Non-profits are held to a higher standard in the quest for success, one not defined by maximizing profits, but by empowering people. Currently, on a typical night more than 650,000 Americans are homeless. Nearly 2.5 million American children (one in every 30) experience homelessness each year. The average income for a resident of the Good Samaritan is $1200 per month. Zero governmental subsidies cover housing for these folks in the 30% of area median income level.
A J S D A Inc. Pilot Project, we teamed with a local General Contractor and specialist at sustainable building methods, Earthcraft, and applied to the Grace Farms Design for Freedom Pilot Program system, engaging with suppliers and manufacturers to trace the identified materials as far upstream in the supply chain as possible. In this revolutionary method, these projects engage purpose-driven project teams, yielding new research and partnerships, and uncovering challenges and opportunities of how to build more humanely, parallel to the Good Sam mission.
Good Sam’s is a mission driven center for culture, renewal and collaboration. They bring together people across sectors to explore nature, arts, justice, community, and faith at the J S D A Inc designed campus, situated on two acres near a natural park. Their humanitarian work to end homelessness and foster more grace and peace in our local and global communities includes following the Design for Freedom movement to eliminate forced labor in the building materials supply chain.
The Good Samaritan Home does just that, finding a home for those who cannot provide for themselves from many walks of life. Some of them have jobs, some have transportation, some have physical challenges but all share in common life challenges that they have not yet overcome. Their uncommon path leads them out of “the system” without fitting into a specific category normally making them eligible for low income housing.
Despite common misconceptions, many of our unhoused neighbors do have jobs. A 2021 study from the University of Chicago estimated that 53% of people living in homeless shelters and 40% of unsheltered people were employed, either full or part-time, in the year that people were observed homeless between 2011 and 2018. The stability of the income may vary.
This history of the organization dates back to the 1920’s with a man by the name of the Reverend August “Dad” Hoeger who worked as a parish pastor in North Dakota. As a result of his amazing ability to raise funds for a boy with polio, The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society was incorporated under North Dakota law on Sept. 29, 1922. The Rev. Hoeger’s goals were to use the extra funds raised to help people with physical challenges. It was founded as a religious, charitable and not-for-profit corporation and continues on today throughout the US.
Good Sam is the oldest organization providing permanent housing to low-income adults in Boise. The Good Samaritan Home opened its doors in June 1942, serving nine men and women, who may not have had another place to call Home. The mission remains the same years later – they provide a home for those in need.
Good Sam in Boise provides affordable housing to seniors, veterans, adults with disabilities, and independent adults of all ages who may have low or fixed incomes. We provide each of our residents with a roof over their heads, a room of their own, three meals a day and a community.
Dad Hoeger consulted the bible daily, and found inspiration in the New Testament, in the Chapter of Luke. In Luke 10:38-42, the story of Mary and Martha is revealed. Oral history suggests that the founder, Dad Hoeger was a bit of each of those characters: both a student of God and a hard worker who set out to accomplish great deeds.
Though the Good Samaritan was founded as a center for those with physical and mental disabilities, the Society soon found it needed to expand its services. Shortly after the home opened, an elderly man on crutches approached the Rev. Hoeger with a request to be admitted. It was later discovered that he didn’t need crutches but had pretended so he would have a place to stay. This incident demonstrated to the Rev. Hoeger and others the need for services for the elderly as well.
Expanding their mission to serve, the current site houses about 30 people with two single-story buildings with some parking. Directly adjacent and to the west is a site that is owned by them with a small commercial building on it, abandoned and a cell tower at the south end of the property. With frontage directly on the busy and becoming busier State Street, and with the expanding building and zoning code, a multi-story low-rise is envisioned.
Creating the vision is everything in fundraising. We undertook the assignment to produce floor plans and renderings for Good Sam pro bono in 2024. The successful concept remains the same, private rooms for the dignity and quality of life for the individuals with a shared bathroom and shower in the ratio of 2:1. All bedrooms will have access to exterior light and air, so that habitants have control over their living conditions. Unique to the designed building are the plein air patios, the entire building width and with sun covering from climbing and flowering clematis, the largest patio directly accessed from the cafeteria, and a smaller patio for restbit for staff.
With fresh air and wellness in mind, programming takes place on the patios during part of the year. A large new cafeteria serves all buildings on the campus, connected with a bridge directly into one of the existing buildings. New tech enabling remote conferences is a feature in all conference rooms, south-facing. Community rooms for exercise, computer usage, arts and crafts, music and theatre productions provide auxiliary spaces for personal growth. New construction methods that create the opportunity for future reuse, biophyllic materials, circular designed furniture and Idaho native plantings throughout the facility and patios encourage celebrating life and renewal, and contribute to a new building eco-system nurtured by J S D A Inc. in Boise.
Good Sam, no longer affiliated formally with its’ founding organization, is part of the Boise/ADA Homeless Coalition which brings greater awareness and shared resources to all providing for others. Partner organizations have leased facilities on the ground level adjacent to the reception and entry area, complimented with a circular drive through that accommodates emergency medicine, as can be needed from time to time.
The new structure is a timber-framed building, exhibiting Idaho’s most dominant resources, in the City of Trees. The insulation is straw-bale, grown in Idaho, supplemented with hemp, grown and manufactured in Idaho. The roof is metal rain-screen that covers the actual waterproofing system; it hides the roofing membrane but also provides additional protection from the elements and ultra-violet rays to extend its life. The large spans and natural materials carry the design aesthetic from exterior to interior eliminating the use of drywall. The modular wall systems are cut in the field, pre-finished with zero off-gassing. All systems of construction are designed as zero waste, and aligned with the highest and best use principals of sustainability.
Even though he was partially paralyzed, Rev. Hoeger’s spirit lives on; he whom helped build the facility despite his challenges. The sharing of our higher powers’ grace, serving in the name of your belief system, which renders us full of life. Giving of riches to help others, and in doing so, helps us learn even more about humanity. JSDA contributed this design pro bono.
