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Oct 30, 2024

pallet shelters Greensboro homeless Michelle Kennedy

The city has returned 30 temporary shelters to the outfield of Pomona Field this year. The shelters consist of fiberglass-reinforced plastic with a foam insulating core and aluminum framing, according

The city has returned 30 temporary shelters to the outfield of Pomona Field this year. The shelters consist of fiberglass-reinforced plastic with a foam insulating core and aluminum framing, according to manufacturer Pallet PBC.

A crew disassembles a Pallet house for storage at Pomona Park in Greensboro in March. Each prefabricated unit is 64 square feet, includes a 1,500-watt heater, and can accommodate two people.

Pallet shelters are back in Greensboro for a second year.

The homes are designed to give homeless people a safe place to stay at night during the coldest months of the year and to allow them time to start looking for a permanent home.

Just like last year, 30 shelters are positioned at Pomona Park. The field was decommissioned in 2010 and previously used by the ARC of Greensboro, an organization serving children and adults with disabilities.

The shelters consist of fiberglass-reinforced plastic with a foam insulating core and aluminum framing, according to manufacturer Pallet PBC. Each prefabricated unit is 64 square feet, includes a 1,500-watt heater, and can accommodate two people. There are also restroom and bath facilities in the area.

According to the city of Greensboro, the project will cost around $200,000 this year, on top of the initial $500,000 cost of purchasing the structures. The units, which can be erected and broken down multiple times, last about 10 years.

Michelle Kennedy, director of housing and neighborhood development, says that interim housing models must be implemented that provide more “accessible, welcoming, dignified, and healthy” options for those in crisis situations.

However, Greensboro City Council members have called the project a “band-aid” solution at City Council meetings and said that they are running out of resources to address the problem of homelessness in the city.

Kennedy informed council members at a Nov. 9 work session that the city’s funding for emergency motel rooms for homeless people probably won’t last for another week, though it was originally scheduled to run out on June 30, 2023.

Council members have also attempted to redirect residents to other sources of aid, such as Guilford County, which has addressed homelessness with a comprehensive Continuum of Care (COC) program.

There are 452 people experiencing homelessness in Greensboro, according to the county’s Point-In-Time data, a federal “census” of individuals experiencing homelessness in each U.S. county.

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