OurChallenge
Listen to an audio tour of our community poster project.
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Maiker Housing Partners is not your typical housing authority. Based in Adams County, Colorado, Maiker is dedicated to disrupting generational poverty through socially conscious community development in one of the state’s fastest growing regions. Beyond expanding access to affordable housing options, Maiker invests in the individual and collective power of its residents—Maiker members—so they can create the lives they aspire to live.
Our challenge was to build a sense of pride among new and longtime members of Maiker Housing Partners’ affordable housing communities.
OurSolution
In line with Maiker’s mission of building and cultivating environments that foster a sense of healing, fellowship and belonging, Barefoot PR partnered with Maiker to build community pride by creating community-inspired “concert” posters for each property.
OUR PROCESS
Listen & Learn: Barefoot PR’s design team met with staff and property managers to understand the history, community and unique attributes of each property.
Observe & Imagine: Designers toured each property, documenting distinct design elements and interacting with members to learn what they loved about their home.
Vision & Feedback: Our team created a vision for each poster by creating mood boards for the Maiker team to react to.
Celebrate & Connect: Once each design was finalized, we worked with Maiker to plan a community event to hand out the posters and promote connection between members.
Listen to an audio tour of each community poster design.
Click “Listen in browser” on mobile
Read more about the inspiration behind each poster.
Caraway
Caraway is a multi-family, mixed-income affordable housing community. This adaptive reuse project was built by repurposing the County’s former children and family services building into 44 housing units with an additional 72 units added on. Inspired by the building’s history, Maiker set aside 12 units specifically for youth aging out of foster care as a way to address the high risk of homelessness these youth face.
To celebrate the grand opening of Caraway, Barefoot PR created a poster of a mandala with Caraway seeds, the development’s namesake, in the heart of the design. The choice to include a mandala—a sacred, meditative symbol in Hindu and Buddhist cultures-was inspired by the healing, peace and growth that Caraway was built to foster. To further support well-being and relaxation among community members, we turned this poster into a printable, coloring page for residents to use to promote therapeutic mindfulness and relieve stress.
Alto Apartments
Alto Apartments is a Maiker community that provides on-site services and amenities designed to minimize the barriers to maintaining self-sufficiency and enhance living experiences of members. One of these amenities is a vibrant community garden where members can connect with one another and they cultivate fresh flowers and produce.
Our poster concept was inspired by a visit to this thriving community garden in the peak of summer. The garden was alive on a sunny afternoon–bursting with sunflowers in bloom and the peaceful sounds of a towering wind chime. The exterior of Alto features vibrant murals done by local street artists. We incorporated some of the colors from the murals into the poster design so residents had an opportunity to bring the outside in.
“I love this so much: you have created a stunning piece of art. I love the childlike wonder it emits, the freedom of the wind in our hair, the vibrancy and renewal that sunflowers represent—bravo—this is awesome!!!”
– Peter LiFari, CEO, Maiker Housing Partners
Crossing Pointe North
Crossing Pointe North is a 64-unit apartment community for aging adults earning 30%-60% of the Area Median Income. In conversation with Crossing Pointe North’s property manager, we learned that members enjoy getting together for board games, bingo, puzzles, movie nights and listening to music. The community features vintage furniture and art pieces, some donated by members. The community also labels each of their floors with a specific color to support members who are experiencing memory loss.
Our community poster concept incorporated the familiar floor colors and mid-century modern design elements showcased throughout the community. To engage members in the design, we printed it onto a puzzle for members to enjoy together.
ProudPartners
Thank you to Youth on Record, a music-centered program for young people, for helping to produce audio and Yellowdog, a woman-owned print studio for making this presentation possible.
