By Avalon Lustick

Homes 4 the Homeless tiny homes and storage containers will be there for you when you need them.

In times of great tragedy, whether it’s drugs, mental illness, or even a natural disaster, that’s when Homes 4 the Homeless’ tiny homes and storage containers come in. 

Homes 4 the Homeless is a nonprofit that knows anyone is vulnerable to homelessness. Founder Steven Schneider knows because he suddenly lost his home in the 2017 Sonoma County, California wildfires. 

This auto rental business veteran and his team found a solution to help homelessness right in front of them. The team used storage containers for commercial and residential projects and discovered the 350-square-foot containers are a basic building block for affordable housing. Schneider and the team then understood how much these storage containers could help homelessness. 

For the team at Homes 4 the Homeless, using containment homes to support the homeless made perfect sense.

Here’s their reasoning why storage containers are going to help the homeless population so effectively. 

They’re like Legos.

Homes 4 the Homeless uses modular construction to build communities for the homeless in transition. Think Legos! Construction of these storage container homes is easy, organized, and efficient. Just like when 7-year-old you were building your dream house with the Star Wars kit and the Power Rangers set.  

The shipping containers are strong too, 16 of them can be stacked on top of each other without additional engineering.

Modular construction is safe and saves space, time, and money. Perfect in times of crisis. 

They’re portable.

These 20-foot container homes can be delivered on a flatbed truck or trailer, like when you get your car towed. 

Because of their background in the rental car business, Homes 4 the Homeless knew it was a great idea. 

Thousands of homes can be transported efficiently, safely, and quickly to areas of extreme homelessness. They can even GPS track the shipping and use the data to make sure the containers are up to standard and the occupants are successfully transitioning to self-sufficiency. 

They offer support in times of crisis. 

According to national reports, it’s estimated that no less than 150 million people, or about two percent of the world’s population, are homeless.

Additionally, out of every 10,000 people in the United States, 17 experienced homelessness on a single night in 2018.

But wait, there’s more. California has the largest adult homeless population this year among the 50 states clocking in at 129,972. Nearly half of which live on the street rather than in shelters. 

Though recorders expect these numbers to be double! The only numbers regarding the homeless population are collected through biennial point-in-time (PIT) observations by volunteers and public employees. Some estimates are even as high as half a million homeless in California alone.

Homes 4 the Homeless wants to supply such minimalist homes under 350 square feet because they can positively affect great portions of the homeless community.

They’re realistic.

By partnering with local governments and homeless nonprofits, Homes 4 the Homeless can help the homeless community by offering rentals at a targeted cost of under $500. 

This temporary financial support will help alleviate the stress of finding shelter. Thus, creating a sense of stability for the occupant.

They help with self-esteem.

Once someone has shelter, they can focus on other priorities in their life. These minimalist tiny homes help focus occupants’ transition to a safer lifestyle like having financial independence.

The residents won’t be paying more than half their income on housing unlike the other 18 million households that are. 

Homes 4 the Homeless is to provide a place where the homeless can feel rested. Occupants can recharge their spirit and prepare themselves for a new day’s challenge with a fresh start and accomplish the goal of finding a permanent dwelling they can call home.

They build a strong foundation.

What better way to move forward than with a renewed sense of self-esteem?

Here are some of the potential tiny house benefits Homes 4 the Homeless can support:

• 89 percent of tiny house owners have less credit card debt than the average American.
• 60 percent of tiny house owners have no credit card debt at all. 
• 55 percent of tiny house owners have more savings in the bank than the average homeowner
• 68 percent of tiny house owners have no mortgage.

Sounds like a plan for success!

They’re impactful. 

Homes 4 the Homeless wants to provide transitional homes for the homeless. With these home containers they can support a lot of the homeless community. 

To put it in 144 tiny houses could fit inside a football field. 17, 424 tiny houses could fit inside Disneyland California and 2,020 tiny houses could fit on the Golden Gate Bridge.

According to the numbers, that’s a lot of people starting successful futures. 

If you’d like to help or learn more about Homes 4 the Homeless check out their website.