The Healing Van: a 3D Model Concept

When you think of Texas with its tornadoes, or Florida with its flooding, or California with its wildfires, how do you feel? We can’t necessarily stop these horrible things from happening, but we can help the people affected by them. When I first thought about entering this contest, I considered designing a weather‑resistant building like everyone else. But then my thinking shifted. What if, instead of resisting nature, we drove right into it? What if there were a different way to help those in need? We can't disregard the inevitable that some people will be affected by the disaster, so why not help those people?

One problem with getting people in danger into hospitals or other medical facilities is that the hospitals may burn down in a wildfire or be unavailable for some reason. So why not fix that problem with a movable hospital? When you think about moving hospitals, it sounds crazy! But what if the hospital had wheels and was in the shape of a van? The goal of this project is to sketch out what you would need to have inside this healing van, and the general cost.

So, to start off, we need a big van that people can stand in, and it needs to be able to safely carry as many people as possible. I did some research and decided to use the Ford Transit for this particular project. There are many good vans, so choose what sounds good to you! The Ford Transit is nice due to its raised roof and extension. The high roof will enable people to stand and help people better. The extension will help with carrying more people. One unique part of this project is that I decided to include a water filtration system inside this van. The most cost-efficient way to do this is with a gravity filter because it requires no power. This will help with getting clean water to those in need.

As you probably know (or maybe not), I love to make things out of cardboard, and I love to approach contests differently. I really emphasized the "heal" and the "public space" in this project. I've made things from character armor like Metroid, to small things that will help me in my daily life. So I used this skill of mine to make a project that gives step-by-step instructions on how to build the cardboard model van to symbolize the healing van that I mentioned. I hope this gives you an idea of the cost and space you would need for a life-size version! Hope you like it!

For the real van.

When thinking about healing other people, it’s important that you take care of yourself first. You will need some simple things that appear in a hospital. These things might not look important now, but getting them later could seriously help. The first thing on the list is masks. All of the prices listed are estimates and are general cost ranges. Mask boxes usually cost between $20 and $40 each. Gloves are $15 to $30. Personal protective equipment involves eye protection ($10–$25), boots ($80–$150), helmets ($25–$60), and rain gear ($40–$100). It is also important to prepare for hygiene needs, but these items represent some of the most important supplies.

One more thing to keep in mind is that we have limited space. We need to fit as many things as we can without exceeding the van's size. The next set of things we need to get is basic medical aid. For basic medical aid, we need things like first-aid kits, bandages, splints, cleaning materials, thermometers, blood-pressure cuffs, and pain relievers.

Now last, just a few more things to think about. You can't have a van without spending some money, so here is a list of the last few things we need to complete our van! (I got these lists from both personal research and thinking about the materials present in hospitals and other healing places.)

Simple Medical Aid

1. First‑aid kit ($75–$200)
2. Bandages and wraps ($40–$100)
3. Wipes ($15–$40)
4. Splints ($20–$50)
5. Thermometers ($10–$25)
6. Blood pressure cuff ($25–$60)
7. Pain relievers ($20–$40)

Hygiene

1. Hand sanitizer ($15–$40)
2. Soap and wipes ($10–$30)
3. Water containers ($20–$50)

Comfort

1. Blankets ($40–$100)
2. Ice packs and Heat packs ($20–$50)

Power & Light

1. Headlamps ($30–$80)
2. Small generator ($400–$900)

Communication

1. Radios one pair ($50–$150)
2. Phone batteries ($30–$80)
3. Physical maps ($10–$30)

Vehicle Gear

1. Fuel ($40–$80)
2. Simple tools ($40–$80)

Total!

I did the math and here is the totals. (Including the van.)

1. Lowest total:
2. $25,000 (a used van!) + $1,100 (supplies) = around $26,100
3. Highest total:
4. $60,000 (a brand-new van!) + $2,590 (supplies) = around $62,590

For the model van.

