Salt Lake City was an early adopter in utilizing a “housing first” strategy for the homeless and enjoyed recognized success. Our leaders could become early adopters again by utilizing a new “tiny home community” strategy that would take earlier successes to a new level.
The basic strategy is to build small home communities for the homeless. To qualify, residents need to be committed to the community by volunteering to help operate that community. In general the community would govern itself with outside support. Similar to how business franchises work. Various jobs or responsibilities are available — from being on the board to run the facility, maintenance, landscaping, administrative duties, construction, etc. Residents would have access to job/career/family counseling, health care and other resources. Residents would get to stay for a designated period of time as long as they contribute.
Funding could come from a variety of sources, including the state, grants, crowd funding, donations and volunteers. The benefits for those in and around the villages are too numerous to put in this short opinion. Many are obvious, including communities helping communities.
This strategy would have a strong return on investment, especially if actively managed to progress.
Scott Reichard
Millcreek