The Santa Fe Governing Body has approved the purchase of 25 all-weather shelters as part of a pilot program to help the homeless.
The 25 eight by eight Pallet Homes, named after the company that makes them, can provide shelter for up to two people and include electric hookups, heat and air conditioning.
The plan is for the city to team with faith-based or other nonprofit institutions to create a pallet community that would include 24/7 security, hygiene facilities, electricity and services for the homeless.
The pallet homes cost about 14-thousand dollars each. One million dollars of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act has been allocated for the program.
Homelessness has been a longtime and expensive problem in Santa Fe.
Mayor Allen Webber says the city and advocates have long been looking for solutions. He says since similar programs have been successful elsewhere, it’s worth the cost to try it here.
“I think we owe it to ourselves and to those who are both experiencing homelessness and those who may feel the impact of homeless people in their neighborhoods to expand the range of options, the choices that are available,” he said. “To work with different providers, different volunteers, different outreach groups so that we provide the kind of solution that fits the individual circumstances of each person in our community.”
The pilot would include working closely with the neighborhoods near the pallet community and including good neighbor agreements that would establish behavioral rules for those living in the shelters.
City officials say they have already heard from several organizations interested in participating.