1. Cardboard
2. Scissors
3. Hot Glue Gun
4. Acrylic paint

Instead of giving you a bunch of steps on how to build the model, I decided to just give the measurements I used. I also uploaded a bunch of pictures to show what I did. This project isn’t really about the model itself—it’s about the idea!

So I started by drawing the model. The drawing was just to get a general idea of what the final result would look like (it’s not to scale). Once I finished the drawing, I got to work. I started by making the skeleton of the van. I did this by making two identical pieces of cardboard, then connecting them with a smaller rectangle (measurements are in the pictures).

After that, I cut out the doors and the front of the van and glued them on. Now I had the basic skeleton, so I needed to add designs and other accessories. I made a few of the medical supplies from the list to go inside the van. Once I finished those, I added another rectangle to the sides to make it a little thicker, then made the back doors.

I wanted the back doors to open, so I traced the back of the van onto a piece of cardboard, cut it out, and then cut it in half. For those two doors, I cut out the windows and made small hinges out of cardboard. For the hinges, I made small rectangles and bent them to fit the shape of the door.

After that, I added the red cross on the side by cutting it out of cardboard. Then I added the lights and the grille to the front, and cut out the windshield and the door windows. Next, I made the wheels by cutting a skinny rectangle of cardboard and rolling it into a wheel shape. Then I made two more smaller, thicker pieces to finish the wheel, like shown in the pictures.

After that, I traced the bottom of the van onto another piece of cardboard and cut it out. I made a few small adjustments so it would fit, then took the pieces I made earlier, placed them inside, and attached the floor to the van.

Then I made the windows. This was probably the hardest part because it was hard not to get the tint wrinkled or bubbly. I used simple car window tint, cut it into small pieces, traced the window shapes, and glued it on. This step takes a lot of patience, so take your time.

And for the last step, I painted everything!

I built some cool things to go on the inside just to give you an idea of what it would look like. I thought it turned out pretty well. I made a bunch of small medical supplies and then painted them using acrylic paint! Check out the image above to see.

When people think about natural disasters, they usually think about the big, dramatic parts: the tornado itself, the wildfire, the flooding. But what we don’t think about is what happens right after. People are sometimes completely cut off from help. Roads can be blocked, buildings can be destroyed, and hospitals might not even be usable anymore. You can’t always stop a tornado or a wildfire, no matter how advanced technology gets. Nature is just too powerful sometimes.

But that doesn’t mean we’re powerless. Instead of only focusing on stopping disasters, we can focus on helping people survive them and recover faster. That’s where my idea comes in. A healing van is important because it brings help directly to people when they need it most. Instead of waiting for someone to make it to a hospital, the hospital comes to them. This can save time, and in emergencies, even a few minutes can make a huge difference. It also helps in situations where hospitals are overcrowded, damaged, or too far away.

Another thing is accessibility. Not everyone can easily travel, especially when they’re injured or when everything around them is chaotic. A mobile medical unit makes it easier to reach people who would otherwise be left behind. It turns medical care into something flexible and adaptable instead of fixed in one place. This also matters because it changes how we think about solving problems. At first, I thought about designing something that could resist disasters, like a stronger building. But then I realized something: we can’t always fight nature directly. Sometimes the better solution is to work around it and focus on the people affected.

The model van I made isn’t just a craft, it represents a real idea. It shows how much space things take, how quickly supplies add up, and how planning is important. It helped me understand that even something that sounds a little crazy at first (like a hospital on wheels) can actually be possible with the right thinking and design.

In the end, this matters because disasters aren’t going away. But how we respond to them can always improve. And even a simple idea, like putting help on wheels, can make a real difference in helping people when they need it most. In the end, this project shows that helping people during disasters doesn’t always mean building something stronger, it can mean being flexible and bringing help directly to those in need.

I really liked this project because it gives you a good idea of how much a real van would cost and what you would need to do to be able to achieve it. I emphasized the public healing space in this project because this van can pull up to just about anywhere and make everyone there feel 10 times better! I really hope this was helpful. Thank you so much for reading!