts, and employment support.
It worked alongside architecture and design practice TP Bennett to bring the Driving for Change project to fruition, and the buses are now in action on London’s streets six days a week.
Cemal Ezel, founder and CEO of Change Please, hopes the project will continue until at least October 2023 with financial support from Mastercard or Colgate.
He said the project gives vulnerable people the chance to access “crucial services that can guide and support them in changing their lives long-term”.
Ezel hopes to bring the scheme on the road before it is rolled out globally. Talks are currently ongoing in Paris, Los Angeles, and Paris.
Main image: Driving for Change bus. Credit: Hufton+Crow
