Twenty pallet houses have been set up outside the Bridgehouse shelter in Lompoc and soon will be available for unhoused people to move into as case managers help prepare them for permanent housing.
The 8-foot-by-8-foot pallet shelters were originally set up in Isla Vista last December, where they remained and were operated by the Good Samaritan Shelter for six months.
Sylvia Barnard, executive director of Good Samaritan Shelter, told Noozhawk that the pallet shelters housed 40 clients in Isla Vista throughout the six months, 24 of whom moved into permanent housing within that time. After those six months, she said, the pallet houses were loaded into tractor-trailers and transported to the Bridgehouse in Lompoc.
The pallet houses serve as a stepping stone toward permanent housing and allow people to maintain independence with a place of their own, while still working with a case manager and receiving other aid and services.
Brian Halterman, the Lompoc homeless and housing program director for Good Samaritan Shelter, said the pallet houses are especially good for people living with mental illnesses or social anxiety, or those with service animals or other pets.
“By us putting them in place, it will allow us to serve a population that we have not been able to serve through normal congregate living,” Halterman said.
The pallet houses in Lompoc can house 20 to 25 people at a time, with one person to a unit, or two in special circumstances, such as caretaking situations, Halterman said.
Each structure, made of aluminum and composite materials, is equipped with beds, lighting, electricity and heating, with bedding and toiletries provided. Inside the main shelter, meals and showers also are offered.
“We’re hoping [the pallet house program] really reaches that group that’s been service-resistant,” Halterman said. “This removes one more barrier of someone’s life changing.”
Halterman said that residents generally will be able to stay for about 90 days, during which time they will work with a case manager and will be offered services such as mental health and substance abuse services as well as assistance signing up for aid, with the ultimate goal of moving people into permanent housing.
“This isn’t housing, but it moves them in a housing direction,” Halterman said.
The pallet homes will be ready for move-in within the next two weeks, Halterman said. Painting and other finishing touches are being completed.
Barnard said the pallet houses will stay in Lompoc longer term, with plans to keep them in place for three years or even longer.
A similar project is planned for downtown Santa Barbara, and Santa Barbara County has partnered with DignityMoves to provide a community of 34 interim housing units by the end of the year.
Barnard said the private rooms, with walls made of 30% recycled plastics and frames made from durable steel, are similar to storage containers. Each unit will include a bed, a desk and a chair, heating and air conditioning, a window, and a door that locks.
A press release from DignityMoves said the units will be designed to “fit in with the look and feel of the Santa Barbara community,” and will be located in a parking lot between Garden and Santa Barbara streets for two to three years. After that time, they will be relocated to another site in Santa Barbara.
The release said the units have a life expectancy of more than 20 years, so they can continually be reused.
Barnard said Good Samaritan will be the provider for those units as well, providing services for both residents and others experiencing homelessness on a walk-in basis. She said the county has provided some funding, and private fundraisers as well as other Santa Barbara donors will cover the rest of the cost.
According to DignityMoves, construction will cost $1.07 million, and operating and service costs will be about $450,000 annually, bringing the total cost for the initial three-year project to more than $2 million.
Community members interested in donating to the project are invited to do so on DignityMoves’ website. More information about the project and interim housing communities set up in other cities also can be found on DignityMoves’ website.
— Noozhawk staff writer Serena Guentz can be reached at sguentz@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.