Live Well Vive Bien Case Study

A person interacts with colorful cards spread across a checkered tablecloth on a table outdoors. The cards display images and text related to food, including fruits, vegetables, and packaged items, suggesting an activity or educational tool for nutrition or meal planning. Shadows from a tree fall across the table surface.

Eliminating food deserts by meeting people where they are

Challenge

How might we best utilize our available assets to design a sustainable, holistic experience within our target communities to address food insecurity in a dignified and COVID-19-safe manner?

Context

People living in Austin’s Eastern Crescent have long faced limited access to affordable food, healthcare, and other essential services due to historical policies that shaped neighborhood development in the early 20th century. As a result, citizens in this community experience lower life expectancies, higher age-adjusted mortality rates, and fewer hospitals and clinics in a nearby radius.

A team of five learners in the M.A. in Design focused on Health program collaborated on space design, service design, and systems design to co-create an entirely new experience for the community members living in the Eastern Crescent. Live Well/Vive Bien, an initiative piloted by Equidad ATX, is the vision for a holistic mobile ecosystem that serves the community with the goal of meeting unmet social determinants of health—particularly the issue of food insecurity—for historically underserved populations.

Map of Austin's Eastern Crescent highlighting four areas in Del Valle and Colony Park. Each area is marked with a numbered circle: 1 for Del Valle (Creedmoor), 2 for Del Valle (Elroy), 3 for Del Valle (Hornsby Bend/Austin's Colony), and 4 for Colony Park, with major roads and highways visible.


 

Two women wearing face masks engage with a colorful tabletop display covered in sticky notes and large printed sheets under a wooden park pavilion. The table also features a bag of Cuties oranges, a water bottle, and pens. Other people can be seen participating in the background.

Approach

Utilize co-creation and human-centered design methods to understand the community, assess their needs, and then create an innovative mobile grocery store.

Miniature cardboard model of a service counter with various items, including a menu, sanitizer, and table marker, adhering to up-to-date COVID-19 guidelines.
Cardboard figure stands in front of a display of labeled food bins, promoting healthy eating choices, with signs in Spanish and English encouraging balanced dietary habits.
Display shelf with community partner logos, highlighting support for Equidad ATX in building partnerships, with informational signage in the background.
Model of a community engagement desk with an Equidad ATX sign, fostering inclusivity and opportunities for education and community involvement.
Interactive display with a cardboard figure and a cut-out photo frame, promoting a sense of community and engagement with joyful elements like colorful food images.

Insights

  1. In a community that has seen many organizations come and go without lasting change, consistency in both visibility and physical presence is essential in building trust.
  2. Many residents took action to help their community in response to years of unmet expectations and a lack of follow-through by outside organizations. Unfortunately, they often do not have the organizational power to make lasting change in their neighborhoods.
  3. When determining community needs, it is tempting to think of an area of the Eastern Crescent as just one unit. However, it is an incredibly diverse area, and its needs reflect this diversity.
  4. There is a substantial variety of food among the communities; for some, it is a means of health and sustenance, while for others, it defines culture and identity.
  5. Due to the fragmented and disjointed nature of the many community organizations within the Eastern Crescent, there’s an opportunity for Equidad to serve as the coordinator among an array of scattered partnerships.

Outcome

Improved access to health services.

In a little over three months, the team of students delivered positive health experiences to the community through a retrofitted, decommissioned CapMetro bus that brings food where it’s needed most.

The team recognized that their impact directly correlated with their ability to build trust within the community. With that in mind, the goal was to design with the community, not for them. This meant showing up for the community: conducting regular engagement events, canvassing neighborhoods, and plugging into online communities to better establish Live Well/Vive Bien as a lasting aspect of the community.

Recommendations

Comprehensive layout showing the 'Live Well / Vive Bien' system, detailing sections for community engagement, food sorting, ordering system, and partnerships, with labeled pathways and activities for community participation.
Diagram illustrating community engagement efforts with paper cutouts of houses, people, and a 'Community' note, showing various communication options like Facebook, flyers, text, and call.
Model depicting the food sorting and storage process, with food boxes, color-coded bins, and a 'Bus Loading' area labeled with dietary options such as 'Choose Sometimes' and 'Choose Sparingly.
Diagram representing the ordering system for a community service, featuring a 'Website + Social Media' monitor, 'Ordering System' note, and options for online ordering, hotline calls, social media, and text services.
Illustration of partnership engagement, with markers like 'Equidad ATX,' volunteer engagement, community communication, and pathways connecting food storage and distribution efforts.

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Learn More

Find out more about Equidad ATX’s Live Well/Vive Bien initiative.

Design Team

Nirali Oza

Alok Doshi

Noella Kiza

Brittanie Wilczak

Zaara Qasim

Project Summary

In Austin's Eastern Crescent, historic racial segregation has limited access to essential services, creating food deserts and health disparities. The Live Well/Vive Bien initiative, in partnership with Equidad ATX, launched a mobile grocery store to deliver healthy food directly to underserved communities. This project emphasizes trust-building, cultural sensitivity, and collaboration with local organizations to provide sustainable, dignified support for food security.

Project Contributors

Equidad ATX, Live Well/Vive Bien

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