City of Columbia hoping to have pallet shelters within the next year

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia could soon be home to pallet shelters to help solve the homeless crisis.

City Spokesperson Sydney Olsen said in an email the city is looking into the possibility of buying pallet shelters to house some of the homeless population.

Pallet shelters are private, cost-effective units that offer homeless individuals safety and privacy as they work toward more permanent housing.

Olsen said planning is still in the early stages, but the city is hopeful to have pallet shelters in place before next winter.

"The City is currently speaking with service providers in the community to decipher if there is someone who would have the capacity to maintain the pallet shelters," Olsen said in an email. "At this time, we do not have a contract for the shelters themselves or a contract in place with a provider."

She said the City is hopeful the project can be paid for with American Rescue Plan Act funds. It was previously awarded $500,000 in ARPA funds to go toward emergency shelters.

The pallet shelters could be located on Ashley Street. A strategic plan presentation this week at a council retreat shows renovations have been made to the Ashley Street Center with an open bid for the remaining improvements, which include preparing the site for pallet shelters.

Meanwhile, the City isn't the only group that thinks pallet shelters would be a good option for Columbia.

Community Enrichment Inc. is hoping to use Boone County ARPA funds to bring 20 single-living pallet shelters to the East side of Columbia.

It has applied for $1.2 million in ARPA funding, with an estimated total project cost of $2 million.

D'Markus Thomas-Brown said it's important to really invest in these shelters and allow people to no longer feel like they're living in poverty.

"It can be done for less, I'm sure, but fidelity is going to be a huge issue we have to look at on the city and county level," Thomas-Brown said. "What I mean by fidelity is actually doing it to where we're not putting people in slum situations."

Thomas-Brown said pallet shelters can be bought already functional, tested and developed, which can quickly fill the needs of people that are homeless.

"(Homelessness) is an immediate issue," Thomas-Brown said. "The pallet shelters feed to the immediacy."

He said Community Enrichment Inc.'s plan is for the shelters to be used as temporary housing, with people staying six months to a year while they can find a more permanent solution. However, he said they also want to provide the option to live there permanently if that is what people choose.

Along with individual living space, there would also be a community-style layout and an office for case management and support services.

"It actually not only gives people shelter but gives them a community," Thomas-Brown said.

Boone County began its review of ARPA applications this week after receiving more than 100 requests for funds. Applications for funding total $54 million, with only $6.5 million available from the county.

The Boone County Commission will review each application and aims to announce which projects will be approved in the spring.