California cities are increasingly looking to micro-shelters to get the unsheltered populations off the street, but are they just the latest fad or do they help people get into more permanent housing?
Tiny home villages are very useful in getting unhoused individuals re-oriented to the housed lifestyle of the mainstream. This is a crucial part of what homeless shelters typically refer to as the 'transitional housing' phase of their programs...it's the step that comes after the 'crisis phase' (when an unhoused individual with no place to sleep first enters the shelter program); and it's the step before they move into their own home and are re-housed.
The transitional housing phase is, by its very nature, temporary. It gives the individual the opportunity to keep their clothing and other belongings safe from theft while they are away (which is impossible when one is unhoused); it permits them to look for and obtain work without losing their essential possessions; it prepares them for the social obligations and expectations that come with being housed; it gives them time to reflect and consider whether they want to continue towards being re-housed.
Tiny homes and micro-shelters are a PERFECT option for transitional living programs. (I've worked as a homeless shelter case manager and I've also experienced homelessness and lived all the challenges that came with it.)
Matt, this is an EXCELLENT article. Well done.
Tiny home villages are very useful in getting unhoused individuals re-oriented to the housed lifestyle of the mainstream. This is a crucial part of what homeless shelters typically refer to as the 'transitional housing' phase of their programs...it's the step that comes after the 'crisis phase' (when an unhoused individual with no place to sleep first enters the shelter program); and it's the step before they move into their own home and are re-housed.
The transitional housing phase is, by its very nature, temporary. It gives the individual the opportunity to keep their clothing and other belongings safe from theft while they are away (which is impossible when one is unhoused); it permits them to look for and obtain work without losing their essential possessions; it prepares them for the social obligations and expectations that come with being housed; it gives them time to reflect and consider whether they want to continue towards being re-housed.
Tiny homes and micro-shelters are a PERFECT option for transitional living programs. (I've worked as a homeless shelter case manager and I've also experienced homelessness and lived all the challenges that came with it.)