Could tiny homes be an answer to chronic homelessness in Columbia?
To address chronic homelessness in Columbia, city leaders are trying a new approach: Housing people.
By November, the city hopes to build a village of 50 tiny homes or pallet shelters near Columbia’s Inclement Weather Center to be used by those experiencing chronic homelessness and those in crisis situations, city leaders announced Tuesday.
The Inclement Weather Center itself will be re-envisioned as “Rapid Shelter Columbia” and serve as a year-round home base for the shelter village.
“We’ve learned that although there are over 100 services dedicated to addressing different facets of homelessness in the greater Columbia area, until today there has been no specific option for the chronically unsheltered,” said at-large City Council member Aditi Bussells, who has been leading a city task force dedicated to addressing chronic homelessness in the city.
The proposal comes after six months of work from that task force, which is comprised of members of the business community, law enforcement and neighborhood representatives. A handful of area service providers have also been engaged in that work.
Bussells made the announcement in front of the Inclement Weather Center Tuesday, flanked by fellow council members, city staff and other community leaders.
The cost for the new village is estimated at around $800,000, City Council member Howard Duvall said in an interview. The city will use federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars as well as $500,000 already allocated to operate the Inclement Weather Center, which has historically provided emergency shelter during cold nights.
The city is hoping to target residents who have resisted or who don’t qualify for help from other shelters in the area, said city manager Teresa Wilson.
Wilson added that overall, the city is planning to spend $3 million annually on homelessness services.
Council member Will Brennan said continuing the work will require collaboration with the state and surrounding municipalities.
The tiny homes that will populate the village will come from Washington-based company Pallet, which specializes in providing rapid emergency housing to homeless residents.
The company claims the shelters can be assembled in less than an hour. It also offers temporary bathrooms and spaces for government agencies and service providers to meet with residents who need to be connected with various resources.
A two-bed shelter costs just under $7,000, and a four-bed shelter comes in around $9,500. The shelters are insulated and offer heating and air conditioning as well as access to power outlets.
The shelters themselves do not have bathrooms, but residents will be able to access restrooms at the Inclement Weather Center.
Once the shelters arrive, city officials believe work will begin almost immediately to erect the village.
In addition to building the new encampment, the city’s Inclement Weather Center at 191 Calhoun St., where the village will be located, will be open year-round. In the past, that service has only been available when temperatures fall below 40 degrees.
The city will also be hiring a “Homeless Czar” to oversee the new “rapid shelter campus” as well as the various other homelessness services the city interacts with.
One of the perks of having 50 shelters with two or more beds each in a central location is that food programs, health care providers, job resources and agencies like the Veterans Affairs can have a central location to serve residents, council members added Tuesday.
The tiny home model has been tried in a number of cities across the U.S. In Aurora, Colorado, which launched a tiny home program with Pallet in 2021, the program is working well enough that the city recently purchased another 30 shelters from the company.
The model has looked different in different places, with some cities limiting how long a person can occupy the shelters and others allowing residents to call them home for years.
Columbia’s village would offer short-term housing while residents are connected with organizations that will help get them permanent housing, Bussells said.
This story was originally published September 6, 2022 at 2:36 PM.
