Housing insecurity and homelessness are serious and complex issues in America and across the entire globe. According to a 2018 report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, around 550,000, or 17 out of every 10,000 people, experienced homelessness on a single night in the United States. Since this report was published, individuals across the globe have endured a pandemic that has significantly impacted society as we know it in every aspect of our lives; socially, economically, and politically. With the collapse and lock of the global economy throughout this pandemic, homelessness increased significantly to the point of emergency. In response to the global crisis, visionaries and governing forces have come together to aid and reduce homelessness through creative and cost effective modes of living.
One very innovative and unique mode of temporary housing that has recently been employed throughout cities in the U.S can be seen through Connect Homes. Connect homes was founded in 2013, and emerged into the homebuilding industry as a unique and cost effective form of factory built homes. In response to the global pandemic, the company began to think and create new forms of affordable housing the size of a bedroom; costing no more than $20,000 to build one bedroom. The first homelessness organization to use the design, a Bay Area nonprofit called LifeMoves, which is partnered with the City of Mountain View. Connect Homes is providing 88 bedrooms for the semi-permanent installation, which will also have support staff onsite, and only took over a month to complete.
Not only are the units cost effective, but they have a flexible design:
Built into one main frame
One four unit structure is 320 square feet; the same size as a shipping container
Interior can have between two and four private bedrooms, depending on whether each comes with a private bathroom and a small kitchen.
Can include washer & dryer unit, as well as a kitchen and bathroom if part of a village style of living
They can function both off-grid, and run off a generator or solar panels, or be connected to the regular grid; each bedroom also has independent air-conditioning and filtration.
Despite the fact that these new and innovative forms of housing have been praised for the cost effectiveness and comfortability, enough for a boarding school in Japan to house their students, the design is not a long term solution to the housing crisis across the globe. As mentioned above, housing insecurity and homelessness is a serious and complex reality faced by a wide range of individuals. And in order to find a long term solution to the global emergency, there are a number of factors that need to come together to properly address the issue. But for now, innovative and creative forms of living, such as Connect Homes, can be recognized as a sufficient form of temporary housing for now.
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