Three weeks ago, Shannon Bounds was sleeping in an abandoned warehouse that was partially burned down. Now she and her partner stay in one of the 50 new tiny homes assembled in a former RV park just northwest of downtown St. Louis.
“There’s two beds in there for me and my fiance, and then there’s a desk and then we got a TV,” she said. “It’s kind of like a little cozy home.”
The multicolored rows of tiny homes have transformed into a small village in two months. All of the units in the $600,000 project, funded by federal coronavirus relief money, will be occupied by this week, city officials said.
But some homeless service providers say St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson’s administration should have spent the dollars on a different type of shelter with more services for residents and fewer restrictions.
To move in, as Bounds did, people need a referral from a case manager and a plan to leave in three to six months for permanent housing. The tiny home village, called Jefferson Spaces, is only meant to serve as transitional housing.
Bounds worked with three outreach workers to secure her spot in the village — a red-painted home with a yellow-trimmed door. She’s on a waiting list for an apartment.
“We just felt like this was an opportunity to try out a new, innovative shelter opportunity for people,” said Amy Bickford, St. Louis Homeless Services Division chief program manager. “For some people that are battling with behavioral health, or substance use, this gets them out of the environment where they’re actively using.”
