Pensacola selects two non-profits to host 27 'pallet shelters' for the homeless
Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves said two local non-profits were selected to use the shelters for homeless individuals they serve based on a recommendation from the Northwest Florida Homeless Taskforce.
Re-Entry Alliance Pensacola will take at least 14 units at its West Blount Street location, and Offentsive Corp will take at least 13 units at a North Palafox location. Both locations are inside the city limits.
'Both of them have done a great job,' Reeves said. 'They've spoken to the neighbors. They've done all of the due diligence that we expect. And I appreciate the task force digging in, certainly deeper than my expertise, to make sure that all of those things make sense.'
Last year, the city allocated $1.1 million to buy shelters from Pallet PBC, a public benefit corporation based in Everett, Washington, that specializes in building 'pallet shelters' for homeless relief and disaster response. The funds are coming out of the city's share of the American Rescue Plan Act.
Pallet PBC builds small, one-room, movable temporary buildings that range from 70 square feet to 120 square feet. The buildings range from $17,970 to $23,595 a piece, plus a $1,200 shipping cost for most variations. Those prices do not include installation costs at the sites.
Reeves said there is still work to be done to determine how much sitework and preparation needs to be done to determine how much of the $1.1 million will be remaining for additional shelters.
The city has not taken possession of any shelters, and Reeves said that was done so the city could be flexible in how it rolls out this program.
'Once we diagnose what we need and exactly what we need, then we order, they bring them in, and they can be put up in a matter of hours,' Reeves said.
The announcement came a day after it was reported that REAP's Max-Well Respite Center was closing because the organization can no longer afford to rent the building.
The city contributed $400,000 in ARPA funds in 2022 to help REAP start the Max-Well Center.
Reeves said he was personally disappointed with the ownership of the building charging the organization a market-rate rent. Last year, the News Journal reported REAP was paying 2200 N. Palafox LLC $15,000 a month in rent for the shelter.
'Looking for market rate when, when we're trying to house people, I was really disappointed with that, and have been for a long time,' Reeves said. 'I appreciate Vinnie (Whibbs) and REAP trying to make it work. And I do know they came back to the table, and lowered that rent some, but it's just a tough situation.'
The shelters will be leased to the two non-profits, and the city will retain ownership of them, so if anything changes with the sites in the future, the shelters will go back to the city to be reused by another organization.
'In a situation like the Max-Well center, if they were to close or something were to change, we have the ability to go get them,' Reeves said. 'They're not lost to the citizens forever.'
The pallet shelter plan arose after the city found it would be too expensive to start a low-barrier homeless shelter on its own. Reeves said he still believes the city needs a low-barrier shelter, but it will have to be driven by the entire community, including private companies and the federal government.
'We cannot be the sole solution for every issue in the city,' Reeves said. 'We need private development to get off the sidelines and work with us. We need—in case of low barrier—we need health care to get off the sideline to help us. I'm not saying that they aren't willing to, but when I say a community conversation, it's not just me and the county commissioners. It's going to have to be me, and the county commissioners, and our health care partners and our nonprofits. It's going to have to be a significant, significant conversation with Congressman Patronis. There's going to be a lot of conversation to capital stack this thing for it to be successful.'
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola will order 27 'pallet shelters' for the homeless
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