Multigen Makers Playbook
How to co-create a makerspace program in your affordable housing community
The Multigen Makers Story
Three years ago, the residents of Bayview Towers embarked on a remarkable journey that would weave together the threads of creativity, collaboration, and community spirit. The catalyst for this transformative venture was the collaboration between the Bayview Towers community; CAST, an organization working to expand learning opportunities and equity for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning (UDL); Operation Pathways (OP), the resident services provider with family-centered coaching model; and the Boston University Social Learning Lab.
Together, the partners set out to co-design a sustainable model for a community-run multigenerational makerspace that would redefine their communal spaces and foster a sense of togetherness. Honing their creative problem-solving skills would benefit individuals and the community and become a vessel for navigating change, expanding career pathways, and unlocking opportunities. Significantly, they would define their place within the makerspace movement on their terms — changing the narrative on who makes, what it means to make, and what is valuable.
Another goal was to create a sustainable community-led model that lifts leadership from within and forges local partnerships. Our aim with this Playbook is to share our insights and serve you in co-creating a makerspace program in your affordable housing community.
Partners
Creating a community-run makerspace and associated programming takes a village, and success depends first and foremost on the housing community itself. The Bayview Towers community was key to the success of the Multigen Makers program. This project brought together CAST, a nonprofit education research and development organization working to expand learning opportunities and equity for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning (UDL), the NHP Foundation/Operation Pathways, a national affordable housing provider with robust services and a family-centered coaching model for residents to support mobility from poverty, and the Boston University Social Learning Lab, which researches the social context for STEM learning.
We are grateful for funding by the National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Program.