Cabins, or tiny homes, are an increasingly popular shelter option for cities looking for solutions to homelessness. The idea is to provide a private space that can protect someone from the elements and create alternatives to congregate shelters, which do not work for everyone who experiences homelessness, such as people with pets or those who had harmful experiences in group shelters.
“I can’t put it into words. This community has been great to us. I know there were a lot of trepidations coming in… but it’s been going great there so far,” said Ian Clark-Johnson of Urban Alchemy, a nonprofit that provides staffing and services at 33 Gough St. “When we had the rain a few weeks ago and folks had shelter and heaters and not worried about being cold and wet. That’s transformative.”
There are currently 79 people living among the 70 single-room cabins at 33 Gough. Each unit features a door that locks, a bed, desk space and storage, plus heating. The site also features two dining areas, a computer lab, showers and meeting rooms.
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Before the cabins opened in March, the parcel was used as a sanctioned safe sleeping site for people living in tents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About 144 individuals have stayed at the cabin site this year, and the average length of stay is about 3½ months. About 10 people have directly gone on to permanent housing after leaving the cabins, according to Everett Butler, on-site director for 33 Gough St. with Urban Alchemy.
It’s unclear exactly where the remaining individuals landed. They could have gone on to a number of different places, such as living with friends or back on the street.
The cabins sit on a parcel of land owned by a private developer who previously had plans to build permanent housing on the location once permitting goes through. The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing has secured a lease for the site until March 2023.
Now, the city is proposing to renew the lease for two additional years. The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing is currently in negotiations with the property owner and hopes to introduce a lease extension before the end of the year, with the aim of having the proposal before the Board of Supervisors in January.
“It’s a really lovely community. If you’re been on site, you can tell it feels like a neighborhood,” said Emily Cohen, deputy director for communications and legislative affairs at the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “Our lease is coming to an end, and yet the cabins really are just getting going.”
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The approach is not cheap. DignityMoves, a nonprofit started by investor and tech veteran Elizabeth Funk during the COVID-19 pandemic, raised $2 million from private donors to open up the first 30 units at around $30,000 each.
Meanwhile, neighbors at a recent community hearing about the lease renewal expressed frustration with ongoing conditions in the neighborhood that they say haven’t improved.
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“We don’t want the lease renewed at 33 Gough,” said Lisa Aufox, who said she was representing members of her apartment building on nearby McCoppin Street.
Aufox cited a lack of support around the encampments on the street where she lives and a recent uptick in graffiti. “I know you all are really pushing it, but unless you can make McCoppin the same attention you’re giving Gough Street, it does not work for us.”
The tiny homes model has been used in places like Oakland, Los Angeles and Portland, and experiences vary. Some people have found stability and community. Others have witnessed tragedy.
In Los Angeles, for instance, a fire in September destroyed 11 tiny shelter homes and damaged four others that were specifically for homeless veterans, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Experts on homelessness like Margot Kushel say investing in housing is key to reducing homelessness. But, she said, there are many benefits to the types of shelters like those at 33 Gough St. Cabins can provide privacy, protection from the elements, a place to store and keep one’s items and documents, and opportunities to connect with counseling and other social services.
“Our system is a mess. We can’t just leave people with no toilet or facilities up against the rain, and we keep throwing out their stuff everyday,” said Kushel, director of the UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations and UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. “If it’s done well, for some people having that privacy is a step up from a big shelter.”
Still, she underscored, investing in permanent affordable housing is the North Star for helping people exit homelessness.
“The answer to end homelessness is housing,” she said.
