Downtown East Side, Vancouver
Frontline psychosocial support and harm reduction paired with privacy first edge AI screening. NVIDIA Jetson systems ran on a closed network, using entry temperature sensing and later mask verification to reduce risk in shared space housing. Result: among the lowest infection rates within SRO's during the 2020 pandemic.
This project took place during COVID 19 in a single-room occupancy hotel on Water Street in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The site houses residents with high medical and social complexity, including elevated rates of chronic illness, acute mental health needs, and ongoing substance use. The built environment included shared spaces and constrained hygiene infrastructure, creating conditions where infection control required both operational discipline and low friction screening processes.
Service work
My primary duties were front line psychosocial support and drug harm reduction, including safe use engagement and support aligned with safe injection site practices. This included brief mental status and risk check-ins, de-escalation,overdose prevention support, as well as coordination with onsite staff and community health partners. The approach emphasized trauma informed interaction, clear boundaries, and continuity of care. It focused on maintaining resident dignity while reducing acute risk during a period of elevated isolation and service disruption.
Technical intervention
In parallel, I designed and implemented a closed network edge computing system to support screening and prevention without exposing resident data to the public internet. Using NVIDIA Jetson devices, the system integrated temperature sensing at entry points to flag potential fever presentations for secondary screening. In a later iteration, a vision module was added to confirm mask use and reduce unnecessary staff contact at the doorway. The deployment prioritizesreliability, minimal user burden, and privacy by design, with all processing performed locally and no cloud dependencies.
Outcomes
The combined workflow of consistent harm reduction practices, structured onsite screening, and edge-based monitoring contributed to strong infection control performance. The SRO recorded some of the lowest infection rates in 2020, demonstrating that targeted, privacy preserving technology can complement frontline care in high density housing, especially when implementation is grounded in trauma informed, resident centered operations.
Technology
NVIDA Jetson Edge AI Systems
AI Vision
AI Temp
AI presence
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