Visual Illustration of a Recovery Enhancing Environment Design Intervention
The Recovery Enhancing Environment (REE) model was developed by Dreemweaver Concepts in 2020 as a strategy to improve housing and recovery outcomes for persons experiencing homelessness. This model seeks to promote an open-minded exploration as to how the built environment can be modified and leveraged to improve housing and recovery outcomes in neighborhoods where there are large numbers of unsheltered persons residing. The REE model is comprised of six key environmental interventions which include 1. Abundant Greenery 2. Public Art Installations that Speak to the Recovery Process 3. Aesthetic Improvements made to Streetscaping and other Common Areas 4. Improved Access to Nutrition 5. Implementation of Psychosocial Programming 6. Improved Access to Technology. The REE model is based on the belief that housing and recovery outcomes could be improved if the neighborhood environment was modified in a way that aligns with the recovery needs of persons experiencing homelessness. The six identified domains have all been individually researched and they were all found to have a significant positive impact on mental health, community morale, motivation to change, and other aspects that are critical to the individual recovery process. The REE concept proposes that a potent synergistic effect could occur if these six evidence-based interventions were all developed and implemented simultaneously in areas of concentrated homelessness.
The REE concept is based off of the belief that The Environment Matters in regards to housing and recovery outcomes. Every urban location that has a large unsheltered population also has at least one neighborhood district where homelessness is concentrated. Through time these neighborhood districts have undergone significant environmental degradation in the form of increased vacancy, deferred maintenance, and other environmental impacts. While it is easy to understand that this degradation is something that would detract from a persons mental health, morale, and motivation the prospect of environmental modification isn’t a central area of focus among the groups that are charged with finding solutions to homelessness. The purpose behind the REE model is to draw increased attention and awareness as to how the condition of the built environment can help or hinder housing and recovery outcomes. While there are several types of amenities that can improve quality of life for unsheltered individuals the REE model maintains a specific focus on components that can help catalyze and sustain a robust recovery process.
A Model Inspired by a Recovery Journey
The REE model was originally conceived by Daniel Klinkert MUP LCSW. Daniel is the founder of Dreemweaver Concepts and he is also a recovering addict who experienced brief periods of homelessness before recovering in 1999. After successfully recovering, Daniel went on to accomplish many of his dreams and Daniel is driven to help others who are struggling with addictions, mental health, and housing needs. In 2019 Daniel relocated to Portland, Oregon and he obtained a community development contract in the Old Town neighborhood district which is home to the largest concentration of homeless service providers in that City. Daniel became very disturbed over the conditions that unsheltered persons were living in and through his community development role he was also placed in the middle of the ongoing conflict between the homeless community and neighborhood business owners. These direct experiences along with the ongoing failures to address the expanding homeless crisis are what gave birth to the REE concept.
The Six REE Domains:
1. Abundant Greenery: Previous research has shown that exposure to greenery significantly improves our overall mental health through increased happiness, satisfaction, and reduced prevalence of psychiatric illness.
2. Inspiring Public Art: Previous research on the Porch Light mural initiative in Philadelphia indicated that inspiring mural work reduced stigma surrounding mental illness along with beautifying the neighborhood.
3. Aesthetic Improvements: Previous Research has shown that a persons zip code has significant implications on their overall health and the condition of the built environment is one element that has been found to be influential in this regard.
4. Access to Nutrition: Nutrition impacts our mental health in a variety of ways which includes impacts to our neurotransmitter systems which are the same systems that are targeted by medications that treat psychiatric disorders.
5. Psychosocial Programming: The Clubhouse Model and other forms of evidence-based psychosocial programming are effective in helping persons develop basic life and vocational skills that are required to achieve self-sufficiency.
6. Access to Technology: To facilitate an effective recovery process individuals must have access to the tools that are required to participate in society in order to move forward in obtaining employment, housing, and other foundational needs.
The Synergistic Impact of the REE Domains:
The Recovery Enhancing Environment concept is based on the belief that if the six evidence-based components were all implemented simultaneously in a robust manner, it would result in a potent synergistic effect that would allow the built environment to serve as an asset to the recovery process. Each of the six identified domains have been formally researched and the proven impacts of these interventions speak to several individual recovery needs. While the environment alone cannot meet the recovery needs of unhoused individuals we believe that if the environment were modified in the manner we are suggesting it would allow the work of housing, mental health, and addiction professionals to be more effective. For example, if a mental health clinician spends an hour treating an unhoused client for depression in an office setting and then sends that person back to a depressing environment that hour of clinical work may have no impact. For persons to recover successfully they need to maintain a consistent and significant degree of inspiration and motivation to fuel an effective change process.
REE Proposal for Old Town Portland:
The first REE proposal was developed for the Old Town neighborhood district located in Portland, Oregon and you can read the proposal report here: The six identified domains referred on this webpage and in this report resulted from a survey of needs and opportunities within the Old Town district. While we do believe these six domains are all critically important and generalizable we anticipate that future REE evaluations in different locations may result in additional domains being proposed. The Old Town proposal serves as a foundation for this concept and we would look forward to opportunities to evaluate additional locations and to provide recommendations that are tailored to that specific environment.