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Rex Hohlbein Founder and Creative Director, Facing Homelessness Facing Homelessness At the 2019 PWX, homelessness and its impact on public works services will be given special focus. To begin framing the discussion, Seattle native, Founder and Creative Director of Facing Homelessness, Rex Hohlbein, has accepted APWA’s invitation to bring his unique perspective and insight to PWX by putting a face on the homeless issue. Rex believes that “the power of humanizing homelessness is that it allows us to see the beauty of each person living on our streets, rather than being overwhelmed by the complexity of the issue.” This realization became evident when he began inviting folks living homeless into his architectural office for conversation. He shares that, “The negative stereotype against the homeless was not matching up to the beauty of those I was meeting.”  From those encounters Rex began the Facing Homelessness Facebook page, sharing black and white photos with the stories of the people he was meeting. What began as a photo-journal project on Facebook, Facing Homelessness now has more than 50,000 social media followers and has become a non-profit organization, powered by five staff and the compassion of community. In 2017, Rex and his daughter, Jenn LaFreniere, started the social justice architecture firm BLOCK Architects. They have designed the ‘Block Project’ which is managed by Facing Homelessness as a community building solution though which homeowners agree to put off-grid 125 square foot homes into residential backyards for those experiencing homelessness. Please join us for this inspiring keynote presentation that will you will remember for a long time.