Jefferson Reporter

The City of Birmingham will propose a safe sleep pilot program before the city council on Tuesday, Jan. 10. The goal is to provide safe sleeping alternatives for the city’s chronically unhoused residents through the purchase of micro-shelters. The pilot, named Home for All, will be a community-wide partnership in service that will include dignified Pallet sleeping units and a number of wraparound services.

“Our residents who are experiencing homelessness deserve to safely sleep in peace and with dignity,” said Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin. “We want to provide that for them, but also take it a step further by offering resources that givethemthe option for a transition into permanent housing.”

If approved, the City would work with Pallet Shelter, the leader in rapid response shelter villages. The organization has built shelter communities for individuals experiencing homelessness across the country, including in Fayetteville, Ark.; Dallas, Tx; Fresno, Calif.; and Tacoma, Wash. They have constructed 1,764 sleeping units among 63 shelter communities with more than 4,000 people served.Pallet Shelter would help to create private, lockable sleeping units that feature a heating and cooling system and desk. These micro–shelters would be congregated in safe, private communities. Each can be assembled in under an hour and at a fraction of the cost of traditional homeless shelters.

This pilot would provide additional resources for people who either sleep in shelters or on Birmingham’s streets each night. It addresses an immediate need for shelter based on recommendations from members of the city’s unhoused community and service providers. It also allows organizers to engage, assess and learn about the needs of the unhoused for plans to create transitional and permanent supportive housingin the future.

Upon council approval of the purchase of up to 100 sleeping units, the City will launch a Request For Proposals (RFP) for site selection and partners for this pilot. They are seeking public service providers, nonprofits and institutions interested in piloting a capacity building program to support chronically unhoused with non-congregant housing and wrap around services necessary to create sustainable life options. For more information, go to birminghamal.gov/homeforall.

Home for All is just one part of the City’s overall vision to create home options for all Birmingham residents. There are several affordable homedevelopment projects in the works across the city, from Shadowbrook to Woodlawn as well as programs for down payment assistance, lead abatement and critical repairs. Specifically related to Birmingham’s unhoused population, theCity previously supported construction of a new Firehouse Shelter facility with $1 million,and AIDS Alabama Way Station facility for youth with $1.3 million. Each year the Department of Community Development provides more than $800,000 in federal grants to support emergency shelter and public service providers who assist individuals experiencing homelessness. The City has also partnered with Jimmie Hale Mission and other community providers to open a warming station in order to increase bed space for those needing a warm place to stay during sub-freezing weather.

Original source can be found here.