From launching a new product to expanding our footprint and creating our new workforce model, it was an eventful year at Pallet. Read on for our top stories of 2024.
As we look back on 2024, we are both proud of our advancements in providing safe, secure spaces for unsheltered populations and motivated to keep pushing forward. Even as we passed 5,000 shelters built in North America, expanded our reach into Canada, and released a new innovative product line to offer faster deployment and comfort for residents, the human displacement crisis persists—encouraging the Pallet team to continue working tirelessly until everyone has a stable place to call home.
Here's a round-up of our top stories from this year.
1. Pallet Hits the Road in California
Kicking off the year, the Pallet team embarked on a roadshow through California to showcase our new S2 product line and meet people working on the ground in their communities to solve their local displacement crises. We stopped in 11 different cities from Sacramento all the way to Los Angeles, displaying our S2 units and demonstrating the positive impact Pallet has made for unhoused communities across North America. [Keep Reading]
2. Launching Our S2 Shelter Line
Featuring an innovative panel connection system enabling even faster deployment, improved safety features, and increased comfort for residents, our S2 line is the next evolution of our in-house engineered and manufactured shelter products. Every decision we made in developing these new products was informed by input from residents living in Pallet shelters across the country and our own lived experience workforce. [Keep Reading]
3. Pallet's First Canadian Site Opens in Kelowna
Offering 60 individual shelter units for people experiencing homelessness in Kelowna, BC, STEP Place is Pallet’s first community installed in Canada. The City of Kelowna partnered with the Province of British Columbia and BC Housing to provide safe, secure spaces for people to stabilize and access onsite services provided by John Howard Society of Okanagan and Kootenay.
“We recognize the immediate need to bring unhoused people in Kelowna indoors and provide them the care they need,” said Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Housing. “Through this housing, people experiencing homelessness can be supported as they stabilize and move forward with their lives.” [Keep Reading]
4. Denver Opens First Village of S2 Shelters
Just in time for the New Year and part of Mayor Johnston’s plan to house 1,000 unhoused Denver residents by 2025, the opening of the city’s first micro-community also marked the first site comprising Pallet’s S2 Sleeper shelters.
“This is such a symbol of what we wanted to create,” said Cole Chandler, the mayor’s homeless czar. “It wasn't just about getting people indoors, but it's about bringing people back to life and helping people thrive. And you see that in this space.” [Keep Reading]
5. Introducing Our Purpose-Led Workforce Model
From the very beginning of Pallet, we have placed our team members at the core of our mission to give people a fair chance at employment. The majority of our staff have lived experience of homelessness, incarceration, recovery from substance use disorder, or involvement in the criminal legal system. With our Purpose-Led Workforce Model, we are taking the next step in helping our team grow and advance their careers. [Keep Reading]
6. Public-Private Collaboration in Santa Fe
Working together, the City of Santa Fe and Christ Lutheran Church opened the state’s first micro-community of its kind to provide shelter and supportive services for unhoused New Mexicans.
“It takes a community working together to really solve the challenge of homelessness, and that is our aim: to have zero homelessness in Santa Fe,” said Mayor Alan Webber. “We will keep working to make sure the people who are homeless in Santa Fe are housed, safe, secure, with respect, dignity, and with services.” [Keep Reading]
7. Tonya: "I feel like I'm doing something worthwhile"
Tonya knows Everett like the back of her hand. She spent most of her childhood on the north side of town but has lived in various neighborhoods throughout her life. So it seems fitting that now, after a decade of living on the streets of her hometown, she’s found a new path at Pallet and already moved into a place of her own mere steps away from HQ.
As one of the first participants in Pallet’s Career Launch PAD (Program for Apprenticeship Development), Tonya and her classmates are starting on the path to building independence and a brighter future for themselves. [Keep Reading]
8. Pallet Provides Shelter in Response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton
In rapid response to the disasters sustained in Florida following two major hurricanes, the Pallet deployment team jumped into action to build 50 shelters to help people get displaced by Helene and Milton get inside to safety.
By working closely with Pasco County administrators, county commissioners, facilities departments, and Catholic Charities, we were able to deploy and assemble the shelters mere days after the storms passed. [Keep Reading]
9. Connecting Pallet Team Members with Housing
At Pallet, our people are our purpose. Giving people a fair chance at stable employment and creating a supportive environment that fosters wellness and growth for all our team members is a crucial part of our mission.
A key part of this is ensuring that everyone on our team has all the tools and resources they need to succeed. In our work building shelter communities for displaced populations across North America, we know firsthand how having a safe, stable place to live is not only a basic human right—it is also the foundation for maintaining health, helping those with substance use disorder on their recovery journeys, and healing trauma.
That’s why we are proud to have become a Community Partner with Housing Connector, an organization that helps find housing for marginalized individuals and families. In our first year of the partnership, Housing Connector has been instrumental in finding housing for 4 Pallet team members by removing barriers and locating available properties. [Keep Reading]
Extreme weather and displacing climate-related events are becoming more and more common, introducing unparalleled stress on an already strained housing market.
Soaring rental and property prices, bloated interest rates, exorbitant mortgages—it’s plain that the housing crisis has reached new levels of severity. Half of U.S. renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent, while nearly 20% of all homeowners are cost-burdened. Recent data shows the country coping with a shocking shortage of 4 to 7 million homes.
Meanwhile, the rate of natural disasters and extreme weather events has drastically increased, bringing unprecedented destruction of property and homes as well as widespread human displacement. In the past five years, the U.S. has experienced an average of 18 billion-dollar climate disasters per year. In 2023 alone, an estimated 2.5 million Americans were forced out of their homes due to weather-related disasters.
Although these two crises may seem distinct from one another, the record number of destructive climate-related emergencies has a direct impact on the housing shortage. If these trends continue on both fronts without significant improvements in housing and insurance policy, affordable housing will become increasingly scarce and displaced populations will be unequipped to recover from disaster—particularly disadvantaged and low-income communities.
Natural Disaster: A “Housing Crisis Multiplier”
Those in lower income brackets who need affordable housing the most are at the highest risk of prolonged displacement in the wake of disaster. A massive shortage of 7.3 million affordable, available rental homes lies at the root of the problem. To make matters worse, affordable housing developments are more likely to be built in disaster-prone areas and are far less likely to be rebuilt after a damaging event.
In a report examining the circumstances surrounding these harsh realities, the Center for American Progress views extreme weather as an “affordable housing crisis multiplier.” Communities most directly affected by structurally racist and classist practices and policies are also the most vulnerable to destructive natural disasters: these neighborhoods are often developed in or near flood-prone areas and heat islands. In the case of an extreme weather event razing low-income housing or rental buildings, emergency relief funds and insurance payouts are typically distributed to wealthier homeowners, in effect displacing those low-income groups with little to no housing support or adequate long-term solutions.
Even properties that were initially developed specifically to meet the needs of lower-income communities have over time become unattainable. One analysis shows approximately 60% of 15 million low-cost rental units that existed in 1985 were no longer affordable by 2013.
These patterns not only perpetuate displacement and housing poverty among vulnerable communities. Increasingly common natural disasters also exacerbate the unsheltered homelessness crisis by both depleting housing supply and compounding physical and mental health challenges for those living unhoused.
Ultimately, the amplifying effects that disasters have on our inadequate housing supply only further illustrate the socioeconomic disparities and unstable foundation of the current real estate market—one that is entirely inaccessible to many lower income residents.
Climate-Related Disasters Stress an Already Strained Market
The coupling of low affordable housing inventory and high demand and prices is intensified by climate-related events. If a disaster depletes available housing in a desirable locale, prices are likely to skyrocket. Experts have even estimated that rents can double overnight due to displaced residents.
These extremes are best demonstrated in at-risk areas of the country such as Florida, California, and Southern Texas, which are vulnerable to destructive disasters and climate impacts as well as subject to inflated property values. This renders these areas attainable only for wealthy populations who can afford heightened prices and costly disaster insurance.
Insurance agencies and lenders stand at the core of an impending shift in the market, placing attainable housing even further out of reach for low-income renters and potential homeowners. The risks of flooding and wildfires have led experts to predict a “climate bubble” for real estate, with the possibility of a massive crash in home values based on a property’s likelihood of being struck by disaster. One 2023 study found that national property prices are overvalued by between $121 billion and $237 billion when compared to their actual flood risk.
In regions like Louisiana, Florida, and California, the high frequency of wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding has already made homeowner’s insurance prohibitively expensive or simply impossible to obtain. If insurers and lenders pull out of these areas and subsequently reassess property and home values based on disaster vulnerability, people are likely to face enormous losses in their assets. This, in turn, has the potential to activate mass panic selling and a market crash comparable to the 2008 recession.
In this volatile and imbalanced market, alternative options that can accommodate vulnerable and displaced populations are urgently needed—regardless of socioeconomic status or quality of insurance.
Interim Models as Paths to Recovery
A number of steps can be made to improve outcomes for all residents and mitigate a deteriorating market in the wake of natural disasters. Developing robust preparedness strategies that prioritize the well-being of vulnerable communities, including those experiencing homelessness and housing instability, is one such measure.
By creating more equitable options for those displaced by extreme weather and climate-related disaster, communities can build true resilience. Instead of housing survivors and responders in cost-prohibitive hotel rooms and rental properties, which is expensive for taxpayers and disrupts local economic recovery, interim shelter and housing models enable residents to stay within their community. This rapid, cost-effective, and dignified option allows displaced individuals and families a private living space while attainable permanent housing is rebuilt.
Natural disasters, extreme weather, and a shortage of adequate and attainable housing are issues that are sure to persist or even worsen. The only path forward is to embrace innovative strategies that meet the immediate needs of vulnerable populations and those displaced by climate-related events, providing relief and stability while enough permanent housing is built for everyone.
With life-threatening extreme heat arriving earlier in the season and with increased intensity, communities need more extensive solutions to protect their residents.
2023 marked the warmest year on record in a 174-year period of climate reporting. The impacts were not only felt by those living in traditionally warmer climates, but also people living in historically temperate areas in the form of unprecedented heatwaves and heat islands. And although it affects everyone, it’s proven that extreme heat impacts unsheltered groups, communities of color, and low-income populations most adversely.
While many cities and jurisdictions have taken measures to plan for increasing heat, many remain unprepared. A broader and more inclusive approach is needed to effectively protect vulnerable communities from harm.
Extreme Heat Continues Intensifying
Even in early June, temperatures across the country have led climate researchers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to predict 2024 has the potential to surpass 2023 as the hottest year on record. As an unseasonably intense heatwave moved through the southwest and the West Coast in the first week of the month, Las Vegas saw its earliest 110-degree day in history.
Cities in regions that routinely face high temperatures have long-standing infrastructure such as universally air-conditioned public buildings and housing, temporary cooling centers, and emergency text and email alert systems. These measures may not be sufficient: extreme heat kills more people than other types of natural disaster, and as heat indexes regularly reach dangerous and extremely dangerous levels, the likelihood of people experiencing heat-related illness or death dramatically increases.
With these hazardous temperatures coming earlier in the season, people’s bodies don’t have adequate time to acclimate, and with highs lasting longer into the nights, less time to cool and recover from the day’s heat.
These trends pose serious risks. Although cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Phoenix who have faced dangerous conditions for decades have taken measures like appointing “chief heat officers” and opening cooling centers to offer people relief, elderly populations, outdoor workers, and those living unsheltered remain vulnerable to heatwaves that reach higher temperatures and last longer.
Previously Temperate Regions Are Unprepared
Areas of the country that have always experienced dangerously hot seasons are more advanced in heat preparedness strategies. These regions are also expected to have air conditioning installed in stores, restaurants, community buildings, and people’s homes. At the same time these places are seeing temperatures spike, traditionally mild regions are being struck by unparalleled heat—and with a lack of cooling infrastructure and strategies to provide relief to underserved communities, these temperatures are particularly dangerous.
The Pacific Northwest, a temperate part of the country where lasting heat spells are historically rare, experienced a week-long heatwave in July 2021 that caused the deaths of 800 people across Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. This demonstrates how underequipped many regions are to address mounting temperatures.
In response, Oregon passed a statewide law requiring all new housing built after April 2024 to have air conditioning installed in at least one room. This legislation is a significant step in the right direction, as air conditioning is the most effective protective measure against heat-related illness and death, and the status quo for federal level policy requires it only for publicly subsidized apartments—there are no mandates in place for landlords to provide air conditioning to their tenants.
The Northwest is an apt case study of regions underprepared for swelling heat, but it is only part of a global trend. Deaths caused by extreme heat increased by more than 74% between 1990 and 2016. In 2019 alone, 356,000 people died from exposure to heat across nine countries.
In addition to the implementation of widespread cooling infrastructure, more innovative solutions are needed to immediately offer protection from extreme heat.
The Importance of Heat Resilience
The threats of heatwaves have long been understood, and the importance of preparedness planning in protecting public health is illustrated in resources like the World Health Organization’s Heat-health action plans. But without broad and inclusive action taken to mitigate the effects of dangerous temperatures, many groups remain at high risk.
Heat is known to exacerbate underlying conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and asthma, while also increasing the risk of accidents and transmission of infectious disease. It also has adverse effects on mental health: research has shown a link between heatwaves and increased risk of self-harm, suicide, and hospitalizations related to chronic mental health conditions.
It's also been shown that extreme weather and climate-related events disproportionately affect vulnerable, underserved communities. Elderly groups, people living with disabilities, displaced communities, and low-income populations are often hit the hardest when temperatures peak. Structural racism also plays a role: practices like redlining have historically relegated Black and brown communities to economically disadvantaged neighborhoods with fewer resources and green spaces, which cause these often concrete-surrounded areas to endure significantly hotter temperatures than their wealthier, predominantly whiter counterparts.
