San Francisco maker nonprofit Humanmade working to bounce back from fire to continue serving innovators
A first-of-its-kind San Francisco program that trains the next generation of makers is closed temporarily because of a fire, but Its founder is working to safely reopen as soon as possible.
Ryan Spurlock's nonprofit, Humanmade, empowers hundreds of people with skills and tools they need to launch or get a job in design and maker businesses.
But a recent fire casts a shadow over the program he founded.
"It's pretty tough. It's hard enough given the cost of launching a business here and tooling a shop," said Spurlock.
The fire apparently started in a surge protector under the table and the sprinkler system couldn't put out the flames before fire crews arrived so there's considerable smoke and water damage.
That includes about $50,000 in losses to equipment like 3D printers and computers.
"About 80% of computers are lost because they were on the floor," Spurlock said.
His goal is to restore the 15,000-square-foot maker space we first visited two years ago. A lot of people are counting on it. Humanmade is home to San Francisco's first community-based training center for advanced manufacturing. At any given time, dozens of underserved adults take a free 12-week training course to gain skills for jobs of the future.
But because of the fire, that valuable hands-on learning had to go virtual. Program graduate Jody Roane teaches students online while he sharpens his own skills, but he admits that he gets discouraged..
"It's given me a sense of trepidation," Roane said. "I finally figured out what I want to be in life and what I want to do, and then I reach another roadblock."
The fire is also a setback for entrepreneurs from diverse communities who rely on Humanmade's discounted access to equipment and mentoring to build their first tangible prototypes in sectors like robotics.
Those startups are scrambling for space.
"We've had some folks resort to using their home or garage," explained Spurlock. "We're doing our best to get things back up and running."
And in the process, he's taken a second look at his commitment to the maker community.
It helped to solidify why we do this - how important the work we do is, that there are very few of these spaces left in San Francisco," Spurlock said.
The space is covered by fire insurance, but that takes time, so he has started a GoFundMe account for $50,000 with hopes of reopening in a few weeks after the fire investigation is done and the space is professionally cleaned.
As he crafts a comeback for his six-year-old nonprofit, some days are tougher than others, but the founder and executive director says he draws light and strength from his wife and family - though not all of them are "human made."
"The dog has been my saving grace in the last two weeks," he laughed.
