What are micro shelters?

Every night in the Metropolitan Tucson area hundreds of people sleep on the streets or in vehicles, according to the 2024 Point-in-Time Count.  There is an immediate need for desirable, indoor alternatives.  Micro shelters are small structures built as temporary alternatives to living outside, so that our unhoused neighbors aren’t sleeping in leaky tents, muddy encampments, unsafe vehicles, or abandoned buildings while they await permanent housing.  Micro shelters are not permanent housing and are not an alternative to building more permanent affordable housing.  Rather, they are non-congregate, transitional shelters that allows our unhoused neighbors to live inside where it’s warm, safe, and dry while they stabilize in a village with wraparound services to get them to the next step in their lives. 

How large are the micro shelters?  Do they have heat and electricity?  What about running water?

Our micro shelters are approximately 8 ft. x 12 ft., roughly the size of a bedroom, and are equipped with a bed, linens, standing closet, and other necessities.  The villages provide community spaces, shared bathrooms with hot showers and flushable toilets, and a community kitchen, laundry facility, and pantry.

Isn’t it cruel to force someone to live in a micro shelter?  Why don’t we just build more affordable housing?

In a perfect world, that would be the best solution.  However, the “homeless problem” is not just one problem with one solution.  The reality is that many deserving unhoused persons are now on a wait list for permanent housing for several years.  In the meantime, they have very limited options including living in tents that are not warm, dry, or secure - and THAT’s cruel.

Building micro shelters is a relatively inexpensive, scalable, and achievable solution to get our unhoused neighbors off the ground, out of the tents, and into a secure space until permanent affordable housing can be obtained.

What does my donation go towards?

We are 100% volunteer based. Every dollar goes towards the production of micro shelters to benefit our unhoused neighbors in Pima County.