Communities can achieve heat resilience by investing in and providing more equitable options across the board. Along with cooling centers, emergency notifications, and installing air conditioning in public spaces and housing, interim solutions like Pallet have the potential to make a substantial positive impact.
In addition to the ability to be quickly installed, our individual shelter units are climate controlled and able to stay cool in extremely hot temperatures. Cities can store units and deploy them as needed in a heat-related crisis to accommodate their vulnerable residents, and our 400-square-foot Community structure can act as a rapidly available cooling center.
This two-fold approach—expanding permanent infrastructure and investing in rapid interim solutions—is key to building true climate resilience and protecting every member of the community from harm.
Data collected from sites across the country shows how the Pallet village model helps residents transition to more permanent solutions.
Every person’s journey to permanent housing is different. The trauma of displacement means every individual encounters their own barriers to finding a stable place to call home. And once someone exits this continuum of care that includes congregate and non-congregate shelter, supportive housing, and other forms of assistance, their success story often goes undocumented.
Although it is challenging to track a person’s progress through the housing continuum with accuracy and consistency, it is crucial to seek out this information and ensure our approach is effective. Pallet’s mission is to provide the supportive environment needed for displaced populations to move onto permanent housing, and this data tells us if our model is working and how we can improve our methods to best suit the needs of every village resident.
Establishing an Open Dialogue is Key
Our partnerships with village service providers are essential in both tracking residents’ progress and gathering context for what resources are needed in each unique community. Site locations across North America are faced with specific root causes of displacement, meaning there is no “one size fits all” solution. This is why once a village is built, our work isn’t finished: details like ongoing operations, maintenance needs, and supportive service provision all tell a distinct story that informs the future of Pallet.
Survey responses from village operators show that on an average day, 10 people move from an existing Pallet village to permanent housing. This tells us that in a broad sense, the pairing of dignified shelter with wraparound services like food and water, hygiene facilities, healthcare, counseling, and employment placement programs are effective in equipping residents with the tools necessary to transition to more permanent solutions. This trend works out to 3,200 expected transitions per year.
Measurable Success
Our ongoing relationships with service providers also bring to attention success stories like Tim’s, who found his own apartment after living in the Salvation Army Safe Outdoor Space in Aurora, CO. Connections to a state-sponsored pension program via onsite staff and help from the Aurora Housing Authority were instrumental in leading Tim to his own home, showing an effective model tailored to the individual needs of each resident.
Vancouver, WA’s approach to address their homelessness crisis, centered on a robust scope of resident services, has also proven success in helping vulnerable individuals on the path to housing. Their first Safe Stay community, The Outpost, reported 30 people moving to permanent housing since opening. Meanwhile, Hope Village achieved 14 transitions in their first year of operations, attributing resident success to a compassionate, healing communal environment with resources including meals, food bank deliveries, clothing, transportation, and assistance obtaining legal identification.
A Way Forward
Aurora and Vancouver are just two examples of sites that have experienced success with the Pallet village model. We believe that while interim shelter is a crucial part in creating safe spaces for vulnerable people to stabilize, it takes a breadth of additional support. This is why we view our product development through the lens of trauma-informed design and lean on our lived experience workforce for perspective: to ensure we are continuing to refine our mission to serve displaced communities to the best of our ability.
By investing in this approach and making concerted efforts toward inclusive wraparound services, any city has the potential to provide displaced populations with pathways to stable and permanent housing.
Understanding the differences between affordable and attainable initiatives is key to a future of stable, equitable housing.
Skyrocketing rental prices, astronomical interest rates, insufficient supply: the severe lack of affordable housing options is not a new development. As of March 2023, a shortage of 7.3 million affordable rental homes was reported, disproportionately affecting low- and extremely low-income families and individuals.
Housing affordability has become a chronic challenge—homeownership has been deemed unaffordable in 80 percent of U.S. counties—prompting policymakers to address this crisis through a variety of affordable housing initiatives. But to make a true impact on housing initiatives, understanding the distinction between "affordable" and "attainable" housing is crucial. While affordable housing targets specific income brackets, attainable housing places a focus on removing a slew of barriers and bringing suitable options within reach for a wider demographic.
Challenges in Housing Attainability
Despite numerous federal programs aimed at providing affordable housing, a significant gap exists between demand and available support. Strict eligibility criteria and additional screening processes often exclude vulnerable populations from assistance: one in four extremely low-income families in need of housing assistance actually receive it. This leaves an estimated 40.6 million Americans burdened by high housing costs, where more than 30 percent of their income is spent on housing and limits their ability to meet basic needs.
Various systemic barriers, including discriminatory practices and economic thresholds, also hinder a person’s access to attainable housing. Landlord discrimination against housing voucher holders, coupled with restrictive zoning laws, further exacerbates the crisis. Moreover, individuals lacking necessary documentation or with legal system records face significant challenges in securing stable housing.
While housing assistance programs like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and the Housing Choice Voucher Program play a crucial role in federal housing strategies, recipients face significant disadvantages including resource limitations and systemic biases. In particular, public housing has experienced a history of mismanagement and underfunding, perpetuating generational patterns of poverty and instability.
Proven Solutions to Improve Housing Attainability
To effectively break the cycle of housing insecurity, a multifaceted approach is necessary. This includes increased government funding, mixed-income housing developments, and expanded access to private capital for developers. Additionally, lowering the multitude of barriers facing vulnerable and low-income populations—accomplished through reforms in zoning laws, enhanced support for renters through federal programs, and amending punitive regulations aimed at formerly incarcerated individuals or those with legal system involvement—is a crucial step toward attainable housing solutions.
By prioritizing attainability, creating innovative partnerships, and developing more inclusive affordable housing initiatives, we can work towards ending housing insecurity while building economic stability and stronger social communities.
To learn more about solutions that address practical, accessible, and attainable housing for all, download our Attainable Housing White Paper.
To ensure our shelter design truly meets the needs of Pallet village residents, we spoke with some of the first people living in our new S2 units to gain feedback and insight from their experience.
The core of Pallet’s mission is to provide safe, secure shelter for people who have experienced displacement and offer a healing environment that helps residents on their next steps toward permanent housing. In developing our innovative S2 product line, we incorporated crucial feedback from our own lived experience workforce and applied key principles of trauma-informed design, knowing that this input is an essential part of creating dignified and comfortable spaces for every Pallet village resident.
Everett Gospel Mission (EGM), a village in our hometown, was the first site to receive 70-square-foot models of our S2 Sleeper shelters. We connected with four residents who had lived in the original shelter designs at EGM and now have moved to S2 units—Kenny, Jimi, Summer, and Erik—to hear their feedback on the new shelters and learn about their stories.
Kenny
Kenny has lived at EGM for nearly two years, originally moving to the site with his friend Libby after losing their housing. He had never experienced homelessness before or spent any time in congregate shelters.
He says since moving to the S2 shelter, he’s noticed the thicker walls have improved insulation and heat retention, reduced condensation, and made the interior more soundproof—a helpful detail since he’s teaching himself to play guitar.
“You don’t hear the rain as much: it’s quieter, way quieter,” Kenny said. “I can be a little louder in the brand new one compared to the old one, because I like to turn the amp up real loud, you know, and play the guitar and stuff. It stays warm in there a lot longer too I’ve noticed. Yeah, it’s overall better.”
Kenny gets along with everyone else living at EGM and doesn’t find it hard to make friends with others in the village. He noted how he likes the residential windows in the S2 unit: him and his neighbor will both open them up and talk from the comfort of their own space.
“It’s kind of cool, because the bed’s right there, so I just open the window and I can talk to the neighbor, and he’ll open his,” he told us. “He bet me four bucks that they would touch if we opened them.”
Kenny easily won that bet.
Jimi
Coming to live at EGM after being hit by a car while crossing the street, Jimi is using his time in the village to focus on sorting out medical issues and navigating a settlement in the case of a broken lease agreement. Sporting a leather jacket and a slick pair of yellow Chuck Taylor’s, he told us he’s grateful to have a temporary space after a tumultuous period of having nowhere to stay and limited means to transport his belongings to a storage space.
“It helps me not have to feel rushed,” Jimi said. “I got a pretty good head injury when I got hit. I don’t remember like I used to. I used to be able to multitask, but now I have to concentrate on one thing. So, being here gives me a chance to plan things, do one thing at a time.”
Jimi mentioned the new unit offers a calmer environment because it’s quieter.
“The thickness of the walls really makes a difference as far as noise,” he said.
Being able to store and arrange his belongings neatly with the integrated shelving is also a plus.
“[There is] a good place to hang your clothes,” Jimi said. “They have little shelves and a place to put hangers and stuff. That’s a lot better. Feels like you can organize your stuff a little easier.”
Summer
Experiencing homelessness for four years before moving into EGM, Summer has been a resident of the village since it opened. She finds comfort in decorating and caring for her plants and flowers, a hobby she picked up since moving into the community. She even arranged planters in communal areas in addition to the inside and outside of her own shelter.
“I did all the flowers that are out here and all the gardening and stuff,” Summer said. “I was doing it for myself already and they said, ‘Hey, let’s put in more for everybody,’ so I just ended up doing all of it.”
Summer told us she likes the ability to customize her shelter and make it her own. She’s added extra storage cubes and shelves, as well as hung mobiles she’s made from the ceiling. A mirror, a TV, and, of course, more plants make Summer’s shelter feel cozier and more unique.
“Everybody always is like, ‘Oh my god, your house looks so much different than everybody else’s!’”
She noted the size of the windows, larger bed, and improved heat circulation are notable details that make the S2 unit comfortable.
Overall, Summer said her favorite part of living at EGM is the ability to feel settled and have a space of her own.
“I could sit, you know, and actually stay and decorate it,” she explained. “I can feel comfortable and actually move in and not have to worry about police making me leave or having to drag everything with me. I have a place I can go in and sit down and have room for company and a TV.”
Erik
Erik has only lived at EGM for four months, spending the first two in the original shelter design before moving into the newer model. He said the increased square footage in the S2 unit is a significant improvement in maneuvering his wheelchair, and the larger bed is a better fit for him.
“I can move around a lot better in a wheelchair,” he told us. “To be able to sit in it and turn around makes a huge difference. And the bed is a little bit wider, so I sleep a lot better. It’s lower too, because I was tending to sit up against the bed in the older one. Those made my legs fall asleep and cut my circulation off. With the new style bed, that’s totally better: I can sit up on the edge of the bed and my legs won’t fall asleep.”
He also said the tighter seals on the corner connections and improved insulation from the wall panels helps keep the heat in.
“Having it hold the heat is a big difference too because it makes you feel like you’re in a better structure, since it’s not leaking out the seams.”
When Erik was hospitalized due to heart failure, he lost his housing, his car was impounded, and he found himself living on the streets. This was after working his whole career in the construction industry: first building houses, and then operating his own concrete company. He said it was a shock to exit the hospital and lose so much, along with experiencing displacement for the first time in his life.
Even with this devastating loss and coping with his medical issues, he is appreciative to be part of the community at EGM and have his own shelter.
“I think it’s great and it’s a great program, it’s a great thing [Pallet] is doing making those and making them available for communities to put them in and help people out,” he said. “Because I definitely need help. So it’s a beautiful thing what you guys are doing, because when people need help, you’re part of the solution.”
To learn more about how the design of our S2 shelters was informed by those with lived experience, read our blog.
All the details that come together to make our new S2 shelter line were inspired and informed by feedback from our own lived experience workforce.
One of Pallet’s foundational elements is our lived experience workforce. As a fair chance employer, we provide opportunities for people who have experienced homelessness, recovery from substance use disorder, and involvement in the criminal legal system to build their futures.
We often talk about how our approach to designing Pallet shelters and implementing them within a healing community village model is informed by those with lived experience. In developing our S2 shelter line within the lens of trauma-informed design, these voices were crucial to ensure that our shelters provide private, safe, and dignified living spaces for displaced populations and encourage positive housing transitions.
There are many seemingly minute considerations that influenced the design of our S2 Sleeper and EnSuite models. To capture how important these details truly are for village residents, we gathered Pallet’s first Lived Experience Cohort—Josh, Alan, Sarah, and Dave—to describe in their own words how each design aspect is significant for anyone who has experienced the trauma of displacement.
Comfort
Significant changes in aesthetic, functionality, and fixtures make the S2 line a more comfortable living space overall. Smooth wall panels make the interior of each shelter more welcoming.
“The biggest thing is the aluminum [interior flashing] is gone,” says Josh. “So it feels like a home. It seems like someone took time to make it.”
When Josh was in Sacramento on Pallet’s California Roadshow, he noticed how attendees felt while touring S2 shelters.
“Almost everyone who walked in said, ‘This feels very warm. It’s so inviting to walk in here, it’s so open.’”
Dave comments on the effect this feeling would have on someone who has experienced homelessness.
“One of the most disturbing things to me when I was out there was coming to that realization: ‘I don’t have a f***ing home anymore,’” he recalls. “And to go into something that feels like a home, that you can call your little home, that’s really nice. That’s huge.”
Residential windows are another significant detail that Sarah notes.
“They give more lighting, so it doesn’t feel like a jail cell,” she says.
“They’re way better windows,” Dave adds. “[Residents] have a big, nice window to look out of now.”
Installing larger beds was also a noted concern, and the Twin XL is a more inclusive option.
