DIY shelters raise crime, drug use concerns amid housing crisis
- Many cities have authorized ‘tiny home’ communities
- Some people erect their own tiny homes
- Leftover wood, other trash often materials for shacks
A camp for people experiencing homelessness near the east side of the Hawthorne Bridge as smoke from wildfires fills the air in Portland, Oregon, U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020. The U.S. has declared a public health emergency in Oregon, citing poor air quality after wildfires charred more than a million acres in the state, choking Portland with the worst air in the world. Photographer: Rebecca Smeyne/Bloomberg via Getty Images
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(NewsNation) — Governments or charities have tried all kinds of strategies to house the homeless. But many people are building their own “tiny homes” – with dubious results. Some are better described as just shacks.
“I’m finding tiny homes built by the homeless popping up on nearly every block in some neighborhoods,” social worker Kevin Dahlgren told The Daily Mail about the situation in Portland, Oregon.
And some homeowners there say “creative” shelters also harbor vagrants and criminals and are venues for prostitution and drug use.
Portland has publicly funded tiny home villages and is adding more. Those shelters cost about $16,000 each and are big enough for a single bed and some drawers. The surrounding villages have bathrooms, kitchens, laundries and gardens.
The first generation of homes have worn out and the city is replacing them. It’s also a testament to the youth of the tiny home manufacturing industry.
“The industry that supplies sleeping units for this purpose is relatively young,” city of Portland spokesman Bryan Aptekar told the alternative newspaper Willamette Week. He says the city is working with several firms to develop a new structure.
“Through experience of use, weather conditions and so forth, we are providing feedback and improvements are being made to the base model,” Aptekar said.
Portland and surrounding Multnomah County plan to build a shelter for about 2,700 people by the end of the year.
Advocates for the homeless say tiny homes can help people who suddenly lose their homes get back on their feet. The thinking is that it’s much easier to maintain mental health and look for a job from a temporary shelter than it is while living on the street or in a car.
California has chosen six companies to build tiny homes, although neither the state nor the firms have come up with specific designs and cost estimates.
Another method of helping people in immediate need of a place to sleep is the “bridge shelter.” In San Diego, the private Lucky Duck Foundation has erected huge tents with hundreds of beds, as well as food, medical, sanitary and counseling services.
The foundation says its bridge shelters come online for “pennies on the dollar and seconds on the hour” compared to the cost of permanent housing and have reduced unsheltered homelessness in San Diego County by 29%.
