Moving from Hospitality to Inclusion
As the needs of refugees become more complex over time, charity is not the appropriate model for building an inclusive society. We need to move from hospitality to inclusion. We are rethinking the refugee camp, from a place of short-term habitation and service provision to a durable socio-spatial infrastructure for inclusion.
The UC SAN DIEGO-ALACRÁN Community Station aspires to economic inclusion, supporting the rights of migrants to migrate, but also to remain if they choose. With the support of the PARC Foundation, we have assembled a community-owned business—The Little Haiti Construction Cooperative, with a tool library, wood and metal machines, and a couple of trucks and tractors. Our partners will complete construction of this site and remain operational for future construction jobs across Los Laureles Canyon.
We design spaces and pedagogical programming that integrate the migrant and her children into the civic, social and economic life of the city. The site is fast becoming a nexus for migrant support, research and outreach by many units across the UC San Diego campus, investigating the public health challenges of precarious human settlements as well as the role social impact investment can play to fortify informal urbanization and support incremental housing, job generation and local economy.