“I think the larger sized mattresses are great,” she says. “Now villages can get twin sheets and covers and protective sheets that fit. And the fact that these new mattresses are waterproof, even the threading on the seams.”
The S2 EnSuite is Pallet’s first sleeping shelter with integrated hygiene facilities. Josh says the opportunity to have this kind of space with access to his own bathroom would have been a significant aid in his recovery journey.
“If I moved into the EnSuite, that would have blown my mind,” he quips. “If I was coming off the street or living in my Explorer like I was at the time, and moved into that, I might have been clean way sooner. Because it would’ve given me some hope that somebody cared.”
Safety Features
Pallet’s in-house engineering team created the S2 shelter line with safety at its core. In addition to the structurally insulated panels that offer durability and robust wind, fire, and snow load ratings, the elimination of exposed hardware in the interior is another detail that ensures safety for residents of all ages and walks of life.
Input from our lived experience team and feedback from Pallet village residents across the country also led to tweaks to the included fixtures, reducing the likelihood of essential safety functions being disarmed or damaged.
“We were pushing to get a cage over the smoke alarm, or something to prevent people from taking them off,” Sarah remembers. “Now [with the hardwired connection] you can’t shut off the power to the smoke alarm.”
The consideration that displacement affects different communities—from single residents with pets to families with young children—also influenced changes in other design elements of the S2 that may have gone unnoticed otherwise.
“I think the electrical panel is better: now we have the breakers on the outside and the plugs on the inside,” Josh adds. “So it keeps you from wanting to easily tamper with it.”
Dignity
Offering a more customizable layout and built-in wire shelving in the S2 line creates a dignified space for every Pallet shelter resident.
“Having a place to hang up clothes, that’s something I heard a lot when I was talking to residents in California,” Sarah comments. “That was a huge improvement, because if you’re still having to constantly live out of your bags and your suitcase, you’re not moving forward to get out of that survival mode.”
The ability to freely move the bed and desk is also a significant detail for people who have experienced institutional or congregate shelter settings.
“If I saw the bed set up in between two windows, I would say, ‘There’s absolutely no way I would pass out in between in between two windows,’” Alan quips. “I would sleep underneath the bed maybe. Because people walking past the windows, it just doesn’t make me feel very safe.”
Sarah agrees: “And then too, if you want to rearrange or just make it your own, everyone’s going to have a different feel of where they want to sleep on any given day. It gives you freedom. And if you have the freedom to live how you want to live, it gives you the sense of self-sufficiency rather than having to follow all the strict congregate shelter rules.”
Josh further highlights how significant this feeling of freedom can be when looking back on his own experiences.
“See, I would have never moved it, but having the opportunity to move it is a big thing,” he says. “Because when you’re in jail, your bed is where it is. Your seat is where it is. There’s no moving it around, so being able to move your house around like anyone else, it makes you feel more like a human being.”
Ultimately, our Lived Experience Cohort members agree that implementing these changes to create the S2 line advances our mission to help displaced populations transition to more permanent solutions.
“In the future when we come out with new products, it’ll probably be like, ‘Oh wow, I didn’t really think of this before,’” Josh offers. “But right now I think this is the best we can do. It really is, until we get more feedback on what the next thing is.”
“We are providing that space for people to take the next step,” Sarah replies. “We can’t personally give good wraparound services because that’s not our thing, but we can provide the environment for it. It takes all these little things to get out of survival mode, but the first step is to get off the streets, and that’s where we start. It takes a village to help a village.”
Adopting the principles of trauma-informed design is a crucial framework for creating a safe, supportive, and healing environment in every shelter we build.
When developing and designing Pallet shelters, our top priority is to best serve the needs of displaced populations. This is why we have our dignity standards in place: to ensure that each shelter village provides a positive, supportive community environment for every resident.
But we also understand our responsibility to design our shelters so they offer a private, healing atmosphere for people to plan their transitions to more permanent solutions. It has long been understood that the way we interact with and utilize physical spaces—along with our emotional and psychological reactions to those spaces—are dictated by a wide range of design choices. An airy, open lobby with large windows and ample natural lighting is bound to elicit a completely different response compared to an enclosed, fluorescent-lit office.
Only recently has this concept been integrated into architectural design specifically catered to vulnerable users. With trauma-informed care as a framework, trauma-informed design (TID) seeks to create physical spaces centered around principles like safety, empowerment, and well-being. Building with these concepts in mind can actively aid a person’s development, grow their ability to trust others, and avoid the possibility of re-traumatization.
Experiencing chronic homelessness, coping with substance use disorder, reintegrating into the community after being incarcerated, or suddenly losing your home to a natural disaster are all traumatic experiences. By viewing our product development and engineering processes through the lens of TID and incorporating features that promote healing, inclusion, and stabilization, we aim to provide shelter that supports the needs of those impacted by the trauma of displacement.
Here are some of the ways we applied the four main principles of TID—Safety & Trust; Choice & Empowerment; Community & Collaboration; and Beauty & Joy—in the design of our innovative S2 shelter line:
Pallet is committed to applying the philosophy of TID in our shelters to accommodate village residents who have lived through trauma. Applying these concepts, along with listening to feedback from real users and our own lived experience workforce, helped us develop the S2 shelter line as our most innovative solution to the crisis of human displacement. We believe that every design detail, no matter how small it may seem, can make a big difference in someone’s journey to permanent housing and reintegration.
To see how S2 shelters provided rapid shelter and warmth for unhoused Denver residents by the New Year, read our case study.
Look back at our top stories of the year: from product innovation to expanding our footprint and receiving dispatches from our villages around the country, these highlights capture what Pallet achieved in 2023.
As the year comes to a close, we’re looking back at the stories we’ve shared throughout 2023. With the most recent PIT count reflecting a 12% increase in homelessness in the U.S., the need for innovative solutions like Pallet continues to grow. Over this past year, our team has doubled down on lived experience-led product innovation with the development of our new S2 product line, all the while growing our capacity by adding over 300 additional shelters and laying the groundwork to expand our response into Canada.
Here’s a round-up of our top stories from this year.
1. Pallet Builds Its 100th Village
Just before Christmas in 2022, we crossed a milestone — building our 100th village. It’s located in Tulalip, WA which is just a short drive north of our headquarters. The location holds special meaning for some Pallet employees who previously experienced homelessness in the area and are now finding purpose in building transitional housing to help others in the community. The village is made up of twenty 64 sq. ft. shelters and one 100 sq. ft. shelter and was constructed in just two days by the Pallet deployment team. The Tulalip tribe manages the site and provides onsite services for community members. Residents moved into the 20 shelters early February 2023. [Keep Reading]
2. Jennifer & Alan: Closing the Loop Through Giving Back
The two first met each other a handful of years ago when they were living on the streets of the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Washington. Today, they’re coworkers at Pallet. Their witty humor makes them a dynamic duo dropping hilarious one-liners as they tell stories about their past. Indeed, they can have a crowd in stitches.
“I relate to many of the people here because we can laugh about things that most people would get appalled by,” Alan says in admiration of his co-workers, many of whom share similar lived experiences.
Jennifer agrees – they have witnessed the darker sides of life. But, she says, they’ve risen above them. “It’s like, you guys, we have overcome so much and we’re killing it now. We are rock stars,” she says, laughing.
She and Alan are proud to have surmounted substance use disorder and other challenges that are, truthfully, nothing to laugh at. Right now though, they’re excited to be working on Pallet shelters for a new village on the Tulalip Reservation where they were once unhoused themselves. [Keep Reading]
3. Introducing PathForward™
There is no one solution to end homelessness. Every municipality and every community have their own specific needs. While our Pallet villages coupled with wraparound supportive services are a successful model, we understand there are other strategies to address the homelessness crisis. Working closely with cities across the country, we realize communities want to find the right solutions and know our expertise and learnings from deploying over 100 shelter villages could help them drive change. So, we’ve launched PathForward™ homelessness advisory services.
Pallet’s PathForward provides support for cities to create customized solutions with defined goals and resources like funding roadmaps, implementation plans, policy research, capacity building, partnerships, project management and more. Our service uses data-backed strategies anchored by people with lived experience. Cities can work with Pallet in a variety of ways including long-term partnerships, special projects, and one-off advice. [Keep Reading]
4. Dignity as a Guiding Principle
To help our unhoused neighbors transition out of homelessness and build a better future, providing shelter is one of many steps. A dignified living situation means reliable access to food and water, hygiene facilities, transportation, safety, supportive services, and more.
We created our Dignity Standards with these basic needs in mind. Guided by input from Pallet team members with lived experience, their purpose is to hold all stakeholders accountable, including ourselves, and always act in the best interest of the communities we serve. They also function as guidelines for the cities and service providers who operate our villages, intended to evolve and refine as we learn what works best. Because without dignity, who are we? [Keep Reading]
5. Rebuilding Her Life: Linda
In our Village Voices series, we shine a spotlight on residents living in Pallet shelter villages across the country and give them the chance to share their stories.
Linda Daniels was walking down the street with her bags looking for a place to sleep that night. An outreach worker happened to notice her and asked if she needed help. Within two weeks, she was a resident of the Rapid Shelter Columbia village.
A month in, Linda says the chance to have her own space to rest, to return to after a long day as a custodial worker at the University of South Carolina, and to collect her thoughts has been pivotal in being able to move forward.
“It means the world to me, because I got my own space, and I got my own place to where I can call mine right now,” she says. “I like being by myself a lot of times. So if I’m going through something, I can come in my room and think about what I’m going through and try to make things better. And I think this is a wonderful thing.” [Keep Reading]
6. Dave: Right Where I’m Supposed To Be
Early on, Dave had already made his own way in life. He started his manufacturing career with Boeing at age 20, got married, had three children, and bought a home for his family. After achieving all this and growing up in a large family in Everett with good relationships with his parents and siblings, it might come as a surprise to hear what was going through his mind at the hospital on May 12th, 2019.
“I was 100% resigned I was gonna die in my addiction,” he recalls. “But then that moment of clarity, that spiritual awakening, that epiphany, whatever you want to call it, hit me in there. I’m like, ‘this is not gonna be my legacy that I died with a f***ing needle in my arm sitting in the hospital. I’m gonna fight this,’ you know? And I did. And I appreciate every single day.” [Keep Reading]
7. Four Ways to Fund a Pallet Shelter Village
Pallet shelter villages serve as transitional spaces for people experiencing homelessness. They provide the dignity and security of private units within a community, along with a resource net of onsite social services, food, showers, laundry, and more to help people transition to more permanent solutions.
Several components to consider when building a village include identifying which Pallet shelters best suit the needs of the community, finding a site location, setting up infrastructure, and selecting a service provider. Funding is also crucial. Below are four sources that can be combined to fund the costs associated with creating a Pallet shelter village. [Keep Reading]
8. Proven Safety: Rigorously Testing and Certifying Our Shelters
With thousands of Pallet shelters across the country, we’re constantly gathering feedback on their design from customers. This information is crucial for our in-house engineering team. It allows them to understand what our shelters must withstand in the real world.
With that knowledge, they can design Pallet shelters to meet various demands, and rigorously test them onsite.
And yet, we don’t stop there. We also third-party certify our shelters to truly validate their designs.
All this is critical because our shelters often go into storm-prone and extreme weather zones. They must reliably protect the residents who live in them, all while remaining cost-effective.
Our new S2 shelters illustrate our deep commitment to R&D. Building on our legacy of intentional, quality engineering, they advance our mission to offer safe, dignified housing for displaced and vulnerable populations. [Keep Reading]
9. Rethinking Post-Disaster Housing Solutions
By now it’s a familiar sight: cities and towns ravaged by hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, or wildfires; homes and living spaces decimated; and people ushered into stadiums, schools, or anywhere that has the capacity for those displaced. In 2022 alone, 3.3 million Americans were displaced by disasters—and one in six people never returned to their homes.
While mass congregate shelter is often the only viable option to aid survivors directly following a natural disaster, it is not a sustainable solution for the days, weeks, or months that follow. In the variable, unpredictable period when homes, rental housing, and other living facilities are being rebuilt, there is a distinct scarcity of interim shelter options that fit the diverse needs of displaced populations.
It’s time to take a closer look at why our current system of post-disaster housing isn’t sufficient, and to provide broader, more equitable options for people displaced by natural disasters. [Keep Reading]
10. Roxana: Power in Compassion
Most people would assume bringing a shelter village to life couldn’t be accomplished by a single person. Completing an undertaking of this scale is typically the culmination of a team of stakeholders overcoming various obstacles: identifying funding sources; finding an appropriate site; setting up necessary infrastructure like water and electricity; and rallying the community for support. Roxana Boroujerdi is unlike most people.
Located on the grounds of Everett’s Faith Lutheran Church, Faith Family Village comprises eight Pallet sleeping shelters and two hygiene units that will serve local families experiencing homelessness. The village will also offer supportive services that aim to create paths to employment, education, and permanent housing—alongside facilities and activities that create a safe and fun environment for children living onsite.
And even with her fair share of personal challenges, none of it would have come to fruition without Roxana. [Keep Reading]
After an emergency evacuation at a low-barrier permanent supportive housing site, Pallet was able to prevent resident displacement within 48 hours.
When thinking about emergency evacuations, it’s common that natural disasters like hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires first come to mind. But there are many other scenarios that can threaten the stability of a living situation and cause abrupt displacement, making the provision of emergency shelter solutions crucial in a moment’s notice.
Clare’s Place, a permanent supportive housing complex in Everett, WA, experienced exactly this kind of emergency in October.
