Autism Speaks: House to Home Prize

Autism Speaks is offering $150,000 in prizes for belief-busting breakthroughs in housing and residential supports for adults with autism. Moving out of the family home – that giant step into adulthood – is never easy for anyone.

For those living with autism, however, the challenges and fears surrounding this life stage can be overwhelming, not just for them, but for their families as well. While many efforts have been made to support this transition, this important rite of passage is difficult to achieve without the right supports and services. There is no turnkey fix; no one-size-fits-all approach; no easy answer. Unencumbered, creative, and radically obtainable thinking is needed to create alternative housing and support services (“supports”).

Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, is sponsoring the Autism Speaks House to Home Prize to bring about these breakthroughs. With the power of your ideas, we can enable an entire segment of our population to achieve independence and self-actualization.

THE PRIZE: Autism Speaks is reaching out to you, the problem-solver community, to develop revolutionary solutions that empower adults with ASD to live as independently as possible while remaining connected to a larger community. This breakthrough must include the supports necessary to safely live outside of the family home, and it may come in the form of technology, architecture design, strategic partnerships, community services, new business models, or any combination of these or countless other ideas. The needs of individuals with ASD seeking to live independently will vary greatly depending upon their strengths and challenges.

As a result, Autism Speaks will be offering three prizes for three separate solutions to the Prize:
- Home and residential support solutions for individuals who require 24/7 support
- Home and residential support solutions for individuals who require daily support
- Home and residential support solutions for individuals who require weekly support (support needed a few times per week, but not every day).

The best solution in each of these categories will receive a $50,000 USD prize. The total prize purse is $150,000 USD. Note that the Prize includes all forms of housing and supports that could meet at least some of the requirements for people with autism. Collaboration is encouraged to create single entries that include complimentary and partial options.

The Prize will be judged on best overall solutions submitted. The judging panel will be looking for belief-busting ideas that are resourceful, inspiring, simple, collaborative, and/or transformative. These alternatives are intended to be implemented as a pilot program, evaluated, then adjusted or improved upon, but submissions for this Prize need only be innovative solutions in idea form; nothing needs to be built or implemented in order to qualify for the Prize.

For more info, visit https://herox.com/HouseToHomePrize