A Salt Lake City microshelter community is up and running to provide shelter to vulnerable residents, and its "foldable" tiny homes are receiving buzz for their future potential.
As detailed by Good Good Good, Utah worked with an array of private and public partners to complete comfortable and safe housing for residents without shelter. The project was completed in September after nearly two years — just in time to keep people out of the winter chill, according to a press release from the state's Department of Workforce Services.
The microcommunity can accommodate 50 people thanks to Foldum, whose easy-setup tiny homes require far fewer resources to construct than traditional homes but are still built to withstand extreme weather. The company's foldable designs have also been used for student housing, disaster relief, seasonal accommodations, and more.
Three subpopulations are eligible for the tiny homes: people who are actively working but unable to afford housing, people who are disabled and would be at risk from living on the streets, and people who wouldn't do well in a communal shelter setting.
According to the state's annual data report, the number of people experiencing homelessness for the first time in the Beehive State rose each year from 2021 to 2023.
For LaDonna Sidney, who works two jobs and hopes to soon afford permanent housing, her tiny home has provided stability after spending her first year in Utah moving between shelters.
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"There's nothing more perfect. I'm very grateful for this opportunity," Sidney told the Utah News Dispatch, indicating that the well-lit gated community — staffed 24/7 by operator Switchpoint — offers privacy and security.
Other partners include Landmark Companies, RPM Team, Rocky Mountain Power, Sunrise Engineering, and the Utah Division of Facilities of Construction and Management, according to a video from the Utah Department of Workforce Services shared on YouTube by RPM. Their combined efforts meant the site was completed "under budget and ahead of schedule."
Salt Lake City isn't the only community investing in tiny homes, which aren't only less expensive to construct but also have a much lower cost of living for residents once completed, alleviating some of the burden associated with property taxes and utility bills.
A beach town in North Carolina and Austin, Texas, are among the U.S. cities also rolling out tiny home communities to support people experiencing homelessness.
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"We are deeply thankful for the Utah legislature's support, which has made this project possible," Wayne Niederhauser, Utah's homeless coordinator, said of the Salt Lake City community in an official statement. "The successful microshelter pilot, with its notable exits to housing and low calls for enforcement, demonstrates that this model works."
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