When 48 of the 65 units in the building came back positive in tests for environmental contamination, all residents were forced to evacuate due to safety and health hazards. Clare’s Place is a low-barrier site that serves vulnerable community members including chronically homeless individuals, those diagnosed with mental illness, and people living with substance use disorder. Staff needed to identify an appropriate solution immediately to temporarily house the affected residents.
Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin promptly contacted Pallet’s Founder and CEO Amy King, looking to rapidly install shelter units to accommodate the residents evacuated from Clare’s Place. In order to serve the needs of those displaced, residents would need the ability to remain close to their possessions and case managers, so the units would ideally be built directly on the property.
Members of the Pallet Deployment team sprang into action. Working tirelessly overnight, they were assisted by Catholic Community Services (CCS, who operate Clare’s Place) and assembled 30 shelters in the parking lot. Snohomish County PUD also responded and supplied the site with power.
Within 48 hours of that initial call, shelters were deployed, assembled, and move-in ready as a safe and urgent solution to temporarily house residents of Clare’s Place. Because of Pallet’s stockpile of 64-square-foot sleeping shelters, the site was established with the urgency required for this emergency.
This unfolding of events speaks to the utility and efficacy of interim shelter as an emergency solution for displaced populations—particularly vulnerable communities that require hands-on supportive services. The capability to provide essential aid with urgency also points to the advantage of stockpiling this model of shelter. When residents living at the Clare’s Place site are able to move back into their apartments, the shelters will be stored as a supply for future emergencies in Everett.
To learn more about the instrumental role interim shelter can play in emergency situations, download our Post-Disaster Housing Continuum Infographic.
Through her success spearheading Everett’s Faith Family Village, Roxana is living proof that passion and perseverance can create lasting, positive change for the community.
Most people would assume bringing a shelter village to life couldn’t be accomplished by a single person. Completing an undertaking of this scale is typically the culmination of a team of stakeholders overcoming various obstacles: identifying funding sources; finding an appropriate site; setting up necessary infrastructure like water and electricity; and rallying the community for support. Roxana Boroujerdi is unlike most people.
Located on the grounds of Everett’s Faith Lutheran Church, Faith Family Village comprises eight Pallet sleeping shelters and two hygiene units that will serve local families experiencing homelessness. The village will also offer supportive services that aim to create paths to employment, education, and permanent housing—alongside facilities and activities that create a safe and fun environment for children living onsite.
And even with her fair share of personal challenges, none of it would have come to fruition without Roxana.
“I am 70, I have MS, and I was in a car accident and lost my knee,” she explains. “I have a lot of things that people might consider strikes against me. But with God, all things are possible.”
The idea for Faith Family Village was born in the throes of the pandemic while Roxana was running the church food bank. When people were no longer able to safely come inside and choose what they needed off the shelf, Faith Lutheran was forced to explore alternative options. The USDA was beginning to form partnerships with organizations to donate food to those in need, and someone from the Everett chapter of Volunteers of America (VOA) pointed them in Roxana’s direction.
“VOA told the USDA: ‘They should contact the crazy lady down at Faith Food Bank, she’d probably do it,’ she recalls. “So I told them to bring the big rig and we’ll work it out somehow. Little did I know that after a month, we had about 250 cars that came to pick up food—the line stretched [over half a mile] all the way to Value Village.”
After receiving help from a team of volunteers to distribute to the crowds, Roxana was able to connect with people one-on-one and ask why they came to the food bank. The amount of people that told her they were homeless or couldn’t afford to pay for their rent or food, including families living out of their cars, didn’t sit right with her. So she started researching.
Roxana discovered Pallet online and saw operational villages in nearby communities. She didn’t hesitate to contact the mayor of Burlington to see the Skagit First Step Center.
Mayor Sexton offered Roxana a tour, breakfast in the village’s community room (“and they gave me lunch because I stayed too long”), and even extended an invitation to stay overnight and experience sleeping in a shelter.
Learning about the structure and case management embedded in the village model prompted Roxana to take the idea of starting a new Pallet village at Faith Lutheran to fellow members of the congregation. While first met with opposition, she convinced the church council by taking them to a neighboring site in Edmonds and learning about the realities of hosting a shelter village community. The following council vote granted Roxana approval for building the village.
Then came the roadblocks.
Even with no experience navigating complex issues like land use laws and city zoning codes, Roxana tirelessly pushed through every obstacle in her path. First, she played an instrumental role in changing Everett city code to allow children to stay in Pallet shelters. Then she had to coordinate a series of tests to build on the church property—a survey for Indigenous artifacts, studies for noise and water runoff, and a slew of others. She had to obtain funding, which she procured through sources like Washington state senator project grants, sizeable donations from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), human needs grants from the city of Everett, and donations from various community and congregation members. Local businesses like Rodland Toyota, who were already active supporters of the Faith Food Bank, also stepped up to donate supplies and interior furnishings for the shelters.
At first, Roxana was worried about pursuing funding streams. But she soon realized it was just another duty she could carry out herself to bring the village closer to groundbreaking.
“It’s a lot,” she says. “When I started, it was a lot of weight. But now that I feel like I have a community of donors that are also invested, that helps a whole lot. And now I’m not so shy in asking people: ‘Can you give me this or that?’”
One of the most significant obstacles Roxana encountered was raising community support. Many neighbors of Faith Lutheran expressed strong feelings against building a village on the church grounds, citing concerns of attracting criminal activity or encouraging an unsanctioned encampment nearby. One homeowner with property bordering the church attended a community meeting, adamant that the site would never be welcomed. Roxana wasn’t fazed.
“I gave my talk about how many kids are homeless,” she recounts. “And what happens to those kids’ futures, like not graduating or joining a gang or becoming the next generation of homeless people.”
The very next day, the neighbor called Roxana and offered $2,000 toward the village. Through his involvement in the village’s progress, he later donated all the materials for an upgraded perimeter fence surrounding the playground.
“I think God touched his heart and said, ‘No, it’s not right that these kids have to sleep outside,’” she says.
Faith Family Village will be assisted in operational duties by Interfaith Family Shelter, another site serving families experiencing homelessness in Snohomish County. Roxana says the village will offer services focusing on development for both parents and children: obtaining proper identification; enrollment in financial and rental certification programs; applications for housing vouchers; opportunities to volunteer at the food bank as a reference for future employment; after school tutoring; meals and chore sharing; and even family fun nights to foster a sense of community. They’ll also have interactive learning opportunities like cultivating a fruit and vegetable garden with the direction of local Master Gardeners.
In the face of so many challenges, Roxana’s sunny outlook and passion eclipses any notion of giving up in the face of adversity. And she has a message for anyone else who wants to provide a glimpse of hope for their unsheltered neighbors, even if it seems unattainable:
“I would say you should go for your dreams and help all the people that you can,” she says. “Because doing all that brings more joy to you than you can ever imagine. You can do it. You should try. And the thing I’m looking forward to now is spreading family villages everywhere.”
Living in the Rapid Shelter Columbia village, Jeffrey says he finds peace in the village’s safety, and the work program he’s involved in has made him more independent to embark on a new journey.
Before moving into Columbia’s shelter village, Jeffrey Hoover spent much of the past two years trying to find a safe place to rest, moving between a temporary congregate shelter and sleeping outside.
During a period staying behind the library, he learned from another unhoused neighbor about the village being built nearby. He connected with a social worker in the library and made it a priority to move in as soon as he could.
“I went the very next day, because he told me on a Sunday,” he says. “Monday morning, I was there, sharp.”
He says sleeping outside had a feeling of freedom, where he could see the stars and breathe the air. But he constantly felt worried about his safety—either being harmed by the elements or arrested for simply living his life in public. Staying in the village has made him feel more secure.
“I really love being here,” he says. “Because number one, it’s safe. Number two, when I was outside sleeping, I was always worrying about, ‘I gotta use the bathroom, where can I go?’”
With the help of his case worker, Jeffrey was hired to help run the village itself with custodial and watch duties. He feels like it’s helping him find structure and represents a link to finding permanent housing.
“It has made me sharper,” he says. “It has made me more dependable, independent. And because of the kind of person that I am, I know that this job one day will fade out because I'm looking for something even better and bigger. And I’ll find a place one day soon that I can call home.”
In the wake of natural disaster, an inclusive range of shelter and housing models is critical to meet the immediate needs of every displaced individual.
Following destructive events like hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires, large populations are suddenly displaced from their homes and forced to find refuge wherever it is available. People are often directed to arenas, schools, community centers, or other public buildings to find a safe place to stay—at least for the night.
What comes after this stage is filled with uncertainty. To fully understand the landscape of shelter and housing options in the wake of natural disaster, it’s important to consider that each community has diverse needs. Examining the scope of housing models and offering equitable aid to displaced populations lays the groundwork for sustainable recovery.
Read on to learn the language and timeline of the Post-Disaster Housing Continuum.
1. Post-Disaster Housing Continuum
The stages of shelter and housing presented on a timeline starting immediately following a destructive event. From emergency shelter models to the prospect of rebuilding permanent housing, the path of the continuum follows a displaced person’s housing journey after an emergency.
Each stage offers specific benefits and are either based on existing infrastructure or constructed for the specific purpose of sheltering disaster survivors.
2. Emergency Preparedness
Before a disaster occurs, communities can build resilience through comprehensive preparedness planning. This includes drafting plans for staffing emergency response teams, arranging amenities such as food provision and hygiene facilities, and stockpiling rapidly deployable emergency shelter options that can be used to accommodate both responders and displaced communities.
This stage is fundamental to create true resilience, equipping cities to recover more quickly and effectively in the wake of disaster.
3. Emergency Congregate Shelter
Perhaps the most familiar of post-disaster shelter models, this stage is occupied in the days (or even hours) following an event or evacuation order. Stadiums, gymnasiums, and other large public buildings are used to rapidly shelter large groups of displaced people under one roof.
While effective at providing a space for large populations, this stage tends to present high barriers even when outside conditions are unsafe. People with pets and those with specific prior offenses are not permitted to stay in congregate settings, and people with trauma from violence and sexual assault do not feel secure in large, open settings with others.
4. Interim (Recovery) Shelter
Individual interim shelters can be deployed and assembled rapidly, and communities can be tailored to the needs of specific groups (people with disabilities or medical needs, first responders, relief workers, etc.). This model is best suited for the weeks and months following a natural disaster when permanent housing is rebuilt.
Although a crucial part of the continuum due to its versatility and ability to centralize supportive services, this stage is often overlooked and underutilized in post-disaster scenarios.
5. Temporary Housing
Forms of this stage of the continuum can range from hotels to RVs and are intended to serve displaced populations in varied timelines: depending on the extent of the rebuild period and the economic status of the person affected, temporary housing could be occupied in the weeks or even months following a disaster.
While more viable than congregate shelter for most people, this model has the potential to turn into long-term housing that isn’t dignified. When existing infrastructure like hotels are converted to temporary housing, these spaces are costly and cannot be used for visitors or tourists, which can adversely affect the recovery of local economies.
6. Long-Term Recovery Shelter
This model leverages temporary, rapidly implementable structures built on private property to serve displaced individuals, families, or workforces rebuilding permanent housing.
Allowing people to stay on their own properties while rebuilding their homes is often the most ideal solution to keep residents within their communities and looking toward the future. Units that can be quickly built and later disassembled as needed is an effective way to foster a path to long-term recovery.
7. Permanent Housing
Providing attainable, stable permanent housing for every person is of course the ultimate goal following destructive events. However, this stage cannot be reached immediately, and even when permanent housing is rebuilt, opportunities are often stratified based on socioeconomic standing. There is no linear path for every individual to reach long-term stability.
The need for urgent and dignified shelter and housing models following natural disasters highlights the necessity of every stage of the continuum preceding permanent housing. A range of equitable options is crucial for long-term recovery—and resilient communities can only be built when these basic needs are met for every person.
To learn more about how to serve the diverse needs of disaster survivors, download our Post-Disaster Housing Continuum Infographic.
Michael’s time in Columbia’s Pallet village has given him the chance to focus on himself, his goals of becoming a business owner, and starting his new journey.
Michael served in the Army for 18 years and returned home to Columbia when a house fire claimed the lives of his mother, father, aunt, uncle, and two children. After this devastating loss, he had nowhere to call home. Insurance didn’t cover the tragedy he had sustained.
He temporarily bounced between different local homeless shelters, struggling with depression and turning to alcohol and substances. It was at one of the shelters where a fellow guest told him about the Pallet village being built nearby.
Michael says moving into the village has given him stability to rebuild his life.
“I’m finding myself,” he says. “I made some slips and falls, but I’m eager to get right back up. I'm mainly right now focused on how I can get back to where I need to be in life. Not where I was, but where I need to be.”
Working with his case manager, Michael is making steps to securing documents that were lost like an ID, birth certificate, and social security card to get approved for permanent housing. When he moves out of the village, he hopes to own and operate an auto shop—he already has experience in the field and an automotive service excellence (ASE) certificate.
After experiencing trauma, Michael still needs time to recover and stabilize. But he says living in the Pallet village and having his own shelter has given him peace of mind: he’s attending counseling for his depression and starting to see the potential for positive change ahead.
“You know, like I was telling a lot of people, life is like a noun,” he says. “You have to change people, faces, and things in order to get a better outlook on your life. And for my aspect of looking out, I want to see a brighter future for myself.”
He has hope that a new life is waiting for him once he transitions out of the village.
“In five years, I want to own my own home and have my own business,” Michael says. “With a new family. I see that promise.”
Learn more about the Rapid Shelter Columbia village by reading our case study.
