California’s homelessness ‘solution’ is a $1 billion deal for 1,200 tiny homes that might not even come with a bathroom

The idea of ​​homes extends beyond just a place to rest your head. Under the governor's plan, the homes are intended to create a small home community — with kitchens, dining and living rooms, common areas and counseling cabins — to help people experiencing homelessness find stability.

However, a year after the governor's announcement, the tiny houses no longer house a single resident, but only approx 150 of them have been purchased By state and cities to date. Changing standards by the state, along with other bureaucratic delays, is the reason behind this stagnation.

the Plana $1 billion initiative, aims to cover the costs of contracting, delivering and installing tiny homes Six state-approved vendorsAnd providing the necessary assistance to the state Homelessness crisisCalifornia has the highest percentage of homeless people living without shelter in the country, according to a 2023 report Federal report.

According to the state, the California National Guard was scheduled to help prepare and deliver the homes “free of charge and ready for occupancy,” but that changed last winter, when the state announced it would transfer responsibility for purchasing the homes to the state. The jurisdiction of each city and county. Now, some areas are left without enough money to provide all the homes they were promised, while others find themselves stuck in lengthy board votes on where to house them — all while the homeless remain homeless.

What would a billion dollars pay?

The governor's plan covers funding for 500 homes in Los Angeles, 350 homes in Sacramento, 200 homes in San Jose, and 150 homes in San Diego County. But instead of purchasing and delivering ready-made units, the state… I decided to send several cities cash To allow them to order and install the tiny houses themselves. The decision means that some cities, such as San Jose, are now responsible for providing more funding for the tiny house initiative than initially planned.

according to The memo was reviewed by the City Council In February, the governor's office sent San Jose a flat payment of $13.3 million so the city could build tiny homes itself, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said. luck The cost of purchasing and building 200 tiny homes is roughly half the cost of purchasing and building 200 tiny homes, which would cost $22.7 million.

“The big moment for us was in March of this year,” he said, when the state provided him with a grant agreement outlining how the state would support the units. “We revised the grant agreement and project delivery plan within the same month.”

San Jose has already opened 500 tiny homes, mainly funded with local dollars, in different areas of the city — and in addition to the 200 units under the state initiative, it plans to open another 500 over the next 18 months, he said. “San Jose has moved forward so quickly and a lot of these (units) have stuck around because we've proven that they work, and we've been able to secure community and city council support to set aside public land for tiny home communities,” he said. “.

Mahan noted that the units themselves are neither the biggest cost nor the most important factor to consider when it comes to improving homelessness statewide. “We need support from the state and county levels of government for the ongoing supportive services people need, such as mental health care, substance abuse treatment, job training and other social services that states and counties are well suited to provide.”

Sellers have been approved, but orders are on hold

Last October, the state signed contracts with six approved companies to build tiny homes for the initiative, asking several of those companies to specially design units that form tiny home communities, including sleeping cabins and other shared facilities, such as kitchens and dining rooms. , and classrooms.

One state-certified tiny home seller, AMEG, is able to provide such long-term social support to residents. AMEG designed 18 different units specifically to accommodate all the different facilities requested by the state, including bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms. But the group, along with several other state-approved vendors, still say they haven't received any orders.

Long delays and strict standards for approval of forms “are the nature of the beast when it comes to this kind of government stuff,” according to David Gonzalez, AMEG’s chief operating officer. “We have changed everything the country needs us to change our models, and we are ready,” he said. luck, Adding: “The expectation is that we will see something soon.”

He also told other vendors, including a company called Pallet luck No orders have been placed for the construction of tiny houses in connection with the initiative. said Amy King, CEO of Pallet luck The company can deliver tiny home units, which typically cost around $19,000, or $55,000 with a bathroom, within 8 weeks of receiving an order. The company also maintains a “safety inventory of products available for emergency use,” so cities and states can “contact us at any time to deploy shelters and house people.”

said Cam Valgaardson, general manager of one of these tiny house sellers, Irontown Modular CalMatters The group is “absolutely shocked” that they have not received orders for their prefabricated homes. He told the publication that securing state contracts required his company to design new products in order to meet the state's strict requirements for things like vapor-resistant lighting fixtures and emergency exit lighting, which took months and cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Which cities have built tiny home communities yet?

As it turns out, securing a site to build tiny home encampments is one of the biggest challenges many cities and counties face, as there is often significant opposition from residents and businesses concerned with maintaining the safety and quality of their neighborhood.

“One of the biggest hurdles is determining location,” San Jose Mayor Mahan said. luck, “Like finding a place with suitable land where you can secure a long-term lease to use for years to come.”

Of the four areas slated to build micro-housing communities — Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose and Sacramento — the most progress has been made in Sacramento, where the state has purchased about 155 housing units from Boss, a small Montebello-based company. – Home company.

Sacramento, which was earmarked for 300 homes, initially planned to put tiny homes there Cal Expothe site of the annual state fair and the place where Newsom first announced his homelessness initiative last year, but those plans He collapsed. Now, Sacramento to publish 175 bungalows on the city's Stockton Street, a “partially built-out retail center that has long been vacant,” according to Julie Halla communications specialist in the city of Sacramento, who said luck “The first shipment of tiny homes arrived on site this week. The city plans to build the remaining 175 homes on Watt Street.

San Jose has already leased a site, the Cerrone Bus Park, which will house all 200 state-funded units by July 2025.

In Los Angeles, city officials have not yet finalized the sites needed to build the 500 tiny homes they promised. said Monica Hassan, deputy director of the state Department of General Services luck The state has provided “initially requested funding of $980,000 for one of its sites,” which will include 33 beds and construction will begin by the end of this month.

San Diego County had originally planned to establish its tiny home community at a site on Gamacha Road in the county, but due to “the numerous concerns from Spring Valley residents and the impact it would have on their community,” it decided to rescind approval of that project. location, according to a letter the county sent to the governor's office on June 5. A spokesman for the governor's office said luck “It is disappointing that San Diego County has chosen to abandon its efforts to provide tiny homes,” and “the state plans to recover its funding and consider options to redistribute it to other jurisdictions.” The situation “highlights the challenges faced at the local level regarding site selection,” and will be discussed at the next Board of Supervisors meeting on June 25, a state spokesperson said.

Certainly, roadblocks such as resident complaints can delay or even stop plans to build small residential communities entirely. However, some cities, such as San Jose, can serve as a model for how to successfully create such cities while also reducing neighborhood crime rates.

The neighborhoods where San Jose has built communities, Mayor Mahan said luck“We're seeing fewer 911 and 311 calls, a reduction in calls for service for crime and blight. This actually makes a lot of sense because we're taking people who are living in very unsafe and unstable environments with no rules or security or sanitation, and we're taking them to a managed site that has all these things.

Tiny home communities aim to “stop worrying about basic things, like where their next meal comes from or where to use the bathroom so they can start focusing on their future.” At the tiny house sites in San Jose, “We've seen that out of the 1,500 people who come into one of these 500 units, 70% of those people stay in their homes for up to three years, whether inside or off the streets,” Mahan said.