Local opinion: Micro shelters are solution for the homeless

As we head into winter, let’s not forget that many of our neighbors are homeless and sleeping in the cold. To date, Tucson’s efforts to combat homelessness have not been sufficient. The 2023 Point-in-Time Count found homelessness in Tucson up 60% since 2018, and unsheltered homelessness up almost 300%. New, innovative programs are needed for affordable permanent and transitional housing.

The Tucson Micro Shelter Coalition has been working to bring proven effective transitional housing to Tucson. Micro shelters are small homes, typically around 100 square feet. They have electric power; thus, residents have lighting, cooling and heating. Micro shelters get people off the street and into a home, with a door that locks.

To keep building costs low, micro shelters do not have plumbing. Rather, they are placed in “villages” that include communal spaces: a kitchen, bathrooms, showers and laundry facilities. Critically, social worker support is located onsite at the village. The University of Arizona’s 2023 Homeless Needs Assessment found that most homeless individuals expressed difficulty in finding needed services. Having social workers onsite removes this major barrier towards getting people back on their feet and moving forward with their lives.

This program doesn’t need to be invented; it already exists in many cities and states. I travel north during summer to Seattle and join thousands of other volunteers at the “Hope Factory” there, building 200 micro shelters a year. Over the past year, approximately 90% of micro shelter residents were able to move onwards to permanent affordable housing in less than four months. That’s the key goal: move people off the street and into transitional micro shelters, then into permanent housing, as fast as possible. This is possible with social workers located onsite at the villages.

The organizations I volunteer with have offered pro bono support to start up a Hope Factory and new micro shelter villagers in Tucson. Tucson officials can take this free training and modify to fit Tucson’s needs. Multiple local Tucson NGOs that work with our homeless population have expressed their full support of this program.

But can we afford micro shelters? A more accurate question is: Can we afford not to have them? A recent nationwide study found that the cost of homelessness to a community ranges from $30,000 to $100,000 per year for each homeless individual. These costs include the expense for police, prison, probation, parole, courts, emergency departments, hospital-admitted patients, ambulances, mental health, etc. In last January’s Point-in-Time Count for Tucson, 2,200 homeless people were counted as currently homeless. We don’t know how many were missed. At 2,200 homeless individuals, using the study’s findings, the cost of homelessness to Tucson is between $66 million to $220 million each year.

Lowe’s supports this program by providing discounted building materials. Lowe’s has expressed a desire to fund all the tools necessary to start new Hope Factories, such as in Tucson. Our current cost to build micro shelters is $4,500 each. If we place one micro shelter village in each of Tucson’s six Wards, and pay professionals to effectively run the villages, the cost would be a small fraction of what we are currently incurring by not providing shelter to homeless people.

Tucson has never had a micro shelter village. Thus, current Tucson zoning does not allow them. Multiple City of Tucson officials have expressed their support for micro shelters, but this support needs to be expeditiously translated into required zoning updates. Of course, we also need much more permanent affordable housing. But letting people suffer on the streets, while the city grapples with finding affordable permanent housing, is just plain cruel. Simply put, transitional housing is a key element of solving homelessness.

Tucson neighbors are demanding action on the homelessness crisis. We have a solution. We need new zoning to allow this to happen!