Understanding the link between equitable housing and public safety plays a key role in building safer, healthier, and more successful communities.
Housing is at the crux of many systems that compose a functional society, from healthcare to infrastructure. But even with decades of research proving the innate connection between stable, equitable housing options and public safety, conversations on the subject often overlook this significant relationship. On the contrary, many people believe the myth that some models of shelter and housing actually increase crime in surrounding areas.
Evidence shows these claims are false. When an inclusive range of shelter and housing options are offered to every community member, an abundance of positive effects can be observed: crimes committed by unsheltered populations out of desperation are significantly decreased; the cycle of incarceration and homelessness can be broken; and public costs are drastically reduced.
Recognizing the inherent link between housing and public safety and investing in a range of options that fit everyone’s needs has the power to make our communities safer, stronger, and more sustainable.
The Housing Inequity-Crime Connection
It is widely understood that crime does not exist in a vacuum: a number of environmental, social, and economic factors all contribute to the root causes of why people commit crimes. The fact that crime is more prevalent in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and areas with higher rates of unsheltered homelessness illustrates how a lack of access to stable housing is at the core of the issue.
Higher crime rates have been associated with neighborhoods that experience poverty, residential segregation, and a lack of essential resources like good jobs, schools, and healthcare facilities. These disparities can be linked back to practices like redlining, which represent historical institutional oppression and racism that siloed equitable housing and services to more advantaged areas. When people living in these areas are denied access to attainable housing and resources, they are incentivized to commit crimes as a means of survival.
Poor land use practices, foreclosures, and vacancies also affect crime in these neighborhoods. One study found that in Pittsburgh, crime increased 19% within 250 feet of a foreclosed home once it became vacant, and continued to rise as it sat unoccupied. Examples like this could be avoided in the future by using similar lots for development of supportive housing or subsidized market rate housing.
It’s also crucial to consider that in cases of violent crimes, vulnerable populations are much more likely to be victims than suspects. Homeless people are targeted in hate crimes at double the rate of crimes based on religion, race, or disabilities. Unsheltered women specifically disproportionately experience violent assault like rape, causing lasting trauma and suffering that creates a new set of challenges in living in communal settings like congregate shelter.
Therefore, when people have stable places to live, they are less likely to commit or fall victim to crime, creating safer communities in the process.
Breaking the Cycle of Incarceration
The reality of laws criminalizing homelessness—or attaching serious charges to minor, nonviolent offenses like loitering, panhandling, and littering—is further proof that people are expected to have secure housing and not live their life in public. This is a serious challenge, considering a nationwide shortage of 7.3 million affordable rental units.
Statistics on the disparity of homeless individuals being arrested for low-level offenses is alarming. Although homeless communities represent less than 2% of the population in cities like Portland, Sacramento, and Los Angeles, they accounted for 50%, 42%, and 24% of total arrests from 2017-2020, respectively.
And once a person enters the prison system, regardless of their offense, it makes them significantly more vulnerable to living unsheltered: formerly incarcerated people are 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general public. This is especially concerning when one considers the fact that one in every three Americans has a criminal record.
Upon release from the system, formerly incarcerated people face numerous challenges in securing appropriate housing. The inability to make rent, stigmatization from landlords, and barring those with drug offenses from public housing are just a few common obstacles. By lowering these barriers, along with focusing on new inclusive housing and subsidized market rate developments, the prison-homelessness cycle can be effectively broken and improve public safety in the process.
Investing in Housing as Public Safety
The overall costs of policing, corrections, courts, and other reactive measures associated with public safety far outweigh national investment in housing and community development.
While the nearly $260 billion annual budget of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shows a concerted effort to fund more affordable housing and assistance programs, it pales in comparison to the price of operating the criminal legal system. When accounting for indirect economic effects of crime (property destruction and vandalism, utilization of healthcare and emergency services, forgone wages, etc.), the broader societal cost of the criminal legal system is estimated to equal $1.2 trillion.
Creating Safer, More Resilient Communities
There is undeniable proof that providing equitable, attainable housing is a guaranteed pathway to improving public safety. By incorporating this understanding into the development of new shelter and housing programs and acknowledging that the two concepts are inextricable from each other, we can make progress to end unsheltered homelessness and build safer, more successful communities as a result.
To learn more about the impacts of housing on public safety outcomes, download our Housing as Public Safety White Paper.
Even while cities face challenges in opening new shelter villages, there are various methods to overcome them and aid vulnerable populations experiencing homelessness.
Many cities that aim to address their unsheltered homelessness crises see the benefits of interim shelter villages but face barriers in opening new sites. After encountering a wide variety of obstacles in our work with cities across the country, we can share our successes navigating these difficulties as a blueprint for any municipality aiming to provide equitable shelter for their vulnerable communities.
Whether it’s community opposition, trouble accessing funding, finding proper potential sites, or issues concerning infrastructure and zoning ordinances, our Community Development team is well-versed in finding tailored solutions for each city’s unique challenges.
We have found successful techniques to overcome many different barriers, but the following three arise the most frequently. Read on to learn how a diverse set of cities have succeeded in opening their own Pallet village despite adverse conditions.
Barrier 1: Accessing and Obtaining Funding
One of the first concerns that arises when considering building a Pallet shelter village is a simple question: how will we fund it?
Navigating funding options presents its own set of challenges, but we have seen villages built across the country utilizing a spectrum of different sources, from federal assistance programs to private donations. Some examples include:
While all of these are viable funding sources, we have also seen cities successfully combine funding from each level, and in the process, aid their unsheltered populations with appropriate urgency.
Barrier 2: Zoning and Land Use Challenges
Finding suitable and affordable land to build an interim shelter village can be a daunting task without assistance. But by working with local government boards, involving the community, and approaching land use challenges creatively, we have helped bring many Pallet shelter villages to life.
The following illustrate a few examples of how cities have overcome this specific barrier:
One city sidestepped legal barriers by passing a city council vote to exempt a proposed site from specific building and zoning codes—while ensuring safety by working with the fire marshal during site development.
We witnessed a success story that involved creating an open forum composed of shelter organizations, community groups, landowners, and neighbors. By holding an open dialogue between all stakeholders in public meetings and coming to a solution that worked for everyone, the city was able to integrate a Pallet village into an existing residential neighborhood.
Being aware of emergency land use laws has helped shelter communities develop over a significantly quicker timeline: by classifying unsheltered homelessness as the crisis that it is, we have seen cities provide essential shelter and supportive services with urgency.
Creatively recategorizing property types has been another avenue of overcoming this particular barrier. One city even implemented a creative land classification to bring shelter and warmth to their unsheltered community right before the harsh cold of winter arrived.
While these solutions to these problems may not be self-evident, our Community Development team is adept and experienced in surmounting land use and zoning hurdles.
Barrier 3: Gaining Community Support
Community opposition often stands in the way of successfully building new shelter villages. We have found that by establishing an open line of communication between local governments and the public and providing education about the benefits of interim shelter, staunch opposition can often be transformed into outspoken support.
Some methods that have produced positive outcomes by engaging the community include:
Common concerns surrounding new shelter villages are often based on the fear that these developments will increase crime and decrease neighboring property values. Providing facts to prove the opposite is true—such as data showing crime rates decreasing in areas surrounding new sites—can often spur a collective change of opinion.
Demonstrating the inherent dignity and safety of Pallet villages has proven to be a boon to gaining community support: we have seen multiple cities host open houses where city leaders and heads of local organizations will stay in a shelter overnight to exhibit its potential in helping vulnerable people reintegrate and transition to permanent housing.
Ideas like creating a website to keep the public updated on crucial information and resources regarding a potential village or hosting community meetings that allow neighbors to voice their opinion has helped support efforts to develop new sites in various locations.
Interim shelter plays a crucial role in providing people with a stepping stone toward permanent housing, and examples like Pallet villages with onsite supportive services meet diverse needs of different displaced populations. And even while the model is proven to be an important part of resilient communities, city leaders are often impeded in the process.
Learn more about how Pallet’s Community Development team can help you maneuver barriers regarding funding, zoning and land use, and community opposition by reading our case studies.
Thorough and rigorous testing means our shelters can perform in varying extreme weather conditions—whether it’s rain, snow, wind or heat, we know that residents of Pallet villages across the country are safe.
With thousands of Pallet shelters across the country, we’re constantly gathering feedback on their design from customers. This information is crucial for our in-house engineering team. It allows them to understand what our shelters must withstand in the real world.
With that knowledge, they can design Pallet shelters to meet various demands, and rigorously test them onsite.
And yet, we don’t stop there. We also third-party certify our shelters to truly validate their designs.
All this is critical because our shelters often go into storm-prone and extreme weather zones. They must reliably protect the residents who live in them, all while remaining cost-effective.
Our new S2 shelters illustrate our deep commitment to R&D. Building on our legacy of intentional, quality engineering, they advance our mission to offer safe, dignified housing for displaced and vulnerable populations.
Pallet S2: The next evolution
The S2 line is the next chapter in Pallet shelters, shaped and guided by those with lived experience. Designed to be stronger, easier to assemble, and even more comfortable, our S2 products reflect feedback from residents of Pallet villages, service providers who operate the villages, and our own lived experience workforce.
This crucial input—gathered from all across the country—helped our engineers redesign interior features and simplify the structure, which in turn reduced costs.
Yet, their biggest focus was fortifying the S2s against intense weather. In doing so, they made the S2 shelter a reliable and universal solution for safe and comfortable living—virtually anywhere.
Engineered for the Real World
Whether it’s tornado-force winds, intense snow storms or severe heat, Pallet shelters must be engineered to handle it all. Pallet villages exist in places that experience severe weather events and our shelters must provide protection in these challenging environments.
“In south Florida, you have 140 mile-an-hour winds. In Maine, we have to withstand 40 lb. of snow per square foot,” says Pallet Engineer Trevor Russell. “We have villages in the deserts of California and the mountain towns of Denver.”
Water is a tough culprit for any structure. To shield against it, the engineers designed the S2 wall panels without rivets, and improved the subframe’s flashing and tension rods, eliminating even the smallest gaps where water might find its way in.
To maintain the S2’s ability to bear maximum snow loads while simplifying the design of its roof, our engineers updated from a two-piece design to a mono-pitch roof.
The new roof and subframe work together to create a unique tensioning and compression system. This increases the wind speeds the shelters can endure. The patent-pending design allows them to transfer sheer force through their sidewalls, providing incredible strength so they hold up in tornado-like wind.
“Our goal was to create shelters that work in the entirety of the U.S. and Canada,” Trevor says. Pallet shelters meet structural codes in nearly every state.
Rigorously tested onsite
Once Trevor and his team had created a prototype of the S2, they devised onsite tests to challenge it.
To test its waterproofness, they blasted it with a giant hose—inflicting an intense amount of direct water pressure all across the unit.
To simulate snow loading, they heaved sandbags onto its roof and measured the deflection of the panel.
And when it came to testing whether the shelter held together in the fiercest of winds, the team attached a winch and pulley system to the wall and plates to the shelter and pulled till they reached nearly 6000 lbs–nearly taking out a Pallet warehouse shop wall in the process
“The idea was to put sheer force along the walls and then see what fails,” Trevor says. “We started getting worried that the wall of the shop was going to fail.”
The S2 held up, withstanding the force of 155 mile-per-hour winds.
Third-party certified
Through this testing phase, the Pallet engineering team partners with a third-party structural engineering firm. These outside engineers are onsite to validate the tests and witness first-hand how the structures perform.
“We work with the firm to make sure our test design meets all the specs. Then, they review our testing data and make sure we pass whatever specifications we need to,” Trevor says.
Once a shelter design passes all tests, the engineering firm awards it a PE stamp of approval, which is an officially recognized certification of performance.
Inspired designs
Trevor was the mastermind behind the S2’s new wall panel designs and many other key features that make it our most weatherproof, comfortable yet rapidly deployable shelter to date.
“The best part is when we get to jump into new R&D projects and start throwing ideas out in that early phase,” he says. “We’re doing things that haven’t been done. So it’s a big, exciting challenge.”
The S2 line remediates feedback we heard from residents, service providers, city officials, and folks on the Pallet team who have experienced homelessness themselves.
“Working with our fair chance employees, it’s fun to learn from them,” Trevor says. “They’ve taught me new life perspectives. We’re all not all given the same opportunities in life and it’s important to give people chances.”
With his dedication and the rest of our passionate in-house engineering and manufacturing teams, plus the invaluable perspectives of Pallet users, we’ll continue delivering safe, comfortable shelter that give people a fair chance.
Learn more about the safety features and capabilities of our new S2 shelter line.
Recognizing housing as an essential piece of infrastructure not only increases equitable opportunities for vulnerable communities: it contributes to our resilience and progress as a country.
Housing and infrastructure are two seemingly distinct domains, yet understanding their interconnectedness is crucial to shape the progress of a nation. While infrastructure programs often conjure ideas of highways, bridges, and public utilities, housing is a cornerstone of this broader framework—not just a basic human need—and must be recognized as such.
Affordable and attainable housing contributes to the overall development and prosperity of a nation. According to recent studies, the U.S. has a shortage of 7.3 million affordable and available rental homes for individuals with extremely low incomes, and no state has an adequate supply of affordable units to meet these growing needs. Coupled with the 19 million American renters who spent 30% or more of their income on housing costs, it’s apparent that the U.S. is experiencing social instability and economic disparity.
The Infrastructure Improvements and Jobs Act (IIJA) signed into law in 2021 outlines a plan to increase the country’s competitiveness and invest in communities that have too often been left behind. Yet no part of this plan addresses the severity of chronic housing issues. If people are not housed, then the government and taxpayers cannot actualize the most fundamental benefits of any infrastructure investment.
