A couple weeks ago, a group from Morgantown Church of Christ approached Morgantown City Council about helping to build up to 50 non-congregate shelters as resources for the area’s unhoused community. Representatives from the church proposed putting up 10×12-foot overnight shelters, with two beds and an electrical outlet. Youth Pastor Brandon Brammer said local businesses have already pledged $10,000 for the effort. They just need help from the city locating land to build on and an agency to oversee the structures’ use.
Not only does the idea have merit, it has precedent. The Tiny House Project, based in Los Angeles, creates similar emergency shelters to get people out of the elements.
But there’s also precedent for taking it to the next level. The Tiny House Project makes more permanent shelters, with plumbing and heating/cooling. So does Operation Tiny House, which has partnered with communities in multiple states by providing low-cost structures to help launch tiny house programs for unhoused people.
So as we look at the church group’s proposal to build these overnight shelters, we wonder: If we’re going in for a penny, why not go in for a pound?
Finding a place to build is probably the biggest obstacle. But if the city and its partners in this endeavor can find a place to build and get electricity to the structures, why not go a little further to add plumbing? Just about anywhere that can be serviced by wired electricity can also get access to existing sewer systems. (Which, admittedly, may require a little digging.) Give the structures a toilet, shower, sink, microwave and mini-fridge in addition to the bed, and it becomes a self-contained studio apartment.
The only true solution to homelessness is to get people into housing. Houston, Texas, has used a housing-first approach to homelessness for over a decade. In that time, overall homelessness dropped 63%, and about 30,000 people have been helped into subsidized housing. Houston found success by treating the primary problem — lack of shelter — then treating the person, such as addressing addiction or mental health issues.
Here in West Virginia, there’s a transitional-living tiny house program for kids aging out of foster care to keep them from becoming homeless. Each young adult lives independently in their own tiny home while learning life skills and getting work training. Could something similar be adapted for people already experiencing homelessness?
If our community decided to invest in tiny homes instead of emergency structures, there could be some reasonable limitations placed on them. For example, they could be rent-free for the first couple months, then require a small rent, or participants could be required to engage with certain services, take classes or job search. These would be transitional housing to help people save up and get back on their feet.
Escaping homelessness, even for those who don’t struggle with mental health or addiction, is extremely difficult. It’s hard to go to your job when you don’t have a safe place to sleep, to shower and to store your belongings while you’re on the clock. It’s difficult to hold down shift-work if you’re beholden to a shelter’s hours. And it can be hard to get benefits or services if you don’t have an address to put on the paperwork.
If the overnight shelters are truly all our community can afford to do, then that’s what we must do. But there’s potential here to go a little further and create something that addresses the root of the problem instead of only treating a symptom.
