Veronika Scott is the Founder and President of The Empowerment Plan in Detroit. The Empowerment Plan was created as a work system to help reduce Detroit's homeless population while providing immediate shelter. The Empowerment Plan's "Element S" waterproof coats by day, sleeping bags by night, "S" standing for survival, are constructed with an outer barrier fabric used popularly as an interior barrier on homes in the construction industry, an inner layer of synthetic nylon for warmth and enclosure fasteners including 12 inches of plastic cord and six inches of PVC tubing. In Scott's role as Founder and President, she is responsible for the everyday management of The Empowerment Plan, coat development, funding research and employment of Cass Community Social Services shelter residents. Currently a design student at the College of Creative Studies in Detroit, the "Element S" concept coat was created after Scott received a college assignment in early 2010 to design and fulfill a need. Scott spent more than three months visiting Detroit's warming stations and homeless shelters during her research of the college assignment and learned the harsh reality that more than 32,000 homeless reside on the streets of Detroit. With pride being the most prominent reason that many of Detroit's homeless avoid seeking the safety of shelters -- Scott decided to take her college assignment a step further and pursue funding opportunities to help her develop more than 150 coats that could be distributed to Detroit's homeless and serve as immediate shelters for those who choose to avoid seeking help from shelter services. Scott was successful in connecting with Detroit-based work wear company, Carhartt to help her get started with funding and supplies including three industrial sewing machines, heavy-duty thread and fabric fasteners, industrial cutters and yards and yards of quilted synthetic nylon. Scott currently employs 3 female Cass Community Social Services shelter residents who sew the Element S coats in her 1,200 sq ft space inside a 42,000 sq ft warehouse located at 1401 Vermont St. in Corktown, Detroit's oldest and most historic neighborhood. Scott shares this warehouse with many other local designers and artists. Scott's employees, once homeless themselves, are now learning a trade and have paid employment building coats for others who are currently homeless. To date, The Empowerment Plan has developed more than 75 coats. In cooperation with Detroit PATH, Program Assistance in Transition from Homelessness, Scott has delivered more than 25 coats to Detroit's homeless population. Currently, Scott and her sewing team plan to stockpile more than 100 coats this summer to prepare for the upcoming Michigan winter season. Scott continues to work towards her goal of establishing The Empowerment Plan as a 501(c) non-profit organization. The Empowerment Plan is completely reliant on donations and private funding. To learn more on how you can donate to the cause, visit detroitempowermentplan.blogspot.com/. Scott is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the College of Creative Studies in Detroit and expects to graduate this December 2011. Her areas of interest include product design, figure drawing, critical theory and cultural phenomenology. Scott resides in downtown Detroit and is an active supporter of the city and its improvement potential. Scott has won the IDSA IDEA Gold Award, an international industrial design award and actively participates in many conferences to promote The Empowerment Plan including: IDEA Detroit Conference, Rustbelt to Artist Belt Conference in Detroit, TEDx Detroit and Eli Lilly Internal Conference in Orlando, Fla. and Indianapolis. Scott plans to speak at SOCAP in San Francisco and the Young Women's Change Makers Conference at the United Nations later this year. In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TED has created a program called TEDx. TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. Our event is called TEDxTraverseCity, where x = independently organized TED event. At our TEDxTraverseCity event, TEDTalks video and live speakers will combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events, including ours, are self-organized.

• published: 05 Jun 2012
• views: 401