Benefits of Investing in Housing as Infrastructure
Investing in housing as a component of infrastructure programs is a well-rounded approach to fostering an equitable and prosperous society and maximizes the return on costly infrastructure spending. This strategy can result in a myriad of positive environmental, social, and economic benefits, each playing a pivotal role in developing resilient and thriving communities at the local, state, and national levels.
Environmental Impacts
Low-income households, often residing in environmentally vulnerable areas, face greater challenges in relocating or rebuilding after disasters. By emphasizing low-income housing development projects that incorporate energy-efficient and sustainable features, we can enhance resilience to extreme weather and climate change impacts while also curbing greenhouse gas emissions—key ideas outlined in the IIJA.
Furthermore, these housing initiatives promote smart urban planning, reducing urban sprawl and thus preserving natural landscapes and biodiversity for a more sustainable future.
Social Impacts
Investing in housing infrastructure is a critical tool in the fight against homelessness, offering affordable housing options and support services that can substantially improve the lives of vulnerable populations. These investments also relieve the strain on social services, as stable housing promotes independence and reduces reliance on public assistance and health programs, thus leading to increased community well-being and public health.
Housing investments are also aligned with the goals of the U.S. Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which holds jurisdiction over U.S. infrastructure and aims to strengthen community bonds, foster economic growth, enhance mobility, and promote equity by improving access to essential services. Yet without official acknowledgement from government entities that housing is infrastructure, this shared goal will perpetually be divided in resources and minimal in effectiveness.
Economic Impacts
From an economic standpoint, housing infrastructure is an engine for growth and productivity, which the IIJA aims to achieve. Housing infrastructure supports the bill’s efforts to create jobs during the construction and maintenance phases of housing projects and further boosts local economies by leveraging public and private resources to generate income and tax revenue. Moreover, the reduction in homelessness leads to cost savings in healthcare, emergency services, and welfare programs that ultimately reduce the tax burden on individuals and businesses.
Moving Forward
The state of our current housing landscape reflects the state of our society: A fractured housing system undermines our ability to function as a cohesive and prosperous nation and fully reap the benefits of expensive infrastructure programs. Without sufficient housing infrastructure, we jeopardize the stability and functionality of our communities, impeding our collective progress and prosperity.
To truly advance as a society and address the prevalent issues of homelessness and housing instability, we must recognize housing as an essential component of our nation's infrastructure and ensure every individual has a secure place to call home. Only then can our nation operate as a prosperous and resilient collective.
To learn more about the impacts and benefits of housing in federal and state infrastructure programs, download our Housing as Infrastructure White Paper.
After living for years unsheltered in a local park, Dawn is taking steps toward more permanent housing with the support of the City Net team at Chula Vista’s Pallet village.
For several years, Dawn and her partner had to be resourceful for basic necessities like bathing and keeping personal possessions safe. They lived in a tent in a local park, using a hose hooked up to the sink of a public restroom to take showers.
Even while working, she fought to keep her belongings secure.
“I’ve actually had people steal my personal property from my job,” she says. “There are people out there you think you can trust, and then there are people that you would no way want to trust.”
Dawn describes her partner Miguel as being her safety net for a long time. They moved from Kansas out to California, where she grew up, and stuck together for many years.
“I just went wherever he went,” Dawn recalls. “I felt safe and comfortable with him. And I do have a love for him, but the love in the beginning was a lot stronger.”
Dawn explains that Miguel lives with bipolar disorder and ADHD, and his struggles managing these conditions put a strain on their relationship. After being offered shelters in Chula Vista’s new Pallet site by workers from San Diego’s Alpha Project Outreach Team, their bond began to falter, and Miguel moved out of the village.
Now Dawn is looking to the future, working with her onsite case manager to overcome barriers to secure permanent housing. She faces a number of challenges that were too much to tackle alone while working and keeping herself safe: medical debts from over a decade ago that have gone to collections; not having an option to obtain private health insurance through her job but earning just too much to qualify for Medicaid; replacing her lost social security card; and rebuilding her credit score to qualify for an affordable rental.
“A lot of the rental properties want a score of 650 or above, and my credit’s not that great,” she says. “The accounts that are out there causing my score to be so low are 12-year-old hospital bills. And then they say, ‘If you don’t have this, we can’t qualify you.’ It’s just aggravating.”
The team at City Net have already helped Dawn to check some of these items off her list. They provided transportation to the social security office to replace her lost card, are working to pay off old bills to improve her credit, and have obtained a housing voucher that would allow her to find her own place.
“I’ve been going online and everything looking for a place as well,” she says. “And the other day, we went out driving around trying to see if we could find places.”
Surmounting challenges like these is made extremely difficult without a safe and comfortable place to stay. Dawn is one of the first residents at the Chula Vista Bridge Shelter, and after just a few months of being offered an ecosystem of support, she’s already heading in the right direction.
To find out how the city of Chula Vista came together to build the Bridge Shelter and aid their unhoused neighbors, download our case study.
Homelessness is a complex, nuanced issue that takes time to understand fully. Organizations, experts, and advocates within the homelessness field use specific words and phrases that aren't common knowledge. To help bridge the information gap, we've put together another list of terms to help you better understand homelessness-related issues.
The list addresses metrics the federal government uses to determine who qualifies for aid, programs available to states to help unhoused people get back on track, and more.
1. Non-congregate shelter
A non-congregate shelter is an emergency shelter that provides private sleeping space, such as a hotel or motel room. Pallet shelters are in this category because people using them have their own private space and typically aren't sharing it with a stranger.
2. Area Median Income (AMI) / Median Family Income (MFI)
AMI and MFI are often used interchangeably and are the median household in a given region. This statistic is developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to determine applicants' eligibility for specific federal housing programs.
3. Rapid rehousing
Rapid rehousing is a housing model designed to provide temporary housing assistance to people experiencing homelessness. This short-term intervention moves people out of homelessness quickly and into permanent housing.
4. Housing choice voucher (Section 8)
The housing choice voucher program is the federal government's major program for assisting very low-income families, the elderly, and people with disabilities so they can afford safe and sanitary housing in the private market. Housing choice vouchers are administered locally by public housing agencies (PHAs). The PHAs receive federal funds from HUD to administer the voucher program.
5. Emergency Housing Voucher
The Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program is available through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Through EHV, HUD is providing 70,000 housing choice vouchers to local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) to assist: individuals and families who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, fleeing, domestic violence victims, human trafficking survivors, or were recently homeless or have an elevated risk of housing instability
6. Housing First
The Housing First model prioritizes providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness. This serves as a platform for them to pursue personal goals and improve their quality of life. This approach is guided by the belief that people need basic necessities like food and a place to live before attending to anything less critical, such as getting a job, budgeting properly, or attending to substance use issues.
7. Single Room Occupancy (SRO)
An SRO is a residential property that includes multiple single occupancy units. If the unit doesn't have a food preparation area or a bathroom, those facilities are shared. During the mid-70s and 80s, there was a sharp decline in SROs in cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York. This housing option reduction is considered a contributing factor in the rise in homelessness.
8. Affordable Housing
According to federal government standards, housing and utilities should cost no more than 30% of your total income. Publicly subsidized rental housing usually has income restrictions, dictating that tenants cannot earn more than 60% of the area median income. Homelessness rates rise faster in cities where residents spend more than one-third of their income on rent.
9. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
The TANF program allows states and territories to operate programs designed to help low-income families with children achieve economic self-sufficiency. States use TANF to fund monthly cash assistance payments to low-income families with children and a wide range of services. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services administers the funds.
10. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
SNAP is a federal program that provides nutrition benefits to low-income individuals and families used at stores to purchase food. The program is administered by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) through its nationwide network of FNS field offices.
11. McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a federal law created to support the enrollment and education of students experiencing homelessness. McKinney-Vento is intended to provide homeless students the same educational opportunities as housed students by removing as many barriers to learning for homeless students as possible.
12. Hostile architecture
Hostile architecture limits how people experiencing homelessness use public spaces and discourages them from staying in an area for too long. Examples include a bench with an armrest in the middle, spikes, and boulders. Here's more on the impact of hostile architecture.
Defining the types of homelessness
Language is ever-evolving. As society changes and grows, the words we use or stop using reflect who we are. At Pallet, we continually evaluate whether we're using inclusive, destigmatizing language. We need to speak and operate in a way that mirrors our values.
Since our inception in 2016, we've identified ourselves as a second chance employer. At the time, it was a commonly used term to describe companies like us that aimed to build a nontraditional workforce. We focused on an applicant's potential, not their past. As a result of this decision, it helped us design and manufacture shelter solutions firmly rooted in lived experience. But the term second chance employment doesn't fit. It implies everyone has access to the same opportunities in life and squandered their first chance.
"Second chance employer doesn't reflect the true circumstances of our team. For most of our folks, this is their first chance, or it could also be their third and fourth chance," Pallet CEO Amy King shared. "And the connotation is that we're doing them a favor by giving them another chance. And that's not the case."
The term can also be interpreted as negatively judging someone's past. That's not the case at Pallet, so we've decided to describe ourselves as a fair chance employer. The term is inclusive and recognizes that everyone is capable. Fair chance hiring reduces recidivism and strengthens our community.
"We're making this change in language to show we welcome everyone. We don't care what your background is," added King. "It doesn't single out the justice-involved population either, and it helps us to have a broader reach to people from any background anywhere."
Diversified hiring practices are vital to our success and help us empower people who can process and problem-solve with compassion, sensitivity, and creativity.
J.J. found purposeful work at Pallet
It's been another sweltering summer for many cities across the country. Days where temperatures reach triple digits are no longer as rare as they once were. Even the Pacific Northwest, an area known for having a moderate climate, hasn't been spared from record-breaking temperatures. As meteorologists issued extreme heat warnings, people did their best to stay cool.
Heat Wave Dangers
When the weather becomes unbearable, people without a stable place to call home are vulnerable to adverse health conditions and even death. According to an Associated Press report, "around the country, heat contributes to some 1,500 deaths annually, and advocates estimate about half of those people are homeless." Statistics from Maricopa County, Arizona — where Phoenix is located — show 130 homeless people died last year from heat-associated conditions. The number of deaths decreased from the previous year, but it was almost double the 2019 statistic. People who live in homes are also at risk for heat related death since having air conditioning isn't always a given.
To combat elevated temperatures, many cities open cooling centers. It's an essential tool because prolonged heat exposure can lead to numerous health problems. Groups at greater risk for heat stress include elderly individuals, those with chronic conditions such as heart disease, and people experiencing homelessness. According to the CDC, illnesses associated with heat include:
Pallet shelter villages play a crucial role in helping our unhoused neighbors avoid the perils of living outside when a heat dome settles on an area. Our shelters are dignified spaces with a locking door and climate control which help keep the interior cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Candace recently moved into a Pallet shelter in southern California. The week she settled in, temperatures in the area reached the mid-90s. After previously sleeping in a tent, she was thankful for a cool place to rest and recharge. "The AC is nice. It's a blessing to have the air conditioning," she said.
Cold Snap Concerns
Conversely, winter is also a hazard for our unhoused neighbors. Tents, tarps, blankets, and warm clothing can only do so much, especially when temperatures get down to single digits. If someone makes a fire or uses a camping stove for heat, that also presents hazards. Even when someone is living in their car, they can’t have it running all night to stay warm.
According to the CDC, hypothermia, and frostbite are the most common cold-related problems. When exposed to cold temperatures, your body loses heat faster than it can be produced. While hypothermia is mostly associated with very cold temperatures, the CDC says it can occur even at cool temperatures, above 40°F, if a person becomes chilled from rain, sweat, or submersion in cold water.
The heaters and insulation in the panels of Pallet shelters keep residents warm. Jay Gonstead moved into one of our shelters in Madison, Wisconsin, in December 2021. In an interview, he told a local reporter that when approached by outreach workers about moving into a cabin, he said yes because, "you knew you were going to be warm. You knew you were going to be safe here."
Rain, Wind, Snow
Rain, wind, and snow are also problematic weather events for people living outside. Tents and tarps offer little protection against those elements. Pallet employee Sarah, who experienced homelessness before joining the team, shared why it's difficult to live outdoors in those conditions.
"The winters and the rain were definitely the hardest, of course, because you're so cold and you're so wet. And then to be able to find dry clothes from whatever garbage can or from wherever you can find them," Sarah explained. She also had to escape from fires that started inside her tent while trying to stay warm.
Pallet shelters offer protection from rain, can withstand 110 mph winds, and have a 25lb per square foot snow load rating.
There are many other challenges to living outside that make it unsafe. At Pallet, we're working towards the goal of ending unsheltered homelessness. With each village we build, more people are brought inside, protected from the weather, and their basic needs — such as meals and showers — are met. Residents also have access to a resource net of services that enable them to move into stable, permanent housing. By providing this opportunity, people experiencing homelessness can focus on the next step, rather than solely survival.
Debunking Myths: Homelessness is a choice
In San Gabriel Valley, California, a group of unhoused people are on the path to permanent housing thanks to a Pallet shelter village. Esperanza Villa opened in late November 2021 with 25 Pallet shelters in Baldwin Park, CA. Each shelter has a bed, desk, shelving, climate control, electrical outlets to power devices, storage space for personal belongings, and a locking door. In addition to living in a dignified and private space, residents can access Pallet bathrooms and our laundry facilities.
