“Are you kidding me?” Tiny SF homes for unhoused welcome first residents

Tiny homes are replacing tents at a San Francisco safe sleeping site – for half the cost of the temporary structures.

A village at 33 Gough St., between Market and Mission streets, welcomed its first residents, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Operated by nonprofit DignityMoves, the village will have 70 units when it’s finished in the spring.

The 60-square-foot cabins consist of prefabricated panels and come with heaters, beds and desks.

“It’s not a place you would stay forever, but is a stopover while people figure out a way out of homelessness,” said Elizabeth Funk, founder and executive chairman of DignityMoves, to the Chronicle.

The homes are being paid for by DignityMoves and the nonprofit Tipping Point Community. Each costs about $30,000 when including on-ground amenities such as the two dining halls, restrooms and computers, compared with $60,000 the city spends on a tent, a cost that encompasses food, security and supportive services.

The city is spending $18.2 million for 260 tents. Funk has raised $2 million for the tiny home units.

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing is leasing the land from a private developer awaiting construction permits until at least March 2023.

All those living on one of the tents at the site were offered a room in the village — and all accepted.

“They said, ‘Are you kidding me?’” said Everett Butler, co-director of the nonprofit Urban Alchemy, which will provide on-site security and supportive services. “They were beyond appreciative to be able to go inside their own space and lock the door behind them, turn the heaters on and kick back.”

Last month, a “street ambassador” from Urban Alchemy who was working to counter disruptive behavior at a safe sleeping site, was shot, suffering a minor wound under his left shoulder. A co-worker of the victim said the two male suspects were drug dealers.

[San Francisco Chronicle] — Gabriel Poblete

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