BREAKING THE
HOMELESSNESS CYCLEWITH BIKE SHARING

Inspired by her vision of building a society in which anyone can start over, a young Japanese changemaker has helped
more than 4,300 people in need since launching an NPO in her teens. Here she speaks about the backbone of her
activities and how to find a successful model for resolving social issues.
In recent years, bicycle sharing has swept rapidly
through Japan, having been already introduced
in more than 160 cities nationwide. Some mightwonder, could this new system be used to solve othersocial problems, such as homelessness? A surprisingquery indeed, but KAWAGUCHI Kana, a Japanesesocial entrepreneur based in Osaka, has used it toproduce admirable results. She focused on the factthat a lot of homeless people were using bicycles forrefuse collection, which for many is their main sourceof income. In 2011, Homedoor—the certified NPO
established by Kawaguchi—launched HUBchari,a bicycle sharing system. While offering residents a
new mobility option, by employing homeless people
as staff the system has also paved the way for them tocapitalize on their bicycle-repair skills honed throughrefuse collection, and earn a higher and more stable
income than they have before. With the system
gradually gaining in popularity, the number of bikeports has now grown to about 300. “We flexibly try
out new ideas and, through repeated trial and error,
find the ‘switch’ that will turn a vicious cycle into avirtuous one.”
Kawaguchi’s involvement in seeking solutions
to homelessness started when she was just 14 years
old. She was commuting to school by train and wasshocked to see an area full of people living on thestreets. Why do people become homeless in thisaffluent country of Japan? That simple question led
her to volunteer at a soup kitchen. When she wasSocial entrepreneur KAWAGUCHI Kana goes on nightly
rounds to check up on the homeless population while
distributing daily necessities. Homedoor, the certified
NPO she established in 2010, has over 1,600 registeredvolunteers who support the organization’s operations
mainly by conducting such rounds. DAISUKE GONDOWhen Kawaguchi was 16, she was selected as Japan’s volunteer goodwill ambassadorby an international award that recognizes the world’s middle and high school
students for their volunteerism. She took part in a conference with otherrepresentatives from around the world (center photo, second from the left). “It wasa revelation to see so many people my age who had already been able to raise vast
sums of money or who had launched their own projects.” Immediately after that, shedrew up a floor plan of her ideal facility (right), which led to her current operations.

in high school, she drew a picture of the dream she
wished to realize. It was a floor plan for a facility
where anyone could easily stay, eat, and find work.
Kawaguchi recalls, “I wanted to create a place where
homeless people could feel that things would workout for them if they were to go there.”
Homedoor, which Kawaguchi established at theage of 19, was the result of that inspiration. Since then,while going through a process of experimentation,
the organization has assisted a total of more than
4,300 people in need. It provides comprehensive
support to help people escape homelessness: fromconducting nightly rounds distributing foodto operating a shelter and cafeteria, providing
employment support, and helping people to findhousing. The goal is to create a new model for asocial structure that does not generate homelessness.
According to Kawaguchi, “One of our roles is towork in the field to discern what is lacking in regard
to the various kinds of support already provided by
the public and private sectors.” When Homedoor
was established, staff spent nearly a year chatting withpeople in areas where many were financially distressedin order to get their insights. It was during this timethat one homeless person happened to mention that
he was good at repairing bicycles, and that inspired
the idea for HUBchari.
Recently, Kawaguchi has also been tacklingthe issue of youth homelessness, a common issue
worldwide. “In Japan, it is difficult to support suchpeople because they don’t gather in specific areas,
and many of them don’t look homeless. Our nextchallenge is to create a system that helps people whoare not so visibly in need of support,” says Kawaguchi,
who has now been watching over the homelesspopulation for over a decade. While pursuing mediumto long-term support measures that will lead to stable
employment for young people, she has also begun
approaching the government and private companies
to ask for their cooperation in helping people seek
support. One result of her efforts is that starting inFebruary, email notifications by a telecommunications
company to people who have fallen behind in paying
their mobile device bills will include a website
providing information regarding the welfare systemand other support. “With knowledge about theproblem of homelessness comes responsibility. Ithink we must consider what can be done, and notturn a blind eye to this situation. I want to create asociety in which anyone can start over.”

Top: HUBchari is a bicycle
sharing service employing
homeless people as staff. It
has grown into Homedoor’s
major project, accounting
for about 40% of the NPO’srevenue.
Bottom: “& Center,” which
opened in 2018, is an
emergency shelter with 18
individual rooms. “It’s hard
to find the will to start over when living in a harsh environment, so whenpeople are going through tough times, I want to provide them with the best
hospitality,” says Kawaguchi.