The service provider at Esperanza Villa is Volunteers of America Los Angeles (VOALA), a nonprofit human services organization committed to serving people in need, strengthening families, and building communities. They provide meals, case management, and housing navigation. They also connect residents to mental and physical health services. Securing vital documents such as an identification card or birth certificate is a crucial step in the path to receiving housing. VOALA staff assists residents who need them.
VOALA Senior Program Manager Amanda Romero described the village as a safe place for our unhoused neighbors. They experience many emotions when moving in.
"It's definitely a sense of relief when they finally have a place where they're able to get services, and they're able to shower and do their laundry," she shared.
It's definitely a sense of relief when they finally have a place where they're able to get services, and they're able to shower and do their laundry.
– Amanda Romero, VOALA Senior Program Manager
Amanda describes the site as being quiet and mellow. Many people there are seniors, while some are working or going to school. Since opening, Amanda said six people have moved out of the village and into permanent housing. It was through a combination of housing vouchers (rental assistance) and family reunification. One woman who recently moved into her own place had been experiencing homelessness off and on for ten years. The successes at the site show when people have the opportunity to stabilize and access essential services, they can take the next step.
"About four more of the participants who are living there have emergency housing vouchers, so they should be housed soon," Amanda added. "It's just a matter of finding an apartment that accepts their housing voucher."
The surrounding community is also supportive of Esperanza Villa. Leading up to the site's opening, Baldwin Park Mayor Emmanuel J. Estrada held several information sessions to explain its purpose. The move helped dispel any misgivings people may have had and provided a greater understanding of the value of transitional housing.
Amanda said the village is an excellent alternative for people who — for several reasons — won't go to a traditional congregate shelter.
"We've gotten a variety of people from different walks of life, and we've really been able to help a lot of people," she shared. "The Pallet shelters are great because they can have their own space and sense of security and safety and a door that locks."
Homelessness Glossary: 15 terms to know
Recently Jerry and Sharon celebrated 26 years of marriage. This year they had more to commemorate than just lifelong companionship. At the same time last year, they lived outside and slept in a tent. The couple moved into Safe Stay Community, a Pallet shelter village in Vancouver, WA, when it opened in December 2021. The relocation was especially timely because of an unforgiving Pacific Northwest winter.
"It's great compared to a tent. Heat's good, especially in December when it's colder than heck. Or April when it snows," Sharon said. "And windstorms. We had a big windstorm that was taking tents down, but it never took ours down."
"It's a God send," Jerry added.
After getting settled, both underwent delayed surgery because they didn't have a stable place to recover. Now that they've moved into a Pallet shelter — a dignified space with beds, shelving, storage for their personal possessions, and a locking door — they've started the process of transitioning into their own place. Their son also lives in the community. He began taking online classes for a high school diploma.
"He's getting all A's. I'm so proud of him," Sharon shared.
There are 20 Pallet shelters at Safe Stay Community. The village replaced an encampment located in the same area. Outsiders Inn, an organization dedicated to lifting people out of homelessness through advocacy, support, and resources, is the service provider. All of their staff have lived experience.
Residents have access to a meeting space, bathrooms, hand washing stations, and a kitchen with a microwave, coffee maker, and air fryer. Meals are also delivered three times a day. A mobile health team visits the site frequently. The group includes a nurse, mental health professional, a substance use disorder clinician, and peer support. Pet care is provided through a partnership with the Humane Society. Case managers and housing navigators are also available.
In the months following the site's opening Jamie Spinelli, Vancouver's Homeless Response Coordinator, is proud of how well everyone is doing. Seven people have moved into permanent housing and a handful got jobs. Jamie has worked in outreach for more than a decade and has relationships with many residents.
She considers the greatest success of the site to be the positive shift in a resident who had been homeless for six years.
"He is the most stable I have ever seen. He was a very high crisis system utilizer. And he has not had to utilize any of those services since moving into this space," Jamie explained. "And that's only for a three-month period. But we would have had to utilize emergency services and crisis services for him probably no less than six times in that same time period when he was outside. "
He completed detox, is in recovery, and is now working at a local business near the site.
Jamie says the transitional housing village prepares people for the next step. A safe, supportive environment gets them back into a routine after living unsheltered. While residents work towards their goals, they bond and look out for one another.
Jamie eagerly tells the story of a successful paint night party in the community. One resident who loves the late Bob Ross made sure everyone tapped into their creativity.
"Everybody painted, and he would walk around. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen in my whole life," she shared. "He walked around encouraging everybody because people were like, ‘I'm not a good painter.’ He said, 'Yours looks great. There's no mistakes. Only happy accidents. It looks beautiful.' Just encouraging everyone. It was probably the single greatest thing I've ever seen."
The site also gives the community a chance to engage with their unhoused neighbors. Many have come by to support residents, from making curtains for the shelters to offering employment. In April, Vancouver opened Hope Village, a second site with 20 Pallet shelters. Living Hope Church is the service provider. Jamie says it’s running smoothly and residents there are off to a great start. The city is also discussing the opening of a third site.
"I think one of the important things about these shelters, in particular, is that they offer an alternative to traditional shelter. Because there's a lot of folks who you could not pay to go into a traditional shelter," Jamie said. "I think these fill a gap that we've had for a very long time and are super needed."
UPDATE: In August the City of Vancouver released a six-month report on the Safe Stay Community. Highlights from the report:
● 14 people successfully transitioned to housing
● 40 people completed housing assessments
● 16 people obtained identification cards
● 11 people secured employment
● 1 person received a high school diploma
Read the full report.
Breaking the cycle of homelessness in Aurora, CO
Across the country, tens of thousands of youth don’t have a fixed place to call home. A 2020 count showed there were 34,210 unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness. Ninety percent were between the ages of 18 to 24. It’s estimated 22 percent identify as LGBTQ+. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, youth homelessness is often rooted in family conflict. Other contributing factors include poverty, housing insecurity, and involvement in the juvenile justice system.
For two years, Sarah Allen worked as the Street Outreach Specialist at Cocoon House, an Everett, Washington-based nonprofit organization focused on the needs of at-risk young people (18 to 24-years-old). Their team provides short and long-term housing, outreach and prevention services.
Pallet talked with Sarah about her role as an advocate and former position. While there, she went into the community, especially skateparks, to provide unhoused youth food, supplies and talk with them about the services offered at Cocoon House. She was critical in ensuring that people across Snohomish County — a mix of urban and rural areas — were aware of the resources available to them. She shares what it was like to work with youth, lessons she’s learned, and common misconceptions about homelessness.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Pallet: How did you approach the youth you saw in the community? How did you build these relationships?
Sarah: Well, the first thing I do is make sure that I am not wearing really formal clothes. I'm not wearing dress shoes, I'm not wearing khakis. I'm not tucking in my shirt. Also in my appearance, I look younger. I was kind of younger, so I didn't seem much older to them. And in addition to that, I would go to skateparks and I would go to places where youth would be hanging out. There was consistency as well. For example, the Lake Stevens Skatepark, there's just a lot of teenagers that hang out there. I would go at the same time every Wednesday for a while, just connecting with people, handing out stuff to the point where the kids would feel comfortable approaching me.
There's a difference of need between someone who's 14 and someone who's 18. So I just made sure when I gave my little spiel or my elevator speech about it, it was applicable to them. And a lot of people might not understand what homelessness is.
Pallet: What did you consider a successful day?
Sarah: A successful day to me was really being able to connect with someone, a youth in particular, give them my card and then see them come into our drop-in center or our shelter or get sheltered. It always made me feel like I did my job right.
Pallet: The percentage of youth experiencing homelessness who are LGBTQ+ is high. Did you change your approach for those individuals?
Sarah: If I could tell, I would add that Cocoon House is an LGBT friendly place. We have people who identify that way as staff and then also just our culture in general, very respectful. For example, we had a youth in our parenting and pregnant shelter in Arlington, and they were a trans man, but they gave birth to their baby before they transitioned. And so I think about that particular person a lot and think, ‘Wow, that was really hard to do.’ And to be in a place that was safe enough for you to stay there for a long time, it really makes a difference versus other shelters that may not be as welcoming or be able to supply you safety for long periods of time.
I also wore a lot of rainbow pins on me and other kinds of signaling outfits as well. So that way it was more obvious to folks. I would let them make assumptions about me because they would be right. Because when you see someone who has a rainbow flag, you feel a little bit safer.
Pallet: Are there any lessons you learned while working in outreach?
Sarah: Yeah, I think actually I grew as a person and had a better understanding, in-depth understanding of community needs. Being able to see the range of different experiences because a lot of people just lump all homeless people into one box. That's not really fair because every single person is different. And it really helped me learn the difference between true compassion and pity, which is the antithesis of compassion. When I first started, I had pity. And I think a lot of people do not understand how limiting that is for folks. Like, ‘oh, I feel sorry for you.’ Compassion is saying, I see you and I hear you and you can do it. You're empowering them and you believe that they can do it.
I also learned a lot about street culture. There was a book [Street Culture 2.0: An Epistemology of Street-dependent Youth] that I read that was really impactful. The book would talk about how people perceive time when they're homeless, like all these other things that we don't see because we just judge people while we drive past them, while they have a sign up.
I think another lesson I learned is truly just listening and not assuming people's needs.
Pallet: What are some of the misconceptions people have about youth experiencing homelessness?
Sarah: One is drug use. ‘They use drugs, that's why they get kicked out and that's why they're using drugs on the street and that's why they're homeless.’ A lot of people have turned to drugs to survive being on the street. That's not the drugs causing them to live on the street. [They’ve said] ‘I'm on the street now and I have to stay up during the night time so the cops don't catch me or I don't get things stolen from me or I don't get hurt. So I have to take this substance to stay awake and I need to take this substance to go to sleep.’ I think that's something a lot of the regulars that I saw, they were using drugs because they just wanted to survive, which seems counterintuitive, but if that's what you got you're going to use it.
Another misconception is rebellion or youth are not listening and they deserve to be homeless. Some people think that, ‘oh if you just listen to so and so, if you just did this or that, then your life would be fine.’ People who are in the cycle of homelessness, I would say 90% have experienced some kind of physical, sexual, emotional abuse at some point, a lot of violence in life. Everyone just sees homelessness as the end result when there could have been a lot more steps preventing that person being on the street.
Also, I would argue that there's not a lot of things to do as a teenager and during Covid it was even worse. I feel like that also contributes to just lack of community and lack of belonging, lack of connection. At 18, everyone says, ‘oh, yeah, you're an adult now and just figure it out.’ I think that's really cruel to do to folks.
Another misconception is about using the fact that they have phones or maybe they might have a car or they might have things that might be considered luxury, but those things are necessary. Like, ‘oh, they should just sell their phone so they're not hungry.’ Everyone thinks that you should give up your items so easily. But how does someone get a job or contact people they need if they don't have a phone on them? Access a bank account, et cetera. I think everyone just wants them to look a certain way and be a certain way. And when people challenge that, they're very confused.
Pallet: What are some of the challenges the youth you worked with faced?
Sarah: The part about homelessness that people may not understand is that there's nothing that's your space and that you can claim for yourself. You're on someone else's couch, you're in someone else's car. It's very limited for you, especially if you've had a privileged life and then you don't. All of a sudden it's very shocking. You always feel like you’re in the way. It's very lonely, and you feel like everyone is kind of like communicating around you and not to you. And also there's just a lot, a huge amount of shame. I think that's the number one thing.
Pallet: What was your favorite part about working in outreach?
Sarah: I really enjoyed just interacting and talking to the youth that I was with and being able to just hang out with them, especially in the drop-in center that I worked in. I think that was my favorite part because I can actually hang out with them and talk to them for more than 30 seconds to a couple of minutes. I can see their personalities. I can see the difference in a good day and a bad day. I can learn what their favorite drink was or snack was. And maybe I was able to cheer them up by finding it for them, see them improve and reach their goals, be with them when times were hard.
I even got a Facebook message from one of the youth that I connected with recently. He said, ‘I really want to thank you for being there for me. Without you (and he named a couple other staff) I don't think I would be here.’ And now he's doing way better and living in Oregon and making improvements in life and moving forward, which I think is great. But I didn't do anything exceptional. I didn't give them a lot of cash. I didn't give them a miracle. I just showed up.
Pallet: What would you suggest someone do to specifically help young folks?
Sarah: I would definitely encourage folks to really reach out to organizations where they can spend time, face to face with youth by either mentoring, hanging out with them, maybe even sharing life skills with them for example. I know during Covid it's not always doable, but there's other programs like donating a meal, finding organizations that just lend a hand to folks. And really I would encourage people to step out of their comfort zone just a little bit more because I think a lot of people don't. They just drive past or walk as quickly as possible avoiding anyone who seems like they might need help instead of actually talking to them for a minute or maybe saying, I hope you have a good day or anything positive.
Pallet: As you were talking. I was thinking yeah, mentorship would be incredibly helpful.
Sarah: And I think it's really important that there's lots of representation of different communities as well, because as a cisgender woman who is White, I can only reach someone so far. There should be more volunteers and other mentors to reflect the community that they're in. More folks who can speak Spanish, more folks who can sign, more folks who are neurodivergent. Because there's a lot of need and a lot of different kinds of folks, and some people can just understand others better than others can.
Pallet: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Sarah: I think there's one thing people can do. Be kind, listen and believe people when they tell you their story, even if it doesn't match your expectations.
Today Sarah works at Stanwood Camano Food Bank as a Program Coordinator. She’s assisting housed and unhoused youth and adults in this role.
How Pallet shelter villages have a positive impact on mental health
(UPDATED June 26, 2024)
Across the country, unhoused populations continue to grow. The leading causes of homelessness are economic hardship such as job loss, lack of affordable housing options, and mounting costs of living. Homelessness rates rise as rent prices increase: half of renters across the nation now spend at least 30% of their income on rent, while a quarter spend at least 50%. But even with economic conditions as a common factor, homelessness doesn’t affect all communities equally.
Some groups of people experience higher rates of housing instability. In particular, people who are LGBTQ+ are overrepresented among the unhoused population. Social stigma, discrimination, and family rejection put them at greater risk. According to a 2020 survey by UCLA's Williams Institute, 17% of lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults and 30% of transgender adults have experienced homelessness at some point in their lives, compared to 6% of the U.S. population. The Williams Institute is a research center on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy. Their research also shows:
New data also shows that nearly half (48.1%) of LGBTQ+ adults say they are financially unwell, compared to just over a quarter (25.7%) of the general public, and 30% of those who identify as LGBTQ+ reported experiencing discrimination while accessing financial services. These challenges put the LGBTQ+ community at a uniquely heightened risk of experiencing housing instability and homelessness.
LGBTQ+ youth and homelessness
In addition to LGBTQ+ adults, youth are also disproportionately affected. According to a 2022 report from the Trevor Project, 28% of LGBTQ+ youth reported experiencing homelessness or housing instability at some point in their lives—and those who did had two to four times the odds of reporting mental health challenges compared to those with stable housing. Additionally, research shows LGBTQ+ youth make up 22% of homeless youth. This means LGBTQ+ youth are 120% more likely to experience homelessness compared to non-LGBTQ+ youth.
A survey of 350 service providers across the country revealed the top four contributing factors for LGBTQ+ youth homelessness:
In addition to homelessness, LGBTQ+ people are also at increased risk of experiencing poverty.
Because of stigma and discrimination, LGBTQ+ people are at greater risk of housing instability. In 2021, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the Fair Housing Act would also protect individuals from sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. It’s a step in the right direction to expand federal protections for a vulnerable group. According to experts, improving school safety, workplace protections, and expanded housing options will benefit the LGBTQ+ community.
In Portland, Oregon, Queer Affinity Village is a welcoming atmosphere for LGBTQ+ self-identified neighbors. The village has 35 Pallet shelters, a dignified, private space with a locking door, bed, climate control, electrical outlets to power personal devices, and more. Residents have access to hygiene facilities, meals, and various social services delivered by an on-site service provider. Residents are working towards moving into permanent housing.
Homelessness is a complex issue without a one size fits all solution. Because of the unique obstacles LGBTQ+ youth and adults face, it’s imperative agencies and organizations tailor services to meet their needs.
Debunking Myths: Homelessness is a choice
Investment in human potential is a core component of our mission. People who live in Pallet shelter villages are a part of a community where they have access to a resource net of social services, which enables them to transition to permanent housing. We've created a purpose-driven environment where employees are supported and learning is encouraged.
As part of our commitment to creating sustainable jobs, we're proud to announce Living Wage for US (For US) certified Pallet as a Living Wage Employer. The nonprofit organization granted the status after analyzing Pallet's cash wages and benefits paid to employees. They specifically examined the lowest potential cash wages guaranteed to workers. Third-party validation is another step for us to show business can be a force for good.
A living wage is the minimum income necessary to afford a sufficient standard of living. When someone earns a living wage, they can cover basic necessities such as food, housing, and child services. Meeting this standard is one step toward reducing housing and food insecurity. According to For US, more than half of American workers don't earn enough to support themselves and their families at a basic level of decency from a human rights lens.
According to For US, these are the some of the benefits of paying a living wage:
Methodology
When calculating whether a company can be certified as a living wage employer, For US analyzes the following county-based cost categories:
The base wage at Pallet is $20.39. With benefits, the pay is calculated as $21.28. Washington state's minimum wage is $14.49. The living wage for Snohomish County is $21.02. We must submit pay and benefits information yearly and maintain compensation levels to keep the certification. Pallet employees receive annual reviews, and there are opportunities to receive merit increases throughout the year.
Why paying a living wage matters at Pallet
More than 80% of Pallet employees are formerly homeless, in recovery, or previously involved in the justice system. It's essential we pay everyone a livable wage and don't inflict further harm on a vulnerable group of people. Paying a livable wage positively impacts the employees and the greater community. In addition to a livable wage and benefits, Pallet employees also have access to life skills training and personal support services.
For US has also certified Olympia, Washington-based Olympia Coffee Roasting Co., Well-Paid Maids home cleaning company, and the Center for Progressive Reform.
Pallet achieves new status: Public Benefit Corporation
Organizations, experts, and advocates within the homelessness field use specific words and phrases that aren't always common knowledge. To help bridge the information gap, below is a list of terms that will help you better understand issues related to homelessness. Terms defined include the types of homelessness, shelter and housing classifications, and tools used to address the crisis.
1. Unsheltered & Sheltered homelessness
Unsheltered homelessness refers to people sleeping outdoors in places not designed as a regular sleeping location, such as the street, a park, under an overpass, tent encampments, abandoned buildings, or vehicles. Sheltered homelessness includes people staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or safe-havens.
2. Congregate shelter
A congregate shelter is a shared living environment combining housing and services such as case management and employment services. Often in congregate shelters, people sleep in an open area with others. They are typically separated by gender and have set hours of operation.
3. Emergency shelter
A facility with the primary purpose of providing temporary shelter for homeless people. For example, cold and hot weather shelters that open during extreme temperatures are considered emergency shelters.
4. Imminent risk of homelessness
It applies to individuals and families on the brink of being unhoused. They have an annual income below 30 percent of the median income for the area. They don't have sufficient resources or support networks needed to obtain other permanent housing.
5. Chronic homelessness
People experiencing chronic homelessness are entrenched in the shelter system, which acts as long-term housing for this population rather than an emergency option. They are likely to be older, underemployed, and often have a disability.
6. Transitional homelessness
Transitional homelessness is when people enter the shelter system for only one stay – usually for a short time. They are likely to be younger and have become homeless because of a catastrophic event, such as job loss, divorce, or domestic abuse.
7. Episodic homelessness
Episodic homelessness refers to people who experience regular bouts of being unhoused. Unlike transitional homelessness, they are chronically unemployed and may experience medical, mental health, and substance use issues.
8. Hidden homelessness
Hidden homelessness refers to people who aren't part of official counts. They might be couch surfing at a friend's or a relative's house.
9. Transitional housing
Transitional housing provides people experiencing homelessness a place to stay combined with supportive services for up to 24 months. Pallet shelter villages are considered transitional housing. Residents, on average, stay three to six months before moving on to the next step, which includes permanent housing or reuniting with family.
10. Permanent Supportive Housing
This housing model provides housing assistance and supportive services on a long-term basis to people who formerly experienced homelessness. PSH is funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Continuum of Care program and requires that the client have a disability for eligibility.
11. Continuum of Care
The Continuum of Care (CoC) program promotes community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness. The program provides funding for efforts by nonprofit providers and state and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals and families. At the same time, minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused to homeless individuals, families, and communities by homelessness. For example, CoC program funds can be used for Rapid Rehousing, short-term rental assistance, and services to help individuals and families quickly exit homelessness
12. HMIS
The Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) collects and reports data on the characteristics of people experiencing homelessness and their service use patterns.
13. NIMBY & YIMBY
NIMBY = Not in my backyard. This label often refers to people who don't want the solution to a particular issue addressed in their "backyard." For example, they would object to a Permanent Supportive Housing building coming to their neighborhood or business. NIMBYism isn't limited to homelessness. It can apply to other issues. Conversely, YIMBY= Yes, in my backyard.
14. Criminalizing homelessness
Refers to policies, laws, and local ordinances that make it illegal, difficult, or impossible for unsheltered people to engage in the everyday activities that most people carry out daily. "No sit, no lie" laws, which prevent people from sitting or lying down in public, are considered criminalization of homelessness. Other examples include prohibiting camping in public, sleeping in parks, panhandling, and sweeping tent encampments (removing the personal belongings of people experiencing homelessness).
15. Point-in-Time count
This count is a one-night estimate of both sheltered and unsheltered homeless people nationwide. Local groups conduct one-night counts during the last week in January of each year. Because of the 2020 pandemic, some point-in-time counts have been suspended or occurred later in the year.
Hostile architecture and its impact on unhoused people
Nationwide, more than half a million people are experiencing homelessness. While visible or unsheltered homelessness is growing, people without a stable place to stay at night are also couch surfing, living in their vehicles, hotels, and shelters.
One pervasive myth about our unhoused neighbors is they're lazy. This stereotype fails to consider the daily challenges of homelessness and the effort it takes to survive. The laziness falsehood is reinforced through decades of negative imagery in entertainment, rhetoric from some politicians, and judgment of visibly poor people. This myth is similar to the incorrect belief that people choose to be homeless. Unhoused people aren’t lazy. Some have jobs, but they don’t earn enough to afford a place to live.
Here's a look at available statistics:
It's estimated anywhere from 25% to 60% of people experiencing homelessness across the country are employed. There's a range because it isn't a standard metric captured in all local homeless counts or at the federal level.
Details from a 2017 Axios article:
"Josh Leopold, a researcher at the Urban Institute, said the percentage of homeless people who work may be close to 25%, maybe a little more. Megan Hustings, director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, suggested higher percentages — 40% to 60% of the homeless float in and out of both part- and full-time work, she said."
In the 2020 Seattle/King County Point-in-Time count, 21% of homeless people report having some employment. Specifically, 15% said they work part-time, and 6% work full-time.
The annual point-in-time count in the Metro Washington region — the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland, and Northern Virginia — showed overall 14% of adults experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2021 were employed. The percentage varies between single adults and adults in families and by region. For the four previous years employment among homeless people was approximately 22%.
The challenges of maintaining employment while homeless include finding a place to shower, rest, and meet transportation needs. Another contributing factor to being employed but still unhoused is the rising cost of housing. A 2021 report from the National Income Housing Coalition showed: "In no state, metropolitan area, or county in the U.S. can a worker earning the federal or prevailing state, or local minimum wage afford a modest two-bedroom rental home at fair market rent by working a standard 40-hour workweek."
Even with rising housing costs and increased income inequality, the belief that homeless people should pull themselves up by invisible bootstraps persists. So what's stopping them? In short, numerous barriers:
In addition to those barriers, being homeless is complex and demanding. Day-to-day survival is the singular focus, and there isn't much time or mental space to figure out how to thrive and get back on track. Daily challenges include:
People experiencing homelessness are dealing with circumstances infinitely harder to handle without a stable place to live. Here’s how a Street Sense Media article described being homeless: “You become scared, frustrated, angry, bitter, distrustful. You’re always tired, overwhelmed. Little tasks become chores as depression saps your energy. Stress clouds your judgment. You grab at anything that looks like an opportunity, yet you feel like you’re getting nowhere.”
Continuing to believe a stereotype about our vulnerable neighbors is not showing the compassion they deserve.
Pallet shelter villages are a vital part of the transition out of homelessness. Residents can focus on the next step by having a dignified shelter with a locking door and access to on-site services.
This post is part of an ongoing series debunking homelessness myths.
Part One: They are not local
Part Two: Homelessness is a personal failure
Part Three: Homelessness is a choice
'Tis the season for giving. Two groups in need of extra help are our unhoused neighbors and people experiencing poverty. Many individuals and families are still dealing with economic uncertainty because of the coronavirus pandemic. But you can help your neighbors today by donating items in high demand. Below is a list of items needed right now at food banks, homeless shelters, and other organizations assisting people in poverty.
Winter items
Winter officially begins December 21, but many areas are experiencing frigid temperatures now. Warmth and protection from the weather are essential this time of year. If you're buying new items, keep in mind a range of sizes is needed.
● Coats
● Gloves
● Scarves
● Hats
● Hand warmers
● Crew socks, wool socks (new)
Food
According to the nonprofit Feeding America, 1 in 8 people faces hunger, and 1 in 6 children faces hunger. Across the country, food banks are serving more individuals and families. Volunteers of America, a nonprofit organization providing housing assistance and other services has seen demand for food increase significantly. According to a published report, "Volunteers of America went from distributing 3.7 million pounds of food the year before the virus took hold to nearly 8 million pounds the first year of the pandemic." In addition to the rise in demand for food assistance, an increase in inflation has also meant fewer community contributions.
● Non-perishable canned food such as soup, fruit, and beans
● Peanut butter
● Pasta
● Rice
● Fresh fruits and vegetables
● Snack bars
● Canned meat such as tuna
● Lean proteins such as a whole chicken *some food banks have space for items that need to be kept cold or frozen, call ahead to double check
● Dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt
Toiletries
Personal care products can be expensive for people who are already struggling to make ends meet.
● Toilet tissue, deodorant, lip balm, menstrual care products
● Toothpaste, soap
● Shampoo and conditioner (travel sized works best for unhoused people)
● Diapers and wipes
● Hand sanitizer
Items for outreach services
Organizations serving people experiencing homelessness typically go out into the community to reach people living unsheltered, helping to meet the immediate needs of the unhoused.
● Sleeping bags
● Sleeping pads
● Solo tents
● Tarps
● Umbrellas
Financial donation
Financial donations help an organization meet their specific needs as it can change often. It also allows them to purchase what they need when donations are low so they can continue to serve the community.
Before you donate it’s a good idea to call or check the website of the organization you’re interested in helping. They may have a list of items you can buy directly and send to them.
For more ideas, check out our list of most needed to help our homeless neighbors year-round.